urban r oom ♪╠ land i den t i t y . DeBOX___DeGRID Architecture .

M . J o h n L a t h am 0 4 4 7 6 5 1 4 2 0 d e b o x S ORE L L T a sm a n i a

H e l l o J i l l H i c k i e

I t h i n k t h e b e l o w i s w o r t h y… . I t c a n t b e t o o l a t e .

C omm e n t b y c u t & p a s t e

5 S u g g e s t e d a d j u s t m e n t t o t h e m a s t e r p l a n :

1 . S h o w t h e ‘ t r a i l ’ f o l l o w i n g t h e o l d r i v u l e t c o u r s e w h e r e a t t h e c i t y h a l l e n t r a n c e i t

s h o u l d e r s M a c q u a r i e s t r e e t & r u n s o u t u n d e r t h e h u n t e r s t r e e t b u i l d i n g s

2 . Ch a n g e t h e p r e f e r r e d p e d e s t r i a n r o u t e c b d t o d o c k s f r om d o w n t h e E l i z a b e t h s t g r i d -

l i n e i n s t e a d t o d o w n t h e r i v u l e t n a t u r e l i n e a n d o n t o t h e c o v e ’ s ‘ c i t y h a l l a x i s ’ . T h i s i s

t h e m o s t l e v e l a c c e s s .

T h e s h o u l d e r c o n t a c t a t M a c q u a r i e s t r e e t o f f e r s i mm e n s e ‘ s e t t l e m e n t ’ , h e r i t a g e &

g e o g r a p h i c i n t e r p r e t a t i o n p o t e n t i a l . i t j u x t a p o s e s t h e c a u s e w a y w h i c h i s t h e s e e d f o r

M a c q u a r i e s t r e e t . F r om h e r i t ’ s a f e r r y t r i p t o t a k e y o u r b i k e t o b e l l e r i v e .

3 . A l l o w f o r a c o n c e p t p l a n f o r t h e a b o v e . w i l l b e g r e a t f o r H o b a r t . N o w ’ s t h e t i m e .

4 . He r i t a g e v a l u e s : n o t e t h e c o n v i c t s e n c am p e d a t t h e m a l l b y t h e r i v u l e t – a l o n g w i t h

t h e t h e i r k e e p e r s & d a r k o b s e r v e r s .

5 . L e t ’ s n o t g o f r om m o u n t a i n t o p i p e s t i f l e u n d e r t h e d om a i n , L e t ’ s g o m o u n t a i n t o

c o v e w a t e r s u s i n g a l i t t l e u r b a n p l a s t i c s u r g e r y ,

d e t a i l

Re : DRAFT HOBART RIVULET PARK - MASTERPLAN

ADD IT IONAL OPPORTUN ITY – MOUNTA IN TO COVE (& BELLER IVE )

THE BUR IED BROOK BREEZEWAY

THE ORIGINAL R IVULET PATH FROM MOLLE STREET & WELLINGTON

BRIDGE TO C ITY HALL

PUBL IC REALM DESIGNS TO AMPLIFY THIS NATURAL , SETTLEMENT &

CULTURAL HERITAGE , THE VENERATION OF THE SP IR IT OF THE

BROOK THROUGH THE C ITY , SYMBOLISM OF NATIVE & BR IT ISH CON-

FRONTAT ION & THE CONSEQUENT SWATHE OF NATURAL & NATIVE

CHANGE … a t the Macqua r i e s t r e e t nexus whe re the l andwa te r meet s

the ‘ o cean ’ & the causeway b i nds sa i l i ng sh ip and nat i ve l and .

Commerce is what originally stifled the beautiful fresh brook burgeoning with mountain water and binding perfect

urban landscape mountaintop to cove.

BURIED BROOK PROMENADE (BREEZEWAY)

A t r a i l b o l d l y p l a c ed and i l l us t r a t e d pa r a l l e l t o t h e r i v u l e t f r om docks

t h r ough t o CBD, L i n e a r Pa r k and Mt We l l i n g t on .

FLOOR OF THE DOCKS

Ca r r y t h e cha ra c t e r i s t i c c on c r e t e f l o o r a l l t h e way up t o s ou th s i d e o f

Macquar i e S t r e e t , i n c l ud in g Dav ey S t r e e t , Campbe l l S t r e e t w i t h r emov -

ab l e b o l l a r d s f o r f l e x i - us e i n w i t h s t r e e t c l o sur es .

I SSUES

Th i s i s s t r on g l y enhanc ed by a l l o f t h e abov e , bu t may b e f r us t r a t e d by

p l an s f o r t h e Dunn S t r e e t a r e a .

DAVEY STREET NAPE

A b ow b end o f max imum ‘ r ad i u s ’ i n t o Dunn P l a c e/S t r e e t and w i t h w i de

( s cu l p t u r ed ) med i an s t r i p e x t end i ng backwar ds f r om th e Cus t oms

House t o a s f a r a s p o ss i b l e i n t o t h e G Chanc e l l o r Ho t e l f r on t ag e .

