Collinsville town centre improvements
- Client Name
- Whitsunday Regional Council
- Location
- Queensland, Australia
Challenge
SLR was commissioned by Whitsunday Regional Council to produce landscape and urban design concepts for Collinsville as part of the 鈥淐hoose Collinsville Project鈥�. Collinsville is a regional township in the Whitsunday Region (80km west of Bowen) that has long history as a mining and resource centre mainly in coal.
Collinsville鈥檚 inland location and mining focus required different considerations for townscape improvements. Council鈥檚 brief was to look at opportunities to promote the town鈥檚 character and embellish key entry points in order to attract visitors and enhance community pride.
Solution
SLR took the approach of undertaking an analysis of the town focused on identifying its key character elements as a way of promoting its unique identity and revitalising the urban centre of Collinsville; Stanley Street.
We identified a lack of legibility and wayfinding cues when navigating through Collinsville especially for the first time.
The team adopted the underlying theme of enhancing the entry roads with street trees to create a 鈥楪reen Spine鈥� through town, whilst proposing landmark vegetation at key points to enhance wayfinding opportunities and directional cues leading to the town centre.
Enhancing Stanley Street as the centre of Collinsville was a major aim in creating an 鈥極asis鈥� or 鈥楪reen Heart鈥� for the town. Linking Stanley Street to existing parks at either end was proposed to help reinforce the shaded, green nature of the town centre and encourage a more walkable, pedestrian focused environment.
Upgrades to key entry points and intersections into Stanley Street are also proposed in creating a hierarchy of public spaces within Collinsville and reinforcing a greener approach to this rural township.
SLR undertook a lead role as Landscape Architect and Urban Designer and oversaw a consultant team consisting of civil, traffic and quantity surveyors to advise on the design concepts.
