25 Feb, 2016

Adelaide’s New Designed Future: Shaping Our Streets For Success

City of Adelaide has released a new design strategy developed to shape the successful future for all public spaces in the City of Adelaide.

The ‘Adelaide Design Manual’ (ADM), will provide strategic and technical guidance for the design of all public places in the city, to ensure streets and places are high-quality, attractive, sustainable and welcoming.

Lord Mayor Martin Haese said the ADM will ensure will ensure that the City of Adelaide’s streets are well-placed to meet future growth, and will enhance the city’s liveability and boutique feel.

“Well-designed streets are good for everyone; for our residents, for our businesses and for our city. The fabric of our streets is the brand that people experience every day. It’s also what tourists take away with them, and we want that experience to be a unique one that’s special to the City of Adelaide,” said Martin.

“A walkable, welcoming city that values high-quality public space also contributes to economic growth and long-term sustainability. The Adelaide Design Manual sets out a toolkit for the design of all public spaces, focusing on consistency, high-quality, and enhancing the character of the city.”

“This is a long-term commitment that will be delivered gradually, project by project, to consistently improve our city streets.”

The ADM is already being used to guide city projects including a new green wall on Pirie Street, the upgrade of Bank Street, and designs for better streetscapes and cycle ways across the city.

The West End Village Association (WEVA), made up of residents and businesses in the city’s west end, has been collaborating with Council on improving street design along Waymouth Street West using the design toolkit to guide additional greening and better footpaths and crossing points.

WEVA President John Kirkwood said he wanted Waymouth Street West to reflect the diversity of businesses and residents using the street.

“To do this we needed street trees, landscaping and benches to entice people to use the space more,” said John.

“The design will include 13 new street trees, eight raingardens with mixed plantings, three pedestrian crossings and permeable paving.

“Council has really collaborated with WEVA to create a design that’s not only above standard, but that we as a community can build a sense of connection, ownership and civic pride in.”

The ADM is a toolkit that builds on the City of Adelaide’s character, authenticity and strengths, drawing from local, national and international experience in urban design and sustainability principles and providing direction for the design of all public spaces.

There are seven sections in the ADM: Introduction, Street Types, Street Design, Furniture and Materials, Greening, Building Frontages and Lighting.

These sections provide a toolkit for approaching all design projects, large or small, for the City of Adelaide, guiding principles to allow consistent design across small and large projects, a range of approaches, palettes and suites of furniture, materials and other elements to use in certain locations throughout the city and design standards.

The ADM is available at adelaidedesignmanual.com.au and includes an interactive tool with a searchable database of all streets in the City of Adelaide area, providing information on their street type and a vision for how city streets are shaped using the ADM.

The ADM is a jointly funded project between the State Government’s Places for People grant program and City of Adelaide, and is available from Thursday 25 February online at adelaidedesignmanual.com.au.

Matt Halliwell