VALUE

Tr a f f i c c a lm ing , d r i v e r eng ag emen t w i t h t h e d o cks , ped e s t r i an sa f e t y

and c omf o r t , du l l i n g o f v eh i c l e s ound and v i s i on , f en g shu i e f f e c t ,

s t r ong c on t r i bu t i on t o d o ck l and f o cus on r i v u l e t e s t ua r y , c i t y h a l l and

Dunn a r e a , r e p r e s en t a t i v e o f wa t e r r i pp l e s wh i ch can b e i l l us t r a t e d i n

pav emen t , e nhancemen t o f d ock s pac e shape .

Wou l d r e duc e t h e sad v i sua l impac t o f any r e c t i l i n ea r bu i l d in g on

Dunn .

I SSUES

Land a cqu i s i t i on .

I n i t i a t i v e . P o ss i b l y t h e Au th or i t y ’ s ch a r g e on sa f e t y ma t t e r s . E c onom i c

Dev e l opmen t .

MACQUARIE STREET NEXUS ZONE

Tr a f f i c / pede s t r i an i t em .

Dr i v e r s a r e eng ag ed as pa r t o f t h e wa t e r f r on t , t h r ough an obv i ous

chang e o f z one f r om wes t end Hope & An chor t o o t he r s i d e o f Campbe l l

– sh o r t a s i t i s , i t i s s t imu l a t i on . S t r e e twor ks c e l e b r a t e t h e caus eway

i n pav emen t ( a t l e a s t )

A l a r g e/h i gh/ co l ou r fu l mas t / s cu l p t ur e e a ch s i d e a t Hope & An chor

w i t h Br i t i s h/Na t i v e b o l d i c on s , v i s i b l e f r om F r ank l i n S quar e . Ano th e r

ea ch s i d e a t t h e o t he r end w i t h L and/Ocean i c on s .

VALUE

He r i t a g e and wa t e r f r on t f o cus , p r omo t es a tmosphe r e f o r t r a f f i c c a lm -

ing .

Enhance s wor t h o f Dav ey S t r e e t Nape and Dunn/Marke t P l a c e p edes -

t r i an p r e c in c t .

I SSUE

Wher e ’ s t h e pub l i c wor k s c o o r d in a t i on r e qu i r e d t o a ch i e v e t h i s . I s t h e

Wa t e r f r on t Au th or i t y an obv i ous i n i t i a t i v e g ene r a t o r / c oo r d i na t o r ?

( o t h e rw i s e h ow do e s t h e TMAG hav e a c l u e abou t i t )

CITY HALL

TBA

COLL INS ARGYLE HOSP ITAL CORNER

The r i v u l e t r un s unde r t h i s c o rn e r . R a th e r t h an wa l k t h e f o o t pa t h g r i d

we sh ou l d s e ek t o cu t t h e c o r ne r t o b r eak t h e g r i d i n t h i s k ey l o c a t i on .

ONWARD V IA ARGPARK, WELLINGTON COURT, ARCADE AFTER AR -

CADE & SOMEHOW TO MOLLE STREET & THE SOURCE OF THE

BROOK

Wha t a f an t as t i c t h ing .

TRAFFIC L IGHTS MACQUARIE/DAVEY

R e l o c a t e d/s yn ch r on i s ed t o g i v e b r ead th o f c r o s s ing d i s t an ce and o c ca -

s i ona l c a lm t o f u l l b r ead t h o f Dunn P l a c e .

Dunn Place is an obvious area vital to pedestrian (and spirit of place) link between waterfront

and main block and also, if carried by a rivulet walk, the mountain.

The huge, huge, potential of Dunn Place in the City function and spirit? A bow-bend in Davey

Street at Dunn Place. Now is a precious moment in our dramatic history to secure the hole in

the wall of the cove to open a refreshing draught where sea and mountain breeze meet in the Mall.

A new bend in Davey St would be a powerful event in the Waterfront . Called the Davey Street

Nape, it would be a bend into Dunn Place between the Customs House and across the Grand

Chancellor frontage.

The Davey Street Nape should exist as a diffuser of traffic pressure and grid mindset and to en-

hance driver/passenger engagement. It would be multifunctional, giving a feng shui effect. Us-

ing wave-shaped lane dividers it would slow drivers and engage them with the docks whilst

buffering traffic from pedestrian ear, eye and brain. The Nape takes eyes away from street grid

toward the likes of native shoreline and water ripples, reducing the undesirable chainsaw effect

of Davey Street. In this part the streets, including Campbell, would be concrete to blend with

the docks and Dunn Place would be the same so the whole area could open as a flexi-plaza.

There may be a fantastic proposal on the way spawned by the interests of the Museum Art Gal-

lery but is it going to acknowledge such important potentials when its initiating intent is to

make room for itself?

The Davey Street Nape would be a very effective element in its own right but it also fits a

broader scheme which picks up on the original shoreline and the mountain link via the rivulet a

simple brook which lies buried and stifled waiting to be used to great social gain through its

memory and its logical path. Its path has been highlighted as a main aspect of the City Axis laid

out by the Waterfront Authority.

