Balfour Street Park
Balfour Street Park is a public pocket park located in an inner-city suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales. The parkland is located in the suburb of Chippendale, at the corner of Balfour Street and O’Connor Street. Balfour Street Park acts as a pedestrian gateway to Central Park and was designed by the City of Sydney in collaboration with JILA, and constructed by Design Landscape for Frasers Property.[1] It won the Horbury Hunt Brick Award for Urban Design and Landscape Architecture in 2010.[1]
History
The area was originally overgrown and weed infested land not being put to any use, owned by the State Rail Authority. However, in 2011 local residents with cooperation from North Sydney council under the Streets Alive program, which allows the community to create and maintain public gardens on land owned by State Government authorities, were able to gain public access and permission to create a park.[2] It was formally opened on 19 June 2011 by the Lord Mayor.[3]
Design
The initial design of Balfour Street Park was done by Sue
Barnsley Design, aiming to mediate the two differing scales of the large scale
adjacent Central Park development and the smaller scale residential nature of
the site.[4] JILA retained this conceptual design and sought to expand upon it
through the incorporation of the richness of the materials and intimate detail
which relates back to the human scale.[4] By closing Balfour Street between O’Connor
and Wellington Streets, the park is able to offer more open space for local
residents, and provide an essential pedestrian and cyclist connection to
Broadway, improving local traffic management.[5]
Features
The brick swale feature which slows water flow and captures any rubbish
The dominant material in the design of the pocket
park is bricks, to connect to the materiality of the surrounding buildings. The
bricks are laid on two different axes with one direction facing the drainage
channel and the other facing towards the grass area.[1] A brick swale with arching
antenna lighting acts as the focal point of the park during the day and at
night, in addition to providing a drainage point. The brick swale also
incorporates protruding bricks which detain any rubbish and slow down the water
flow.[1] Furthermore, the site references the area’s built history and
character through the paving materials, including trachyte recycled from local
kerbing.[6]
Flora and fauna
Balfour Street Park has a variety of native species of planting including NSW Christmas Bush, Banksia, Bottlebrush, Port Jackson cypress, Lillypilly, Tea tree, Eucalyptus and Grevillea. Native planting along the border of the park were selected in order to screen the railway line and attract native birds.[2]
Design details |
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| Central Park in background |
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See also
References