News & Developments: Bowden TOD

[peachy]

Hi all,

June's Bowden General Activity Update is attached below.

Bowden General Activity Update -June 2014 .pdf

Bowden General Activity Update -June 2014

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As apart of the June meeting, the reference group was asked to start thinking about the next stage of development at Bowden.

To date most of the Stage releases of Bowden have involved several different developers building a building each on a particular block. The next stage will involve getting one developer to develop a whole block with 3-4 buildings of heights 5-8 stories. When Bowden chooses which developer wins the tender they want to make sure the multi-building development has plenty of good semi-public spaces for the residents to intermingle and create that neighbourhood feel in apartment living. As such they would like the reference group and their extended networks (i.e. you guys ) to come up with some ideas of what spaces would be cool to have in an apartment building or set of buildings to promote a community feel within a block. Then the Bowden people can feed these ideas to the developers to give them some extra inspiration and examples of what their future buyers might be looking for. They would like stuff that appeals to families also as some of these bigger developments will be 3 bedroom apartments targeting families.

I've included the 'project brief' powerpoint here to explain further

Preamble Place Making Ideas Session - August 2014 - from BRG June 2014 meeting.pdf

Place Making Ideas Session

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I have some ideas and so will prepare some slides to present for the August deadline. If you have any ideas of your own or stuff you've seen overseas feel free to comment below and I can try and incorporate it into my submission. Otherwise you can create your own slides that I can submit on your behalf or we can collaborate to create a joint submission.

I hope to have my slides done by end of July so the Sen-Ad communtiy can comment and we can bounce ideas off each other.

Cheers
peachy

[how good is he]

If I was a resident of a new apartment development a gym plus an indoor heated pool, spa, steam room etc would be most welcome and maybe classes could also be run (Pilates, yoga etc) for the public in a separate section.
Ideally the whole suburb needs an Indoor sports centre esp in winter allowing for things like beach volleyball, basketball etc kids would love an indoor skate park and adventure playground
It would be good to consider the potential for weekend/ short term/serviced accommodation, so people who don't live there can still experience the area esp. once it becomes built up with markets, artists etc
Maybe also boutique cinemas and wine bars etc could be incorporated also.

[Wayno]

A few things that are important for me from a place making perspective:

1) Places cannot be static. Can't just impose a blanket solution from above, set & forget. Must involve an ongoing obligation (and $$$) to manage & evolve.
2) Must be created at a human scale. Must feel 'intimate' and not be cavernous or create feelings of agoraphobia.
3) No cars allowed or visible. Bikes and scooters are ok.
4) Be innovative with regards to seating. Must be interesting, comfortable, and able to be moved, but not stolen. Tricky.

And you may like to leverage some of the work done for the S-A VSQ submission back in 2010. http://www.sensational-adelaide.com/for ... =45#p78715

[MessiahAndrw]

For place making, I would push making it 'human-centric': mostly car-free streets (if that's too extreme then a shared space), and a highly walkable human-scale layout - narrow intimate streets, fine grained blocks.

[Nathan]

I find apartment only services like pools actually work against community. They give people less incentive to leave their building and interact with the neighbourhood. Those kind of facilities I think are better placed as neighbourhood facilities rather than for individual buildings. I do think the idea of a small boutique hotel near the station square so people can experience the area is a good one though, how good is he.

I don't have a heap of time to put together more ideas (too busy packing for the move in!), but one thought was in the mixed use of the ground level. Whilst Gibson St and around the train station is designated to be the "high street", they shouldn't be the only places commercial use should be allowed. Sprinklings of businesses should be allowed down other streets, mixed with residential buildings (obviously not as concentrated though). I'd also look at designing those commercial spaces so it's not just store fronts visible from the street - but give people the ability to see "out the back". If there's a bakery, let us see them baking the bread. If there's a studio, let us see the artists at work. If there's a furniture builder, let's see them building the furniture. There's something inherently interesting about seeing other people work, and by revealing that to the street it maintains activity and life.

I know there's a number of things that are already covered in the Urban Design Guidelines. The pedestrian flows through the blocks away from car traffic, the combination of larger parks and pocket parks, the emphasis on meeting points both on the street and within the buildings, so little need to reinforce those.

For things that appeal to families, a community child care facility would be handy - offering both day care, as well as a short term creche (for while you're knocking off the shopping at the market).

[peachy]

Here's July's General Activity statement.

Bowden General Activity Update -July 2014 .pdf

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[peachy]

Hi all,

just to clarify re: The Place Making assignment, the project is just looking at Place Making within an apartment building complex. It doesn't cover public streetscapes, roads or squares. It's more about what could a developer do to promote a neighbourhood feel in an apartment complex.

I've finished the first draft of my presentation. I've attached a copy of the slide below (I've had to split them up into 5 parts to get under the sites size limits) for you all to have a look at if interested. Hopefully it make enough sense as I haven't included the words I plan to talk to the slides to.

Cheers
peachy

Place Making Ideas Workshop I.pdf

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Place Making Ideas Workshop II.pdf

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[peachy]

and the other sections...

Place Making Ideas Workshop III.pdf

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Place Making Ideas Workshop IV.pdf

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Place Making Ideas Workshop V.pdf

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[peachy]

The August edition of the Bowden General Activity Update.

Bowden General Activity Update - August 2014 .pdf

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[peachy]

The September edition of the Bowden General Activity Update.

Bowden General Activity Update - September 2014 .pdf

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[Nathan]

Thanks Peachy. Great to hear about the produce market starting next month. I thought that was a couple of years off. I take it this is a temporary setup until development hits Plant 1 and it's refurbished properly with the park in front?

[Will]

The most recent apartment projects for Bowden:

Luminaire Stage 2:



http://lifemoreinteresting.com.au/wp-co ... ochure.pdf


The Merchant:





http://lifemoreinteresting.com.au/wp-co ... ant-V3.pdf

[ml69]

The most recent apartment projects for Bowden:

Luminaire Stage 2:



http://lifemoreinteresting.com.au/wp-co ... ochure.pdf


The Merchant:





http://lifemoreinteresting.com.au/wp-co ... ant-V3.pdf

They are both excellent looking good designs from the outside.

[rev]

There seems to be a fairly significant sized building going up. Quite evident while I was driving into the city this morning down War Memorial drive.
I'd imagine it's part of this development.

[Nathan]

The one up against the Park Tce bridge? Yep, that's the Nexus Apartments.
http://lifemoreinteresting.com.au/wp-co ... /Nexus.pdf