VISION 31—IN SEARCH OF A COMMUNITY VIBE
All pop-up cities and overnight urban
precincts experience growth pains.
Not even Dubai and its mega-rich sister
cities can entirely buy their way out of
trouble. Speedy growth, just like speedy
driving, brings big risks. True diversity
and smaller mixed-uses are often
overlooked in the rush to embrace
the big end of town.
T
his partially explains why community facilities and
attractions such as libraries, art galleries, green wedges,
community centres and playgrounds appear if ever, or
merely as add-ons, rather than intrinsic to the mix.
The matter of a Dockland’s Library was addressed
with Clare Design and Hayball's handsome $15 million
project finally opening last year. Talk about ‘bang for the
buck’. The whole precinct has been conspicuous by, and the
poorer for, such absences. This modest, community-based
project sits right alongside the library on Victoria Harbour
Promenade adding much needed dimension.
In truth it echoes the library, not so much eyeball snapping,
as a project of cool restraint rather than design antics.
A charcoal-toned metal cladding punctuated with Viridian
glazing in critical areas of public access and operation,
reprises a welcome waterfront design vocabulary.
Known as ‘Community Hub at the Dock’, the $8.5 million
project is at first glance an unlikely hybrid of family centre
and boating facility. The 1600 sq.m. building delivers 46m
of lively waterfront façade.
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