Dickson supermarket development rejected

What about something like this?
http://www.modular.org/images/image_event/10conv/4393a.pdf

wildturkeycanoe said :

Perhaps a re-used shipping container theme might impress?

logged in to give you a digital high five just for this.

I want Dickson to be a nice place so I don’t have to shop in an unpleasant dysfunctional place (?)

I don’t cre what it looks like, modern / heritage / daggy 60s like the rest of Dickson. I just want it to actually work. At the moment i quite like going there. I don’t want it to turn into a place that most people avoid like the plague.

sepi said :

Building this ugly blank lump in the middle of dickson will ruin what it already working well – the library and the several little outdoor squares of shops and cafes.

If they insist on dumping another supermarket into dickson, they should just do that – no need for the inevitble apartments.

Or if they do want to do the mega-building with apartments, then at least make it interesting and try hard to integrate it with what is already there. dickson is a pleasant place to wander and have a coffee. there is no need to turn it into a deserted bleak wind-tunnel like woden.

I like the idea of an open air bottom floor – nice wide eaves would be interesting – and I love the idea of a victoria markets style space.

I see no benefit for anyone in the current proposal – except people who don’t care at all about their surroundings and want the cheapest possible groceries – in which case to to Aldi at civic or Gungahlin, or get home-delivery and leave Dickson as a nice spot for future.

I don’t understand what leaving Dickson as a nice spot has to do with things. What is so nice about it? The area in question is just a car lot at the moment and the shops in Woolley street are lined with asbestos and eventually will probably be knocked down and rebuilt, hopefully before they crumble down into a pile of rubble during the next storm. The Fast food outlets and service station don’t exude a “traditional” or “historic” aura either.
Apartments are required, so that the government has justification for building the tram. More housing is needed in the tram corridor and this is one opportunity to create it AND make some good rates revenue at the same time.
Dickson already is a wind tunnel. there is nothing to stop the gale blowing from the open air car park straight through the passageway in front of Woolies and the bakery. Something like this apartment building could actually block the gusty north-wester. An open air bottom floor also enhances this same effect. Nice way to argue against yourself in two consecutive sentences.
Epic, only a few minutes up the road, holds a Victoria markets style event every Saturday. Why build another, which would only host stalls once a week? What purpose would it serve for the remaining six days except be a “deserted bleak wind-tunnel”.
I also don’t want more bland, grey, same old pitiful design brick looking structures. Perhaps the architects could make the multi-story building appear vintage by adding some pretty tiles, fancy colonnades or cladding with recycled Canberra red bricks. But who wants old? Maybe more people want something new and innovative? Whatever it will end up looking like, not everybody will be happy. Cost of construction often demands a conventional approach, fancy things are too expensive. Perhaps a re-used shipping container theme might impress?

Building this ugly blank lump in the middle of dickson will ruin what it already working well – the library and the several little outdoor squares of shops and cafes.

If they insist on dumping another supermarket into dickson, they should just do that – no need for the inevitble apartments.

Or if they do want to do the mega-building with apartments, then at least make it interesting and try hard to integrate it with what is already there. dickson is a pleasant place to wander and have a coffee. there is no need to turn it into a deserted bleak wind-tunnel like woden.

I like the idea of an open air bottom floor – nice wide eaves would be interesting – and I love the idea of a victoria markets style space.

I see no benefit for anyone in the current proposal – except people who don’t care at all about their surroundings and want the cheapest possible groceries – in which case to to Aldi at civic or Gungahlin, or get home-delivery and leave Dickson as a nice spot for future.

I am not sure what’s wrong with it? It looks modern without being too over the top. I think it’s a little hypocritical for Dickson residents to be stipulating this ultra modern urbanisation agenda when absolutely nothing else in dickson remotely comes close to such specifications.

Im with you on this one Dungfungus,

The last thing Canberra needs is more ugly, poorly designed shops. There’s acres of commercial space available for lease in Fyshwick & Mitchell (admittedly, not a lot of these are prime sites) yet we continue to build more. This proposal was a shocker in its original form, and I reckon the developer might have dodged a bullet here, one they didn’t see coming…

I think ACTPLA have done the developers a big favour by knocking this back.
Take a drive around Canberra now and see how much empty retail, commercial and industrial space there already is.
Things have well and truly tanked – last thing we need (beside a light rail) is another huge development like this.
I think IKEA must be wondering also.

Good on Actpla for doing there job. Now for all the NIMBIES who take ACPLA to ACAT. Shut up and let them do there job.

Good. It was a poor proposal. Dickson could do with a spruce up/revitalisation but This proposal had serious flaws – ugly 6 storey apartment building on the main car park, backing onto Antill St, poor traffic flows, not sympathetic to the character and whats good about Dickson currently. Go back to the drawing board and come up with something that aces the brief.