See below a recent article about our work for Mirvac, at Greenwood Plaza in North Sydney. The collaborative Design Approach used the skills of a creative team including; Crone Partners, Mirvac, Philips Lighting, Barrisol, Mainbrace and Prototype.
Sydney’s Greenwood Plaza launches new refurbishment by Crone Partners | Architecture And Design.
The Sydney Arcade was constructed in 1998. The sketches shown here, were drawn when I was a young, fresh, university graduate and illustrate my first experience at Computer Aided Design – Microstation! In those days, photo-montages were not created with Photoshop, but with paper, glue and scissors and we rendered with……..pencils and markers.
The original Sydney Arcade (c.1881) was the first arcade in Sydney. Part of our design brief, was to restore and integrate the King Street facade into the new retail street. The arcade is a curved laneway, 6 metres wide, 4 storeys high and covered by a curved glass vaulted roof. The highly detailed shop fronts for this ‘fashion street’ are treated similarly to the street facades, combining sandstone cladding, metal balconies, signage and lighting. The glazed canopy provides a sense of enclosure to the internal street, allowing open balconies to promote vertical activity. One of the features of the laneway are, two storey high bay windows that can be used as visual display shopfronts.
I don’t know if you have seen the latest Star Trek movie? The cinematography and technology used is very impressive, especially viewed on the huge 3D IMAX screen at Darling Harbour.
This blog post however, has nothing to do with Star Trek but talks about a new ‘futuristic” lighting design developed for Mirvac at Greenwood Plaza, in North Sydney.
The light pictured below, can be found walking the concourse level at the shopping centre. We designed the ceilings late 2012, to use environmentally friendly materials, such as, the plywood louvres that form a curving, directional spine at the centre. The existing lights were replaced with highly energy efficient LED lights, providing improved LUX levels for shoppers and providing Energy Saving Certificates for the client. The futuristic lights are located at key entries to the mall and were developed with Phillips Lighting and Barrisol. Mainbrace contractors are currently managing the construction of the ceilings over the next few months.
Design work for Mirvac, at Greenwood Plaza, was completed end of 2012 by Crone Partners Architects and Interiors, on a number of projects including ceiling and lighting treatments, as well as respite seating. These works are currently under construction creating a buzz around the centre. Retailers and shoppers alike, are appreciating the efforts made by the Design Team to modernise the centre, which was in need of a serious make-over.
The new ceiling and lighting treatments at Greenwood Shopping Plaza, is nearly complete in 2 major zones, with a further 5 zones programmed to rejuvenation the Plaza over coming months. The design of the upper level lighting, looked at creating an artificial atrium light, similar to the existing atriums at the centre, where you see the branches of large trees through the glass roof.
The lighting is connected to a computer system allowing the light feature, termed the “birds nest” to change colour or work on a programmed loop of colours. The lighting system and design was developed through a collaborative design approach, with Crone Partners, Mirvac, Barrisol, Mainbrace and Philips Lighting.
The retail componant, of the World Square Master Plan Development, was completed in 2007. The retail comprises 30,000m2 of NLA, designed over 3 levels and covering an entire city block. World Square Retail’s primary address, is located at the corner of Liverpool St and George St, near China Town in Sydney.
A series of interconnecting lane ways from Liverpool St, Goulburn St and Pitt Street lead the pedestrian to the main public square at the centre of the development. The lane ways re-interpret the city’s historic pedestrian lanes, creating lively thoroughfares, boarded by fashion stores, restaurants, cafes, home wares, supermarket and associated convenience retailing outlets.
The public square unifies the surrounding residential and commercial towers, by creating a vibrant outdoor meeting space for the community, in a densely populated precinct in the CBD.
The vision for the World Square Master Plan was to create a mini city, combining complimentary uses of residential and commercial uses, with convenience shopping at the door.
