Despite coming in second for the Royal Adelaide Hospital site design competition, Slovakian firm Nice Architects and South Australia’s Mulloways Studios’ proposal, The Hill, seemed to have captured the hearts of the public, taking home the People’s Choice Award.

Designed as part of a new urban quarter, ‘Adelaide Rocks’, the mixed-use development focuses on socioeconomic and environmental sustainability.

Here is a more detailed look into the proposal:

"ADELAIDE ROCKS is a new urban quarter. It is an engaging, unexpected, fun, active and multi-layered place built around sound ecological principles and economic sustainability. It will be a significant cultural and civic space that continues and consolidates the North Terrace Boulevard and Riverbank Precinct in Adelaide.

The core of the proposal is a massive urban gesture – a hill formed from the debris of demolished buildings that turns waste into a positive, exciting, and unique urban space. The hill provides a strong identity for the place, for the city and the State, and together with a series of embedded functions, creates a unique urban space that is quirky and engaging. A green and vertical landscape that connects the city to the parklands, the hill provides active and passive recreational opportunities not readily available within Adelaide’s CBD.

The hill also provides a series of ecological opportunities that are unique. The mass and height of the hill supports the climate control of interior and exterior spaces throughout the site through subsidence cooling, geothermal exchange, heat extraction via a thermal chimney and the storage of cooling energy in a mass cool chamber.

Acknowledging its historical identity, the proposal retains many of the existing buildings along North Terrace and Frome Road, showcasing the built heritage of the site and providing new uses through adaptation. These buildings respond the existing language of cultural institutions and provide a sense of familiarity in contrast to the proposed new vertical landscape beyond.

The removal of connective obstructions between existing buildings provides clear glimpses of the hill while simultaneously increases pedestrian permeability to the site.

Characterised by its cultural frontage along North Terrace, the proposal incorporates the Museum of South Australia, Art Gallery of South Australia, Contemporary Art Gallery of South Australia, Museum of Adelaide and Aboriginal Gallery. These cultural uses are counterbalanced with university uses and residential accommodation, providing a well-balanced mix of programmes that aims to provide all-day activation to the site.

To the eastern boundary of the site, a landmark mixed-use tower anchors the corner, providing residential accommodation and associated functions as well as ongoing economic impetus and activity. The 23-storey building accommodates public functions on the lower levels including a sport centre in connection with recreational functions of the hill and residential apartments on upper levels. The building is designed to achieve a six star rating.

The vibrancy of public spaces and hill-park are at the core of the proposal. This vibrancy is underpinned by a unique, unexpected and apparently whimsical hill-scape. It signifies the site and becomes a strong reflection of how creative thinking can turn a mundane demolition problem into a positive and unique outcome, contributing to the identity of a creative City and State."

For the full project text, click here.

The competition, which will see the area next to Adelaide’s botanic gardens revamped when the hospital relocates in 2016, was held by the South Australian government. The winning design was by Slash Design/Philips Pilkington. Tied in second place was Bonhag and De Rosa with Taylor Cullity Lethlean.

Images: Nice Architects (bustler.net)