Basic HTML Version
Where most projects are the result of adding
to the urban condition, the Lennox Bridge
Portals are an instance where project success
emerges primarily through the removal of
existing fabric.
Completing a vital missing pedestrian link
along the banks of Parramatta River, the
project connects and completes a number of
earlier public realm projects and anticipates
the ongoing renewal of the Parramatta CBD,
including the future introduction of light rail.
The project is emblematic of an intelligent,
design-led approach to infrastructure, where
the architect has been instrumental to the
successful integration of urban, heritage,
engineering, flood mitigation and road design
issues in a manner that reveals an incredible
depth and layering of history. The resulting
project provides regionally significant linkages
and defines new pedestrian space and
vantage points from the bridge deck itself.
These are all imbued with meaning, and simply
passing through the bridge portals themselves
is a rich experience.
Photo: Alex Rink
URBAN DESIGN
ARCHITECTURE AWARD
Lennox Bridge Portals
Hill Thalis Architecture + Urban Projects
The spatial and urban success of Liberty
Place is most evident in the manner by
which publicly accessible space has been
carved out of the existing city fabric.
This space is strongest where it captures
sunlight and where its definition is established
by existing heritage and character buildings,
particularly Legion House and opposite on
Castlereagh Street.
Understandably, success is measured best
where people congregate in the space and this
is where sunlight falls and the environmental
conditions are most benign. The space must
also mediate between the truly public street
and the more closely controlled lobby of
the adjacent commercial tower. This is a
notoriously difficult interface for the architect
and urban designer to resolve and in the case
of Liberty Place the character of both laneway
and square has been soundly executed.
Photo: Andrew Chung
Liberty Place
Francis-Jones Morehen Thorp
The design of this new suite of street furniture
strives for timelessness and a distinctly
‘Sydney’ expression. To be deployed across
a large and diverse extent of the city, the
design approach strikes an impressive
balance between ubiquity and sense of
place, achieving this with an understated
sophistication of detailing, quality materials
and refinement.
The project’s success can be seen as another
product of the City of Sydney’s commitment
to pursuing excellence in design at every
possible opportunity.
Photo: Ben Guthrie
City of Sydney Public Domain Furniture
Tzannes
Opposite: Lennox Bridge Portals by Hill Thalis Architecture + Urban Projects, 2016 Architecture Award for Urban Design.
Photo: Alex Rink
URBAN DESIGN
COMMENDATION
32