Client
Townsville City Council (TCC)
Awards
- 2012 AIB Professional Excellence Awards
High Commendation - 2012 UDIA National Awards for Excellence winner: Urban Renewal
- 2011 Planning Institute Australia Award for Excellence in the Great Place
Features
- Redevelopment of mall to ‘High Street’
- Cost $56m
- Introduction to calm traffic
- Conservation of heritage sites
- Environmentally sensitive design
- New Information Centre, Town Square and events area
Highlights
- Successfully undertook project within a busy, operation city centre with nil public safety issues
- Critical milestones achieved to secure project funding
- Early collation of underground services information reduced timeframe for preliminary works
30 years ago Townsville closed its main street to traffic and developed the Flinders Street Mall. With the city heart struggling to compete with regional centres, TCC commissioned the development of a masterplan for the CBD focusing on the revitalisation of the city centre, an essential element of which was the redevelopment of the mall area. The Flinders Street Redevelopment (FSR) project included demolition of structures to open the streetscape, a new road, flat paved footpaths, shade structures, garden beds and extensive upgrading and relocation of stormwater drains and services.
Financed through local, State and Federal government funding, a key issue of the project was the Federal government’s requirement for the FSR to be ‘shovel ready’ within six months. This timing parameter put enormous pressures on the development team to get the project underway as soon as possible. With only the masterplan developed, the RCP team undertook a strategic approach to determine the most appropriate delivery method to expedite the appointment of the design consultants and construction contractor. Breaking down the components, RCP identified areas that could be designed and constructed relatively quickly, meeting the funding conditions as well as TCC’s preference to provide opportunities for smaller, local companies in addition to the larger contractors. RCP provided project management services to support the Council’s Project Manager for the duration of the project through to completion.