Revitalising Geelong’s Arts and Cultural Precinct
By Perry Mills & Associates Landscape Architects
The Geelong Gallery, Library, City Hall, Performing Arts Centre and Courthouse Theatre make up a key Cultural Precinct in the Action Plan for the revitalisation of Central Geelong.
The plan examines the public realm within the streets, laneways and forecourts of buildings located in the precinct through context analysis, issues and opportunities analysis, a masterplan, preparation of design guidelines, and a potential staging plan.
The project commenced in November 2016 with a context analysis and workshop with key stakeholders, led by Suzanne Barker, urban planner and principal of planning and design consultancy Town Matters.
Our role was to develop an urban design proposal for Lt Malop St and adjacent spaces and laneways to facilitate full or partial road closure for events. The plan proposes creating a shared zone for pedestrians, bicycles and vehicles and a protocol for closing the space to facilitate events while accommodating other functions. It identifys key locations for public art and sculptures, tree planting, overhead catenery lighting, wayfinding, WSUD opportunities and new linkages and laneways.
The Master Plan has been adopted as a key part of the vision of Geelong as an ‘arts and events city’.
Revitalising Central Geelong Action Plan
The City of Greater Geelong and Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning are working together as the Revitalising Central Geelong Partnership to plan and deliver projects identified in the Revitalising Central Geelong Action Plan.
The Revitalising Central Geelong Action Plan is a ten-year plan designed to deliver new jobs, homes and services to revitalise Geelong.
The Action Plan’s Smart City initiative proposes a stronger integration and greater diversity of health, education and cultural land uses. To deliver on this outcome, the action plan recognises the need for a masterplan to achieve an integrated design outcome for facilities within the cultural precinct.
The Central Geelong Arts and Cultural Precinct Masterplan delivers on this action.
It has been developed to complement other projects that relate nearby precincts, including the Geelong Station, James Precinct and Johnstone Park.
The Arts and Cultural Precinct Masterplan delivers a reimagined Little Malop Street that will become a focus for arts and cultural activity in central Geelong.
The Little Malop Street design enables the temporary closure of the street, focused around a central events space. This space is imagined with a special pavement treatment incorporating an in situ art work, signifying the importance of the place for the arts and cultural life of the city.
The masterplan prioritises Little Malop Street for pedestrians, providing for slow vehicle and bicycle movements in a shared space. Convenient short stay on-street car parking is provided as are temporary bus bays.
A single level pavement across the street enables its easy transformation into an events place. Greening of the precinct is achieved through new street trees and plantings, which also aid in marking shared spaces.
New pedestrian prioritised linkages are provided through Police Lane and a realigned Aitchison Place. A new pedestrian signalised crossing at Ryrie Street improves north-south connections into the precinct.
Precinct wide issues and opportunities:
- Create a distinctive precinct character through public realm streetscape treatments
- Reinforce the precinct character through a unique urban art/street furniture theme
- Green the precinct through planting and building treatments, including green walls
- Integrate art into the public realm and built form, including through projections and installations on blank walls
- Provide opportunities for street-based arts and cultural events
- Establish a wayfinding theme to connect the precinct with the CBD and beyond. Reproduced under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence from ‘Arts and Cultural Precinct Master Plan’ by the State of Victoria
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Revitalising Geelong’s Arts and Cultural Precinct
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Welcome to Perry Mills & Associates Landscape Architects, where we pride ourselves on our unique approach to building value for our clients' sites. Whether it's enhancing financial value, promoting ecological values, or optimizing spaces for commercial or recreational use, we are dedicated to creating sustainable and inspiring designs.
A member of the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects, our team specialises in a range of services including urban and civic projects, property and land development, environmental design, garden design, master planning, parks and open space projects, as well as play and education projects. With a focus on site analysis and engaging with stakeholders, we ensure that our designs harmonise with nature while meeting the needs and expectations of the community.