Sydney is the latest city to begin construction on an elevated park; theirs will be built on a 500-meter stretch of abandoned railway. The park, called the Goods Line, will include bike paths, study pods, and outdoor workspaces for local students.
The two-stage construction process begins with the 250-meter Goods Line North, where the Powerhouse Museum will be connected to Frank Gehry's Chau Chak Wing Building (an addition to the University of Technology). The opening of the latter building is set to coincide with the opening of the Goods Line North.
After the completion of this phase, projected for November 2014, the second stage will reshape an extant pedestrian walkway.
The construction contract has been awarded to Gartner Rose. The Goods Line was designed by ASPECT Studios and Choi Ropiha Fighera.
More about the project from the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority:
• Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority is leading this whole-of-government project which will open up a pedestrian and cycle network from Railway Square through Ultimo to Darling Harbour.
• The Goods Line will create a new urban hub and connect more than 80,000 tertiary students, locals and visitors to the many major attractions of Sydney’s much-loved Darling Harbour.
• The corridor will feature a series of elevated spaces or platforms which can be used for a variety of public entertainment, recreation, study and other activities.
• It will further connect arts, education and cultural institutions along Sydney’s Cultural Ribbon.
• The design captures and interprets the original heritage corridor, state significant rail underbridge and signal box.
• It will be a great new public space for pop-up events, invigorating and bringing new activity into the precinct.
• The Goods Line North is the upcoming stage of a larger project. The next stage will be to redesign The Goods Line South, which runs from Ultimo Road underbridge through to Railway Square. In total, the northern and southern sections will be approximately 500 metres long.
• Transport for NSW is conducting a feasibility study on a further extension of The Goods Line through to Mortuary Station and Redfern.
The Goods Line North is meant to bring new activity into the area, as imagined below.
This rendering is the concept of the Goods Line South, which will be constructed after the northern section.
Check out the video released by the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority, which is leading the project.
Related Stories
| Mar 11, 2011
Renovation energizes retirement community in Massachusetts
The 12-year-old Edgewood Retirement Community in Andover, Mass., underwent a major 40,000-sf expansion and renovation that added 60 patient care beds in the long-term care unit, a new 17,000-sf, 40-bed cognitive impairment unit, and an 80-seat informal dining bistro.
| Mar 11, 2011
Research facility added to Texas Medical Center
Situated on the Texas Medical Center’s North Campus in Houston, the new Methodist Hospital Research Institute is a 12-story, 440,000-sf facility dedicated to translational research. Designed by New York City-based Kohn Pedersen Fox, with healthcare, science, and technology firm WHR Architects, Houston, the building has open, flexible labs, offices, and amenities for use by 90 principal investigators and 800 post-doc trainees and staff.
| Mar 11, 2011
Blockbuster remodel transforms Omaha video store into a bank
A former Hollywood Video store in Omaha, Neb., was renovated and repurposed as the SAC Federal Credit Union, Ames Branch. Architects at Leo A Daly transformed the outdated 5,000-sf retail space into a modern facility by wrapping the exterior in poplar siding and adding a new glass storefront that floods the interior with natural light.
| Mar 11, 2011
Historic McKim Mead White facility restored at Columbia University
Faculty House, a 1923 McKim Mead White building on Columbia University’s East Campus, could no longer support the school’s needs, so the historic 38,000-sf building was transformed into a modern faculty dining room, graduate student meeting center, and event space for visiting lecturers, large banquets, and alumni organizations.
| Mar 11, 2011
Mixed-income retirement community in Maryland based on holistic care
The Green House Residences at Stadium Place in Waverly, Md., is a five-story, 40,600-sf, mixed-income retirement community based on a holistic continuum of care concept developed by Dr. Bill Thomas. Each of the four residential floors houses a self-contained home for 12 residents that includes 12 bedrooms/baths organized around a common living/social area called the “hearth,” which includes a kitchen, living room with fireplace, and dining area.
| Mar 11, 2011
Oregon childhood center designed at child-friendly scale
Design of the Early Childhood Center at Mt. Hood Community College in Gresham, Ore., focused on a achieving a child-friendly scale and providing outdoor learning environments.
| Mar 11, 2011
Guests can check out hotel’s urban loft design, music selection
MODO, Advaya Hospitality’s affordable new lifestyle hotel brand, will have an urban Bauhaus loft design and target design-, music-, and tech-savvy guest who will have access to thousands of tracks in vinyl, CD, and MP3 formats through a partnership with Downtown Music. Guest can create their own playlists, and each guest room will feature iPod docks and large flat-screen TVs.
| Mar 11, 2011
Construction of helicopter hangars in South Carolina gets off the ground
Construction is under way on a $26 million aviation support facility for South Carolina National Guard helicopters. Hendrick Construction, the project’s Charlotte, N.C.-based GC, is building the 111,000-sf Donaldson Hangar facility on the 30-acre South Carolina Technology & Aviation Center, Greenville.
| Mar 11, 2011
Texas A&M mixed-use community will focus on green living
HOK, Realty Appreciation, and Texas A&M University are working on the Urban Living Laboratory, a 1.2-million-sf mixed-use project owned by the university. The five-phase, live-work-play project will include offices, retail, multifamily apartments, and two hotels.
| Mar 11, 2011
Chicago office building will serve tenants and historic church
The Alter Group is partnering with White Oak Realty Partners to develop a 490,000-sf high-performance office building in Chicago’s West Loop. The tower will be located on land owned by Old St. Patrick’s Church (a neighborhood landmark that survived the Chicago Fire of 1871) that’s currently being used as a parking lot.
