Answer To: There is public art with freestanding structures and a light installation by artist Stuart Green...
Abhishek answered on May 08 2021
Case Study on Elizabeth Quay
Executive Summary
Recent post-industrial city expansion, in order to add, extend or modify the city’s program, morphology and identity, has looked for under-utilized land close to central business districts. Areas historically having proximity to transport network, markets and workers have been the hub of renewal. Large tracts of land between the contemporary corporate city and its waterways have blighted many cities due to industrial relocation. Such areas are normally contaminated and more often publicly inaccessible.
Successfully reconnecting cities to their waterfronts creates substantial political capital.Some blazing examples include Auckland’s Wynyard Point, Melbourne’s Docklands, Sydney’s Barangaroo and Perth’s Elizabeth Quay. Perth’s Elizabeth Quay is a rare example of waterfront renewal without industrial remediation.
Elizabeth Quay named after Elizabeth II is a A$2.6 billion Western Australian Government's ambitious project on 10 hectares of prime river frontage located on the north shore of the Swan River in the heart of Perth. It connects the Perth CBD with the river and is a multi-use development that includes office and retail space, residential apartments, parklands and an artificial inlet.
Centred on the 2.7 hectare inlet this is the focal point for Elizabeth Quay. It includes Spanda, a 29 metre tall abstract sculpture and the indigenous public art of a five metre tall bird in a boat named “First Contact”. It is surrounded by a split-level promenade, shops, cafes, restaurants and other entertainment venues.
Other features include BHP Billiton Water Park, a 110-metre bridge to the island, the Fringe World fairground and a laser and light show at night. It provides inner-city residential and commercial space in addition to hotel and short-stay accommodation.
Elizabeth Quay is always in the eye of the storm and is regularly subjected to media and public scrutiny as it is an environmentally sensitive site situated on the Swan River.
Introduction
Elizabeth Quay has been built in a way that it caters to the aspirations of all the people who decide to visit the landmark. It inspires the visitors to discover an extraordinary level of detail in the precinct’s design. It has also kept alive the culture of the original inhabitants of the place and continent nation. Careful consideration has also been made for European heritage, the Florence Hummerston Kiosk and the Moreton Bay Fig Trees. All around the precinct, stories contributed by Aboriginal people have been carved in stone. The local Wadjuk Noongar people have also been included in formulating the design by the designers. The designers have incorporated a sculpture of a five-metre bird with its wings stretched on a boat, by acclaimed Noongar artist Laurel Nannup at the entrance to the inlet. The sculpture depicts the little-known story of the view of indigenous people on the arrival of British colonists on sailing ships. Other belief of the Noongar people, about the sculpture is that the sailing boats were their ancestors flying back from Wadjemup (Rottnest Island) to see them.
More than 300 tree species which included gums, London Planes, Moreton Bay Figs and cotton palms were identified within the Elizabeth Quay project area. They were, where possible, retained on site and in their existing location including the line of Moreton Bay Fig Trees along William Street. However, some trees were relocated or uprooted to make way for the development.
Another building which dates from 1927 was initially Esplanade tea rooms, then renovated as a nightclub, day care centre, Salvation Army youth centre and finally a Chinese restaurant was then removed to build the inlet. Known as the Florence Hummerston kiosk, it was preserved by painstakingly reassembling it brick by brick on the island after being dismantled. It was re-opened as a restaurant with a new operator.
The paving, which runs in a ripple pattern around the precinct, has been created from more than two million individually laid hand-cut cobblestones. The eastern corner is taken up by the pop-up fringe festival space whereas it has a water park on the western side. The water park replicates outback lakes in its shallowness and takes its design from the Dreaming story about the creation of the Milky Way.
Other features include children's nature playground, several large sculptures and the suspension bridge linking each side of the inlet. There is a continuous loop coming from the Narrows Bridge at the lower end of the Elizabeth Quay across the new pedestrian bridge, island and through to Barrack Square for runners, walker and cyclists.
The ferry terminal was moved from Barrack Street jetty and the neighbouring Esplanade bus and train stations were renamed Elizabeth Quay station.
A dream worth A$2.6bn that didn’t come true
Though it is described as a jewel in the Western Australian capital’s crown by staunch supporters of Elizabeth Quay but people opposing it deride it as a simple jetty called ‘Betty’s Jetty’ thus dousing any hopes for a glittering legacy for the city.
Too many quality issues had marred the development of Elizabeth Quay. The water park fiasco being the prominent among them. Others include
· The renaming of train and bus stations
· Landscaping, paving maintenance, replacement planting and sign-age.
· Development delays and the expensive mishandling of the Florence Hummerston Kiosk.
· Multimillion-dollar apartment towers defects including water leaks
· Elizabeth Quay work from a financial point of view.
The development was opened to the public in frenzy. The development which costed A$440 million, by taking Perth's Esplanade Park to create an inlet, new ferry terminal, island and suspension bridge across the water, has attracted a great deal of criticism over the cost and quality. It was claimed, though no evidence is available, that the Government had pressured Health authorities to open the water park prematurely.
It had caused closure of roads through the city for the development. This reflects the quality of management that was followed for the construction of such proportions.
The water park which was the main attraction of Elizabeth Quay was previously closed on two occasions for cleaning after problems with water quality. It was then reopened without further...