Located at the edge of central Sydney, Prince Alfred Park is both a city park for local workers and a recreational park. The ambition of the project was to reinvigorate the 7.5 hectare park and upgrade the tired public pool. The overriding principle was to premiate landscape over built form, based on a conviction that in these inner urban areas, green space is sacred.

Sue Barnsley Design was responsible for the Landscape design on the project which includes sustainability initiatives such as stormwater harvesting, recycled materials, bio retention swales and a 2,320sqm Green roof.

Key initiatives:

  • Green roof insulation - a 2,320sqm biotic surface which is continually transpiring, oxygenating the city, cooling & humidifying the site while sequestering carbon the green roof will be monitored to refine & improve the ecology of this landscape
  • Meadows & non mowable grass slopes trial an alternative low groundcover to mown lawns
  • Cabbage tree palms have been transplanted from areas destined for logging
  • Tree pit soil volumes are based on best practice data
  • Stormwater harvesting from concourse to supply toilets
  • Extensive native meadows protect mature figs from compaction, increasing urban biodiversity
  • The high cover of porous, natural surfaces, reduces reflectivity & heat generation
  • The park has extensive new tree, under-storey & habitat plantings
  • Soils are manufactured & topsoil conditions are improved
  • Site earthworks required a balance of cut & fill across the park
  • New pathways are universally accessible, while allowing for natural drainage
  • Bio retention swales improve water quality before discharge to Blackwattle Bay
  • Stormwater is collected in a 500kL underground storage tank for reuse including piped water from the Surry Hills catchment
  • The capacity of the tank allows for 14 days continuous irrigation during peak summer for high use areas- the pool curtilage & park playing field
  • Irrigation smart controls & sensors assist water conservation & management
  • Recycled construction materials from site- sandstone, soils, aggregate subbase, mulch
  • Timber products are from recycled sources
  • Rationalised park lighting to major pathways & energy efficient lamps including LED lights

Images: Brett Boardman