Projects
Mays Hill Master Plan
Design Framework
‘A courageous approach to contemporary park making.’ – Jury Report
Winner of the 2020 AILA NSW Landscape Architecture Award for Cultural Heritage
Transforming a golf course into an inclusive community park
In 2017, the Parramatta Park Trust needed a master plan to return the 20-hectare Mays Hill precinct (a golf course for the previous 58 years) to public use. Our brief had three parts: site the new Parramatta Aquatic Centre, improve connections to Parramatta Park and consult intensively with the community. The challenge became how and where to fit an ambitious new program while protecting the precinct’s world heritage context, mature trees and key visual relationships.
We developed a range of visual principles to characterise some of the potential attributes of the future large parkland.
We recorded the special qualities of the place to communicate with community and stakeholders.
How to make an Olympic-sized swimming pool disappear
Contemporary urban parks are as much about program and activation as they are about green vistas and respite from the city. We viewed the Parramatta Aquatic Centre as a catalyst for the remaking, reorganisation and reactivation of the park. Our proposal to site the pool in the centre of the park was bold, and contrary to initial client and council expectations. The idea relied on clear principles showing how landform, access and views could help disguise the mega-structure in plain sight.
Our Mays Hill Master Plan identified how the new Parramatta Aquatic Centre should be sited within the Mays Hill parklands. We set out clear principles that positioned and shaped the new facility in relation to the broader landscape values and the world heritage context of Parramatta Park.
We developed clear principles for the 20 hectare site in order to protect its heritage landscape value. Our innovative design framework enabled the inclusion of a range of recreational uses.
A multi-colour, multi-use hybrid path
Parramatta’s growing community wanted a lot from this park – far more than it could ever fit. So we took the essence of each requested game, scaled down to its smallest essential element and distributed them along a colourful ‘hybrid path’. The accessible path zigzags up the slope for several hundred metres, defining landform as it runs. The inside of each mound forms a ramped edge suitable for scooters and skateboards, while the path accommodates running, basketball, netball, futsal – even cricket wickets. Grassy mounds create space to relax and watch the action with children’s play equipment distributed throughout.
We consulted widely with Parramatta’s diverse community who requested an equally diverse range of uses…far too many, even for a park of 20Ha.
Our solution was to develop a series of sculpted landforms, building on the remnant landform of the old golf course. These landforms allowed us to protect and focus key views. Within the landforms we folded a hybrid playscape attempting to cater for the diverse requests of the community.
The final Mays Hill Master Plan was adopted and the location for the new Parramatta Aquatic Centre was endorsed. The new Parramatta Aquatic Centre was designed and constructed in accordance with the Master Plan, receiving the Sulman Award for Public Architecture in 2024.
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