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monotonehell wrote:But most of all the area needs a mix of uses introduced to keep it alive around the clock. Shame the office tower above was canned, that would have provided daytime activity to complement the night time activity of the theatres.

I agree there needs to be some mixed uses to generate day time activity, but I don't think offices was the right direction. I think we need to take another leaf from Federation Square and compliment the plaza and Festival Centre with other cultural buildings. Maybe a modern art gallery (something similar in size to NY's New Museum), or some kind of performance/rehearsal space.

Nathan wrote:

monotonehell wrote:But most of all the area needs a mix of uses introduced to keep it alive around the clock. Shame the office tower above was canned, that would have provided daytime activity to complement the night time activity of the theatres.

I agree there needs to be some mixed uses to generate day time activity, but I don't think offices was the right direction. I think we need to take another leaf from Federation Square and compliment the plaza and Festival Centre with other cultural buildings. Maybe a modern art gallery (something similar in size to NY's New Museum), or some kind of performance/rehearsal space.

I think the state government is completely on the wrong track with the Festival Plaza. Of course there needs to be mixed use otherwise we'll just have a nicer-looking version of a dead plaza. The current plaza space is just too big and should be roughly halved in size, which would make it similar to Fed Square in size. It also needs more "enclosure" than it currently has.

Offices: I think some (but not too much) office space would be good .... in particular a high profile TV station such as Channel 9 or ABC would be an ideal tenant. Fed Square has SBS as a tenant.

Hotel: Also I think a very complementary use which has been missed is another 5-star hotel, in addition to the casino's proposed hotel. Festival Plaza is arguably the best location in the city for a high-end hotel. It would also be a constant day/night traffic generator.

Cultural: As suggesed above, a contemporary art gallery, and also relocate the SA sports museum from North Tce to here so it's more conveniently located on the main path to Adelaide Oval.

Restaurants/cafes/bars: Can be located on the ground floor areas of the offices and hotel.

ml69 wrote:I think the state government is completely on the wrong track with the Festival Plaza. Of course there needs to be mixed use otherwise we'll just have a nicer-looking version of a dead plaza. The current plaza space is just too big and should be roughly halved in size, which would make it similar to Fed Square in size. It also needs more "enclosure" than it currently has.

Agree completely. 'Enclosing' a public space can help to define it, and this is a small issue with the existing set-up of the plaza. It is a confusing mess with very little definable boundaries. A good example of an 'enclosed'/defined public space is that of the northern half of Hindmarsh Square, where the Crowne Plaza seals off the north-east corner for example. The same applies to the western side.



Federation Square and Circular Quay in Sydney work because they have these physical boundaries.



Circular Quay has the water, various buildings and the Cahill Expressway.

ml69 wrote:Offices: I think some (but not too much) office space would be good .... in particular a high profile TV station such as Channel 9 or ABC would be an ideal tenant. Fed Square has SBS as a tenant night traffic generator-

Agree also about the SBS building in Fed Square. It's one of Melbourne's most hideous, but it works somehow. A lot of activity can be generated from a television studio, and what would a new/revamped public space need to justify itself? Activity! Pedestrian life! Would like to see ABC for one relocate from Collinswood and come to the CBD.

ml69 wrote:Hotel: Also I think a very complementary use which has been missed is another 5-star hotel, in addition to the casino's proposed hotel. Festival Plaza is arguably the best location in the city for a high-end hotel. It would also be a constant day/night traffic generator.

I agree also, have always wanted to see a hotel here. Knock Stamford from its high horse and provide some semblance of complement to Oaks Embassy (which would quintessentially be at the western end of the whole riverbank precinct).

ml69 wrote:Cultural: As suggesed above, a contemporary art gallery, and also relocate the SA sports museum from North Tce to here so it's more conveniently located on the main path to Adelaide Oval.

ml69 wrote:Restaurants/cafes/bars: Can be located on the ground floor areas of the offices and hotel.

Spot on again. You'd do well in nutting out an urban design project.

It may not appear this way from street view but things are well underway with this.

Fencing and scaffolding around the Dunstan Playhouse, they've removed the ground plates from within the fenced area.

Also, I'm not sure how to do this but could we perhaps merge this page and the Festival Plaza Upgrade page together or are they still considered two separate developments?

I'm sorry but what exactly is happening? The car park? Do we have any idea of the proposed plaza development?
Any word on the Festival Centre upgrade commencing?

Think the thread relates more to the redevelopment of the Festival Centre itself - there's a separate thread for the Plaza where, as far as I know, nothing much of note has occurred...

