Lot Fourteen’s North Terrace frontage will be transformed into a contemporary urban environment and contribute to the revitalisation of North Terrace.
Once complete, the public realm works will provide an open and connected entrance to the neighbourhood – which will be home to the Australian Space Agency, Mission Control Centre and the new Aboriginal Art and Cultures Centre.
The works will link Lot Fourteen to adjoining universities, Adelaide Botanic Garden, Adelaide Botanic High School, Adelaide Riverbank, East End and Rundle Mall.
The urban design and landscape project is being led by Adelaide-based Oxigen, one of Australia’s most awarded design and landscape architecture practices.
The public realm design builds upon the spirit and intent of the City of Adelaide’s 2001 North Terrace Master Plan, which incorporates plazas and forecourts and aims to improve connectivity and accessibility for pedestrians and cyclists.
The high-quality finish of the new public realm works will create a lasting and impressive entrance to Lot Fourteen. It will feature over 40 new trees, including 6.5m high advanced growth plane trees to define routes, increase amenity and create a new destination.
The public realm design achieves improved accessibility by grading the footpath level from the kerb to the building entries and realigning the North Terrace kerb to increase the footpath width, with the removal of impediments such as the large trees and poles.
The earthworks and lowered pavement will expose the roots and likely impact on the health and life of the trees. The trees are all non-native species (Chinese elms (Ulmus parvifolia), English elms (Ulmus minor ‘Atina’) and London plane trees. Irrespective of these works, an independent arborist report has advised that the trees have a limited life expectancy of around eight years.
Oxigen initially sought to retain the trees, however the excavation works required to meet City of Adelaide’s paving specifications (of around 450 to 500 millimetres) to replace damaged paving on the North Terrace footpath, coupled with the age of the trees, would destabilise and potentially kill the trees.
Originally, when these trees were planted, it was not intended to be a main thoroughfare, and now the roots are lifting the surrounding pavers. The footpath will be repaved with granite pavers on a concrete slab to adhere to City of Adelaide’s construction specifications, similar to what is already in place along Rundle Mall and the ANZAC Walk on Kintore Avenue.
The Lot Fourteen Master Plan and public realm design recently won a 2019 Australian Institute of Landscape Architects Award of Excellence.
Tree selection and placement is integral to achieving a visually and functionally consistent public realm that also meets aesthetic and Healthy Cities objectives.
Lot Fourteen is the first registered WELL Communities pilot project in the Southern Hemisphere. There is a strong focus on the health and wellbeing of the community within the neighbourhood which is reflected in the urban design.
The Lot Fourteen Master Plan returns more than 50% of the site to publicly accessible spaces with a significant amount of open space linking with the Adelaide Botanic Garden.
The stage one public realm concept has been developed in consultation with the City of Adelaide, Department of Planning Transport and Infrastructure (Transport, State Commission Assessment Panel and Office of Design and Architecture SA), the Adelaide Botanic Garden and State Heritage.
Works have commenced on the public realm. Renewal SA has obtained landlord approval for works outside Lot Fourteen’s site boundary. Renewal SA has met all requirements in relation to construction specifications and regulations, as well as safety standards for these works. This includes measures to identify and manage the protection of any local fauna identified within each tree.