6 October 2015

Developer sought for Kingston arts hub

| Charlotte
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Kingston Arts Precinct

The ACT Government has today called for development applications for the Kingston Arts Precinct, home to the Canberra Glassworks, Megalo Print Studio + Gallery and Bus Depot Markets.

The four-hectare site sits between the Kingston Foreshore, Bowen and Telopea parks and apartment-filled old suburb of Kingston.

Chief Minister Andrew Barr said developers had a unique opportunity to create a “vibrant hub of arts and creativity” in the area.

“The Government’s vision is to make the precinct a key cultural destination, bringing together the city’s heritage with a new development that will be Canberra’s creative hub,” he said. “It will be a place where artists, cultural organisations and creative businesses make, teach, exhibit, perform and sell their work.”

Mr Barr said the preferred developer was expected to be appointed in mid-2016.

The Land Development Agency’s Request for Proposal specifies the needs of arts organisations who will operate in the precinct including gallery, workshop, meeting and administration spaces, accommodation for visiting artists and car parking.

The Government anticipates local, national and international developers will be interested in their vision to create “a project that sensitively brings together the old and the new, in the coolest little capital in the world”.

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Holden Caulfield said :

Zan said :

Canberra has the most boring architecture in the Australia, just look at the buildings in the west of Civic and the newer suburbs of ticky tacky little boxes.

I take your point, but there are exceptions: Nishi, ApARTments, Ori, National Museum, National Portrait Gallery, pretty much any building at ANU erected in the last 5-10 years. Even Bridge Point at the end of Trevillian Quay is not too bad, as far as mainstream aprtment developments go.

Have you noticed that Nishi apartments is very forced art. and has very little connection to the rest of the city.
It still follows the boring pattern of repeating the same thing from ground floor to the top floor. In concrete. The apartments themselves are also small. Plus the contractor of the Nishi building went bust during development. So I don’t have high hopes of more Nishi’s.

If we dump what light rail is going to cost from Gunners to Russel we could build a Shard for the same amount.
If you put all of government in one building they wouldn’t be able to escape Canberra.

Holden Caulfield6:12 pm 03 Oct 15

Zan said :

Canberra has the most boring architecture in the Australia, just look at the buildings in the west of Civic and the newer suburbs of ticky tacky little boxes.

I take your point, but there are exceptions: Nishi, ApARTments, Ori, National Museum, National Portrait Gallery, pretty much any building at ANU erected in the last 5-10 years. Even Bridge Point at the end of Trevillian Quay is not too bad, as far as mainstream aprtment developments go.

Zan said :

Canberra has the most boring architecture in the Australia, just look at the buildings in the west of Civic and the newer suburbs of ticky tacky little boxes.

The charm of the bus depot markets will go and be replaced by the mass produced rubbish that happened in Darling Harbour, which has also failed. Oh well I suppose that is progress.

The ACT government’s deal for Kingston was that a library would be built down there. Didn’t happen. So there’s no civic space, just dense, tedious rows of very small apartments – worse dwellings incidentally, than the wogged-up pov fibros that used to populate The Causeway.

Developers do what developers do – if they manage to completely sterilise Kingston, it’s the toy-town government’s fault for lacking the integrity to enforce a proper social, civic design on the overall development.

It might still work, but things are not looking promising so far. (I like that pub down there, btw, nice atmosphere, good spot, and unexpectedly not overrun with those 30-year-old weirdos with beards and short tight trousers).

I must also say that the architecture in the Kingston foreshore area is not very interesting either. Narrow streets and the noise of some of the air conditioners on the roof a bit loud. When a Harley goes down any of the streets the noise echoes throughout. I would hate to live there. Hope they have triple glazing for sound deadening.

Not just the most boring, dull and unimaginative architecture, but the worst built.

Most locals love it for all the above reasons.

Canberra has the most boring architecture in the Australia, just look at the buildings in the west of Civic and the newer suburbs of ticky tacky little boxes.

The charm of the bus depot markets will go and be replaced by the mass produced rubbish that happened in Darling Harbour, which has also failed. Oh well I suppose that is progress.

MOAR VIBRANCY!!!!

Development and heritage don’t really mix well.

Irony in that most developers in Canberra making the most boring buildings possible and we want to develop an arts precinct.

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