Built over a railway line, Wadanggari Park is a key piece of landscape infrastructure vital to linking a community rapidly increasing in size after the approval of significant infrastructure projects and residential rezoning.
Wadanggari Park demonstrates how innovative thinking about existing assets, such as airspace over the railway line, can result in a valuable piece of infrastructure that delivers not only open space, but also a crucial piece of the puzzle for revitalising a suburban economy and building a community. Through-site connections and a revitalised subterranean tunnel under a six-lane highway link the growing number of workers and residents with the new bus interchange and the existing train station. Laneways and pedestrian alleys add alternative routes for commuters moving between the train and bus station, commercial tenancies and the soon to be opened Metro Station.
Arcadia designed the precinct using a narrative based on the lifecycle of the Wadanggari (banksia), with the vision to create a resilient and responsive landscape that reflects and enhances the local character and identity of the suburb, while meeting the demands of urban growth. Arcadia worked closely with Indigenous Knowledge Holders and artists to define the narrative, based on the lifecycle of the Wadanggari (banksia), an important part of the Lane Cove area ecological community, and its symbolism for growth, renewal and regeneration through fire and smoke.
Arcadia undertook research, detailed analysis and community consultation to realise the site’s potential for programming and circulation to create of this new town centre for the community, where the population has grown by 61 percent between 2011 and 2021. This growth will continue with a significant number of dwellings approved and currently under construction along and to the south of the Pacific Highway.
Wadanggari Park provides 4,750sqm open space amenity with retail activation, play area, alfresco dining space, passive recreation space and an events hub. The 2,750sqm of accessible connections to the St Leonards residential zone south of the Pacific Highway encourage the use of public transport and also benefits the suburb by taking thousands of pedestrian crossings off the Pacific Highway, with associated safety and maintenance improvements. Designed for 18-hour activation, a functional and aesthetic lighting strategy ensures safety and accessibility throughout the site.
Arcadia’s concept for the parkland zone extends the green corridors of nearby bushland into the urban environment providing opportunity for community to connect with the local context and its natural systems. The site will not only enhance the character and culture of the area, but also serve as a site of shelter and food for local fauna. It alleviates the urban heat island effect in a densely populated area with more than 50 trees planted, along with Indigenous shrubs and ferns, providing increased greenery and shade.
Completed adjacent to a major arterial road, over live rail and in close proximity to commercial and residential properties, the project was delivered on time and under budget and is testimony to what can be achieved with foresight and planning and a collaborative approach in a multi-disciplinary team.
The delivery of Wadanggari Park has provided St Leonards with a public space which cohabits with rail infrastructure and public community infrastructure.
Other landscape architecture offices involved in the design of landscape: Cola Studio (art and narrative)
Location: 564 Pacific Highway, St Leonards, New South Wales, Australia
Design year: 2018
Year Completed: 2023
