The only park in Australia built over a railway line, Wadanggari Park symbolises the future of Sydney – a modern urban park, connecting people with ancient Indigenous narrative and natural bushland, in a densely populated area. With a narrative based on the resilience of the Wadanggari (banksia), Wadangarri Park uses innovative thinking about space to unlock public space in a dense urban environment.
The park extends the green corridors of bushland which connect the CBD of St Leonards with Sydney Harbour. This much-needed public open space is a resilient and responsive landscape that reflects and enhances the local character and identity of St Leonards, while meeting the demands of a growing suburb, supporting active, vibrant and growing residential and commercial communities.
The result of long-term planning, Arcadia undertook detailed analysis and community consultation to realise the site’s potential for programming and circulation to create a new public space in a suburb where the population has increased by 61 percent between 2011 and 2021 and continuing to grow with 2,000 dwellings approved and under construction to the south of the Pacific Highway.
Arcadia worked closely with a Cammeraygal Elder and an Indigenous Design Strategist and artist to refine the narrative, based on the lifecycle of the Wadanggari (banksia), an important part of the St Leonards area ecological community, and its symbolism for growth and renewal due to its regeneration through fire and smoke. The Wadanggari narrative has been used to create a distinct identity for the precinct, acknowledging Cammeraygal culture through paving inlays/patterning, interpretive shade structures, murals, and the sculptural play elements.
Strong placemaking initiatives have resulted in an exciting interpretive play experience and the provision of a retail / food and beverage precinct. With a form influenced by the stages of growth of the Wadanggari, the distinctive shapes and colours of the playground create a strong visual connection to passersby, connecting users with the rear of the site and elevated views back along the rail corridor.
Located at the rear of the Park, adjacent to the food and beverage retail outlets and an array of diverse seating options, Arcadia designed the play space at Wadanggari Park as a major attraction for the space. The playspace is designed for children of all ages, encouraging physical activity and development, with the design allowing for imaginative expeditions in the lush gardens. Seating includes options for supervising children, a special ‘train-spotting’ vantage point and shaded dining pods to allow for larger groups to gather for family events and birthday parties.
Nooks of all sizes, enclosed within lush planting, make ideal meeting spots for commercial workers, residents, general public and retail spillout. The boardwalk allows for comfortable circulation with accessible entries and exit points for all abilities. A timber stage and a large expanse of sloping turf delivers flexibility for a range of uses by the community, from weekend picnics, lounging in the lunchtime sun and community events. Designed for 18-hour activation, a functional and aesthetic lighting strategy ensures safety and accessibility throughout the site.
Wadanggari Park has been designed to provide a 20-minute ring of walkability for commercial workers in the wider St Leonards CBD to use on their lunch break, with approaches from all directions encouraging use of retail, seating and winding pathways through the Park, promoting health and activity.
Wadanggari Park 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 and the opportunity for residents to take time to connect with the local context and its natural systems. The site will not only enhance the bush character and culture of the area, through colour, smell and texture of flora, but also serve as a site of shelter and food for local fauna.
Strategically designed to enable accessible connections to the new residential zone south of the Pacific Highway, where 2,000 new dwellings are under construction, the park provides access to a revitalised subterranean link below the six lane Highway, connecting pedestrians between the existing station, the new bus interchange on the park edge and through to the almost complete Metro station.
The combination of the Wadanggari precinct and the subterranean link, both accessible by lifts and stairs, allows residents and commercial workers to walk onto the park and under the road, taking thousands of pedestrian crossings off the highway, with associated safety and maintenance benefits.
The delivery of Wadanggari Park has provided St Leonards with a public space which cohabits with transport infrastructure and while providing critical open space amenity for the growing resident and worker community.
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: 2024
