Queensland
Brisbane
West Ashgrove Village is an intimate character-rich suburban destination with a contemporary urban quality that belies its location on busy Waterworks Road. In re-imagining the Village as a people-first destination, the revitalisation has delivered a suite of places that invite people to linger longer, connected by a shady, high-amenity streetscape.
Creative collaboration with BCC as client, across design disciplines and with the artist has realised a cohesive and distinctive urban experience, rich with thoughtfully detailed design interventions that encourage streetscape activation and ownership by the local community and traders.
Fundamentally, the West Ashgrove Village Revitalisation choreographs memorable journeys and experiences in its creation of place-focused moments and places that are actively fostering diverse and regular occupation throughout the week and weekend, both day and night.
The quality of the design outcomes are a testament to passionate client collaboration and the vision of Brisbane City Council’s Village Precinct Projects (VPP) program.
The Ashgrove West Village Precinct Project’s conceptual focus was delivering places for people. The existing generic bus shelter offered a unique opportunity for renewal, forming the hero of the wider village revitalisation. The new shelter’s striking form seeks to acknowledge and amplify the local character and history of the site.
Drawing parallels with the simple and elegant forms of Brisbane’s inner-suburban heritage shelters, the shelter strikes a balance between the local architectural character and the eclectic urban context.
Enabled by Brisbane City Council’s Village Precinct Projects (VPP) program and borne from close community consultation, the design of the new shelter provides a robust, low maintenance form that provides both transport and visual amenity.
The deliberate utility of the design reveals an enduring offering of contemporary architecture, while the delicate textures of the form lined pre-cast concrete inject a sense of richness, reflective of an integrated and meaningful place for people.
An initiative of Brisbane City Council’s Design-led City – a design strategy for Brisbane, the Village Precinct Projects (VPP) program demonstrates public realm design excellence, supporting Council’s commitment to creating a city of neighbourhoods. Its purpose is to create liveable places with vibrant neighbourhood centres.
Archipelago collaborated with Council on the Ashgrove West VPP and exemplified the design brief, overcoming significant constraints to deliver high-quality public realm & transforming a harsh, car-centric environment into a people-focused precinct.
The community now have an attractive and inclusive subtropical public centre with enhanced local character and distinctive spaces for residents, businesses and visitors to connect.
Daniel Loo, Design Architect
Dominic Powell, Project Director
Julie Hardie, Landscape Architect
Phil Mackenzie, Landscape Architect
ADP Consulting, Electrical Consultant
Bligh Tanner, Structural Engineer
PMP Urbanists, Civil Consultant
The Australian Institute of Architects acknowledges First Nations peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the lands, waters, and skies of the continent now called Australia.
We express our gratitude to their Elders and Knowledge Holders whose wisdom, actions and knowledge have kept culture alive.
We recognise First Nations peoples as the first architects and builders. We appreciate their continuing work on Country from pre-invasion times to contemporary First Nations architects, and respect their rights to continue to care for Country.
