An award-winning transformation at one of Sydney's most iconic waterfront sites includes a...
- Client
- Ford Civil
- Project Partners
- ASPECT Studios and Hill Thalis
- State
- New South Wales
Highly complex. Multi faceted. Award winning.
One of the decade’s most recognisable architectural projects, Pirrama Park saw FORGE (formerly Fleetwood Urban) engaged by Ford Civil to help deliver the transformation of a modest Water Police site on the foreshores of Sydney Harbour into an exciting new public parkland.
The imaginative parklands featured boardwalks, a jetty, picnic shelters and cliff access stairs and, while structurally challenging, all works were completed on time, on budget and to the high level of fine detailing required.
Pirrama Park went on to win its designers, ASPECT Studios and Hill Thalis, the coveted AILA NSW Award in 2010. We are very proud to have played a key role in this award-winning project.
Our involvement.
FORGE (formerly Fleetwood Urban) was selected for the Pirrama Park project through our reputation for handling everything in-house, meeting hard deadlines and still delivering the highest levels of quality. Working closely with the project architects, we were responsible for bringing their inspired vision to life.
Our involvement spanned everything from the heavy-scale construction work of the cliff access stairs, to the stylish implementation of the boardwalks, decking and shelters, right through to the fine detail of the custom seating.
To deliver maximum efficiencies with minimum on-site disruption, many of the structural elements were fabricated off site. This included the aluminium boardwalks and the steel posts and roof frames for the picnic shelters.
Wherever possible we also sought to make use of pre-existing structures. This included installing part of the hardwood boardwalk using the site’s existing retaining walls.
Design Challenge
The designs were complex. From the outset, ASPECT Studios and Hill Thalis knew many of the structural elements would present considerable manufacturing and installation challenges. Only the best team would be good enough. They also wanted a single point of contact to avoid mistakes, budget blow-outs or missed deadlines as multiple contractors interpreted their highly-detailed designs.
Construction Challenge
Creating this innovative parkland was hugely challenging, but also richly rewarding. The complex designs, high levels of detail, tight timeline and hard-to-access foreshore location all presented issues that required innovative, thoughtful and collaborative problem-solving.
Innovations
The cliff stairs were a particular geometrical challenge. After taking precise cliff face surveys, we detailed the stairs for manufacture, fabricated and craned in a steel frame and stainless steel mesh landings, then fabricated, painted and craned in the steel stair frames, before installing stainless steel mesh stair treads and painted steel balustrade. The final stage was the installation of the stainless steel handrails.
Features
- Hardwood boardwalk
- Precast concrete boardwalk
- Jetty and pontoon with aluminium boardwalk
- Three picnic shelters
- Cliff access stairs
Safety and Risk Considerations
Installation of the cliff stairs on Pirrama Road posed the project’s biggest risk area. Hanging directly off the rockface, we needed to work closely with the rock anchor specialists to get it right. We couldn’t have them falling off the side!
Sustainability Considerations
It was important for Pirrama Park to be created with a strong sustainability focus. One of the main examples of this was the extensive use of sustainably-sourced Australian Class 1 hardwoods.
