In 2018, the City of Canada Bay commissioned Studio GL, supported by AEC (property economics), Sym Studio (landscape) and Henson Consulting (traffic/ transport), to lead an urban design review of the Victoria Road, Drummoyne commercial precinct. Effective community engagement was a key objective and it shaped development of the desired future character, design principles and recommendations. We organised a series of events including workshops, drop-in sessions, online mapping, intercept surveys and focus groups with seniors and primary school students, over two stages, to capture the community’s local knowledge and aspirations, and test the emerging strategies and ideas.
The local community value this precinct for its heritage character and convenient access to the city. Traffic congestion, the scale of recent developments, pedestrian safety and access, and parking were identified as the biggest challenges. Our recommendations included a catalogue of placemaking ‘activation initiatives’ to improve the local character, pedestrian access and amendments to Council’s planning and development controls to increase consideration of the sunlight, privacy and amenity of local residents.
Client: City of Canada Bay
Project date: 2018-2019
Services: Town Centre Studies, Masterplanning, Strategic Thinking & Planning, Community Engagement, Transport Urban Design
Similar Projects: Five Dock Urban Design Study, Kiama Town Centre Study, Nowra Riverfront Precinct, Upper Hunter Town Centres Revitalisation, Port Kembla Revitalisation