Coinciding with Adelaide’s Mad March festival, the public components of the ARM Architecture-designed Festival Plaza has opened.

The Plaza is the second stage of ARM Architecture’s Adelaide Riverbank Masterplan, which was created in 2011. The first stage was completed in 2014, with the entire $662 million masterplan focussing on creating 8,600 sqm of public space. Sixty percent of the Plaza’s public realm has been opened just in time for Mad March.

ARM’s design, created in collaboration with landscape architecture firm TCL and Aspect Studios, allows for increased public and community activation, with event-ready spaces accommodating a planned calendar of year-round events. The revamped space also provides accessible open public space for the community in general non-event modes and settings.

The opening of the Festival Plaza is a drawcard for the Adelaide CBD, which has seen visitors flock to the venue for the Fringe Festival, Writer’s Week and the Adelaide Festival. ARM Principal Philippe Naudin says it is gratifying to see the majority of the second phase come to fruition.

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“We’re excited to be able to deliver a key stage of the renewed Festival Plaza. After many years behind barriers, it’s wonderful that the space can be open during Adelaide’s vibrant Festival Season,” he says

“Unlocking accessibility and reconnecting pedestrians with the city was key in this project and we’re thrilled to bring people back to this iconic part of Adelaide once again. The renewed precinct accommodates multi-use functionality for event goers as well as the everyday commuter, worker and school-goer.”

The Plaza’s design seeks to maximise public space in connection with nature to offer a healthy and social environment for city-goers, and has been designed to promote interest and bring visitors back to the CBD post-pandemic.

The Plaza references South Australia’s unique climate and landscape, with a series of comfortable spaces that have trees, arbours, water features and grass. The stone legacy of South Australia, both natural and built, weaves throughout the site. Once complete, the Festival Plaza Precinct Public Realm will exist as a significant cultural site in the city of churches.

A series of arbour structures line the outdoor area of the Plaza giving shade and weather protection. A water feature installed outside is directly inspired by the South Australian River, and features mist jets and lighting providing captivating visuals for onlookers. The new precinct features eight now spaces: King William Road, Festival Plaza, Arts Space Plaza, Eastern Plaza, Station Road, the Northern Promenade and Adelaide Railway Station Entry Concourse. The Plaza will feature 26,000 sqm of open spaces once it reaches completion, enabling people to venture freely through the repaired precinct from North Terrace, King William Road, Station Road, the Riverbank Footbridge and Elder Park.

The opening coincides with the completion of the refurbishment work undertaken on the entryway to the Adelaide Railway Station, also overseen by ARM, which allows for greater pedestrian access.

The Adelaide Festival Centre was officially opened by South Australian Premier Steven Marshall Premier on March 11.

Images: Supplied

Jarrod Reedie

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