This favourite tourist precinct on Rottnest Island has undergone simple yet functional remedial works, with a focus on the area’s heritage.
The City of Perth provided a brief for the Forrest Place Project with one key desired outcome - to link Forrest Place with the Perth Station forecourt and create a 'grand space' for the city's primary urban zone within the CBD.
It was to be contemporary but evocative of a traditional formal city square, cohesive in design and highly flexible to function with both a day and night culture.
While led by Woodhead Architects as the head consultant, PLAN E played a key role in the urban design of the space, spatial arrangement, function, materials selection, and design of individual elements.
In order to improve the flexibility of Forrest Place as a venue for major performances and events, the stage area has been repositioned and a new overhead canopy provided. The space incorporates new seating areas, transplant trees, an interactive water feature and a controversial sculpture, combining to create a more dynamic and interesting space.
The project required the selection of durable and robust materials and construction methods for this high-use urban environment, including granite paving (using WA granite) and precast concrete walls and seats.
Lighting is a significant feature of the project, and has been designed so that there is a high degree of control to act as theatre lighting for events. The lighting will also change with the seasons, with a cooler light in summer and warmer lighting in winter.
Nine mature Chinese Elms from Perth Station on Roe Street had to be relocated into the space, which is irrigated via a large underground tank used to catch rainwater from the paving.
PROJECT PROFILE
FORREST PLACE REDEVELOPMENT
DESIGNER | PLAN E
ARCHITECT | Woodhead Architects
BRIEF | Create a unified space that boasted a seamless connection between the Perth Station Forecourt and Forrest Place.
BUILD TIME | 7 years
FEATURES | New stage and overhead canopy, seating areas, interactive water feature, sculpture and lighting.
LOCATION | Forrest Place, Perth CBD
