South Hedland Town Centre
UDLA was engaged by DevelopmentWA (formerly LandCorp) to be part of an urban renewal design team to implement the revitalisation of South Hedland’s Town Centre. Located 15km south from Port Hedland, South Hedland is within the Pilbara region of WA.
Royalties for Regions supported the decision to revitalise the town centre through a $77 million investment that has seen the town’s CBD triple in size by creating new development ready land for commercial, retail and residential investment.
A series of planning and design workshops were facilitated and held with key community stakeholders to develop the masterplan of the town centre.
Key responsibilities included initial planning, urban design and landscape architecture input, as well as ongoing design facilitation with the Traditional Owners and the Hedland Arts community.
UDLA designed and documented the Town Square and surrounding POS areas. In addition, UDLA administered the landscape construction works and supervised the maintenance contract. The landscape spaces were designed with a longterm vision in mind; the Town Square was the first stage of works implemented from the larger South Hedland Project – a catalyst for the redevelopment of surrounding lots and existing buildings.
The public open spaces accommodate drainage requirements whilst allowing for passive recreation with an emphasis on linear recreation, historic and cultural interpretation and local public art.
As part of the project, local artist Naomi Stanitzki created a series of abstracted termite mound scuptures that subtly light up at night.
What were once just utilitarian drainage zones have been transformed into a variety of spaces to encourage a diversity of use. Lawns, gardens, artworks, boulder seating, shade shelters and several designated exercise areas have all been incorporated into the public realm to create different environments for passive and active recreation and better connect the surrounding suburbs to the central Town Square.
Details:
Client: Development WA (previously Landcorp)
Aboriginal Country: Kariyarra, Ngarla, and Nyamal Country
Location: Port Hedland, WA
Dates: 2012 - 2015
Landscape Architect: UDLA
Collaborators: Town of Port Hedland, Traditional Owners, South Hedland Local community, Advanced Timber Concepts Research Centre (Performance Shell)
