WORLD-CLASS GREENSPACE

A lush new greenspace has sprouted in Canberra’s Central Village, thanks to the innovative work of SPARK.

A large expanse of office and public space in the heart of Canberra has been transformed and revitalised with a freshly landscaped public square and a suite of highly engaging street furniture and custom shelters.

One of Canberra’s most prominent commercial developments, Central
Village (formerly Finlay Crisp Centre) comprises three buildings around a central landscaped plaza, redesigned by Tait Network. Surrounded by a wealth of retail and commercial tenants, the revived public realm features public artwork and a new pavilion. “The refurbishment of Central Village, including its ground floor plane and plaza, will provide significant investment into Civic’s local businesses, and revitalise and activate the city’s edge, on one of Canberra’s most important avenues,” claims JLL, the firm responsible for leasing out the commercial space.

Already a hit with the surrounding community, the placemaking success of Central Village is derived primarily from the unique street furniture suite conceptualised by Tait Network and designed, manufactured and installed by landscape infrastructure specialists SPARK. A testament to the creativity and technical aptitude of SPARK’s industrial designers and fabricators, the highly complex furniture suite is both captivating and inviting.

Tait Network’s intricate seating and shelter concepts required an incredibly technical modelling and documentation process by SPARK, as well as prototyping the methodologies that detail the undulating seating showcased throughout the plaza. Comprised of hundreds of individually hand-cut timber battens arranged in intricate patterns, the wall-mounted seating is crafted from Spotted Gum timber with an oiled finish. Powdercoated mild-steel frames ensure a durable base and contribute to the longevity of this public seating.

Providing a welcome spot to rest and recharge in the busy city, the innovative
timber seating structures are a highly engaging and unique addition to Central Village. Their organic flow softens the straight lines of the surrounding urban setting, and contrast warmly against the concrete planters and lush greenery.

SPARK also manufactured a series of shelters to provide filtered cover from the sun. Custom designed for the Central Village project, based on Tait’s concepts, the shelters were constructed using aluminium fins powdercoated in several metallic, soft-tone colours. The curved frames of the shelters set off the straight edges of the fins, which are irregularly placed across the roof to provide dappled shade and create balanced structures that sit harmoniously within the plaza’s overall design aesthetic.

A triumph for the rapidly regenerating area of the city, the new Central Village is a showcase of “Integrated landscaping and lighting [that has] transformed a once lifeless courtyard into a vibrant and safer public space with improved pedestrian connections underpinned by a clear wayfinding system,” claim project managers AMC.

PROJECT PARTICULARS

COMPANY SPARK
CLIENT TSA Management
LOCATION Civic, Canberra ACT
DESIGN CONCEPT Tait Network
PROJECT MANAGEMENT TSA Management