The Buried Brook Promenade, Mouheneenner Modum, Truganina’s Track, a track more than a

trail, a public walk from Mountain to Cove celebrating the world of Hobart Rivulet using ar-

cades, words, architecture and art. Supported by the ‘Nape effect’ the Promenade would open

out at Dunn Place embracing the cove and inviting people to return to the city and mountain.

Tied with this is also opportunity for a ‘Nexus Point’ in front of the City Hall, a street precinct

engaging Macquarie Street motorists with waterfront, which would celebrate the landing, the

natives, the anglophile, the ocean all meeting and the old causeway beginning.

Sometimes you don’t know what you’ve got even when you lose it. These public realm values

may be registered but are they noted? In its search for more room, I hope the TMAG doesn't

conflict with this vital potential for a fully developed public realm celebration of the rivulet and

its estuary as an obvious and perfect connection between mountain, CBD, and docks and be-

tween the built and the native land, the old and the new, and the academic and the romantic …..

Buried Brook Buzzway’.

The BBB incorporates interesting character-of-place components, including an abundant but

building-free Dunn Place and a curve in Davey Street. The BBB is not to combat any beautiful

well intended individual lot owner proposal (such as the TMAG project) but rather to structure

some public realm toward, in particular;

a much loved unity of the waterfront, city and state, lay of the land, native/urban/social heritage

and the currency of urgent eco-social change and cultural gusto. This unity is already loved but

not clearly manifest in place and function.

The logic of the ‘City Hall Axis’ concept was subject of international competition. There is a profound blend of potential underpinned by the original course of the rivulet and of the old causeway. The opportunity is not catered to around the Town Hall and the Mu-seum to energise pedestrian and driver engagement and movement whilst generating a picture of original land and people meeting settler and today.

Beyond authority and private land-title-based projects we need practical public works to structure the public realm. This is a time to act beyond conventional presumption for traffic grid and recognize the power of a Davey Street Nape (refer attachment). This the time to lay down some regulatory framework for the likes of the Grand Chancellor to show the causeway in a dynamic interior/exterior renovation and chameleon character change. This is the time to make use of the City Hall—serious use—to make it a cul-tural/educational dynamo and pedestrian draw. This is the time to bring Macquarie Street notionally closer to the cove. This is the time for a curve in the right place. To weld shoreline to grid. To break the chainsaw feng shui murderer.

And at least the stand-alone potential of the Davey Street Nape.

A new bend in Davey St should be part of new developments in Sullivans Cove says a southern archi-tect. John Latham said now Davey St cuts straight like a chainsaw. The Davey St bend, or nape as he calls it, would be stand-alone and multifunctional giving a feng shui effect and combined with wave-shaped lane dividers would slow traffic and buffer it from pedestrian ear, eye and brain. The nape takes eyes away from street grid toward the likes of native shoreline, reducing the chainsaw effect whilst en-hancing driver engagement with the docks. To further reduce the chainsaw he proposes the street and Dunn Place be levelled extending the concrete hard area of the waterfront, a public plaza rich with crea-tive design imagery relating to the native beach,() estuary and early dock-life. Mr Latham, of Sorell, an entrant in the 2006 Sullivans Cove international design competition also proposes ()the Buried Brook Promenade, a public walk from Mountain to Cove () celebrating the world of Hobart Rivulet with arcades, interpretive information, architecture and art works. Supported by the Nape effect the Promenade opens out at Dunn Place embracing the cove and inviting people to return to the city and mountain. His street detail proposal in Macquarie Street at City Hall celebrates the junction of land with the old causeway, natives with foreigners. It engages pedestrians, and motorists find themselves () in a new zone, passing

briefly through the fabled Hobart waterfront on their way out of town. He says there are other views but () he must say it is plain to many that in the interests of the City ()it is best not to clog such potential by building in the wrong place. He knows they care but accepts this may be what the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (TMAG) and other authorities are subconsciously pre-empting. ‘And indeed an architect could make a jolly nice built interior there and minimise the clog. Sometimes you don’t know what you’ve got even when you lose it”, he said. “I don’t know if these two particular public realm values are well registered () in the Authority’s design intelligence. () I have to voice this.” He said TMAG are aware of options elsewhere. ``In its search for more room, I hope the TMAG doesn't conflict with this vital poten-tial for a fully developed public realm celebration of the rivulet and its estuary as an obvious and perfect connection between mountain, CBD, and docks and between the built and the native land, the old and the new, and the academic and the romantic. And at least the stand-alone potential of the Nape,'' he said. Accepting opposition to a top floor extension to TMAG () he says the heritage and contemporary functional values of () Dunn Place () are far greater and the right architect could make a jolly good job of it. Building on the Dunn site would be an opportunity lost(). The site is beyond reasonable limits for TMAG. It is better given to the character and function of the City () and the island-state for it can be a living open air museum display itself – a terrific flexi-plaza.

‘