Patrick_27 wrote:It may not appear this way from street view but things are well underway with this.

Fencing and scaffolding around the Dunstan Playhouse, they've removed the ground plates from within the fenced area.

Also, I'm not sure how to do this but could we perhaps merge this page and the Festival Plaza Upgrade page together or are they still considered two separate developments?

What's weird was that that area was already done as part of the pedestrian bridge works...

Llessur2002 wrote:Think the thread relates more to the redevelopment of the Festival Centre itself - there's a separate thread for the Plaza where, as far as I know, nothing much of note has occurred...

Well, in that case I've posted on the right thread.

Nathan wrote:

Patrick_27 wrote:It may not appear this way from street view but things are well underway with this.

Fencing and scaffolding around the Dunstan Playhouse, they've removed the ground plates from within the fenced area.

Also, I'm not sure how to do this but could we perhaps merge this page and the Festival Plaza Upgrade page together or are they still considered two separate developments?

What's weird was that that area was already done as part of the pedestrian bridge works...

This is true, but for the sake of keeping the redesign of the area flowing they're no doubt going to do everything.

Mpol wrote:I'm sorry but what exactly is happening? The car park? Do we have any idea of the proposed plaza development?
Any word on the Festival Centre upgrade commencing?

Did you even read my comment? The upgrade has commenced... Also, if you read the documents available on the Festival Centre website you'd find the answers to this.

The plaza development is still in the designing phase.

At this point, they're upgrading Dunstan Playhouse 'dome' but the plan is the upgrade the northern end of the centre and create the new entrance so that they can close the current entrance and the plaza works can commence.

Just as a matter of interest, there is some repair work being done on the Play house roof; Picture from last week 12 Dec 15.

There was an extensive piece in The Adelaide Review regarding plans from the ASO managing director to seek government funding for a new concert hall in Adelaide with a 1,500 seat capacity, specifically designed to host a full symphony orchestra and choir but with the capability to be used as a recital hall for smaller chamber music events. Apparently the ASO have been working on this for five years and have already scouted a few locations (none mentioned), the festival plaza would make the most sense for a concert hall, directly next-door to the current concert venue and enough land to cater for what is required. Parking was something mentioned to be very important in the scouting process. He said in the immediate they're seeking support from the Adelaide City Council to expand the stage area of the Adelaide Town Hall to cater for their needs until such a facility is funded and built.

The AFC managing director supported the idea but said that the Festival Centre upgrade and a capacity increase to Her Majesties Theatre would need to be the first priority. But he did express an interest in the AFC managing the facility on the government's behalf.

If the AFC were given the rights to manage this facility then perhaps a ideal location would be on the site of the old Bus Terminal? It's large enough, within the same block as HMT, and there is enough parking nearby.

What's everyone's thoughts on this? If I can find the article on-line, I'll link it up here.

Patrick_27 wrote:There was an extensive piece in The Adelaide Review regarding plans from the ASO managing director to seek government funding for a new concert hall in Adelaide with a 1,500 seat capacity, specifically designed to host a full symphony orchestra and choir but with the capability to be used as a recital hall for smaller chamber music events. Apparently the ASO have been working on this for five years and have already scouted a few locations (none mentioned), the festival plaza would make the most sense for a concert hall, directly next-door to the current concert venue and enough land to cater for what is required. Parking was something mentioned to be very important in the scouting process. He said in the immediate they're seeking support from the Adelaide City Council to expand the stage area of the Adelaide Town Hall to cater for their needs until such a facility is funded and built.

The AFC managing director supported the idea but said that the Festival Centre upgrade and a capacity increase to Her Majesties Theatre would need to be the first priority. But he did express an interest in the AFC managing the facility on the government's behalf.

If the AFC were given the rights to manage this facility then perhaps a ideal location would be on the site of the old Bus Terminal? It's large enough, within the same block as HMT, and there is enough parking nearby.

What's everyone's thoughts on this? If I can find the article on-line, I'll link it up here.

There's quite a bit of agitation on this (like the contemporary art gallery). Even the Sunday Mail had a lift out last weekend, which was a post-mortem on the festivals but really it was a collection of essays putting the case forward for a concert hall, and some other arts venues. There seems to be a lot of smoke on both.

Festival Centre Cafe is closing after this weekend. Feel sorry for the guy who owns it but he's a classic old 'corner deli' chap.

He's not sure of the exact refurb plans, but hoping it includes a full kitchen so proper meals can be served.

This cafe really needs professional management and cater for a mix of people and price points. Hoping the outside area is split into a couple of distinct eating areas.

What do you mean distinct eating areas?what's the purpose?