The Goods Line

The Goods Line illustrates the potential for design to transform isolated city spaces into creative and connected public destinations which enhance public life. This linear park is filled with 'social infrastructure' such as bleachers, seats, an amphitheatre, Wi-Fi facilities, a playspace, ping pong tables and raised lawns - supporting the burgeoning public life of the city. Bespoke seating and furniture hark back to the site's industrial heritage while the blurred boundaries along its length are designed to facilitate pop-up events and festivals, injecting a sense of community in a previously disused urban expanse.

The strategy behind the design of The Goods Line was to create a strong civic spine and establish a range of opportunities for people to come together, inhabit, occupy and use the space. This green urban oasis is a new public campus, a centrepiece and a pedestrian spine for one of the most urbanised and formally isolated parts of Sydney. Pedestrian and cycle thoroughfares are formed, reconnecting Macarthur and Mary Ann Streets and the neighbourhoods that surround the park. The Goods Line creates a people-focused address to various cultural, educational and media institutions including UTS' Dr Chau Chak Wing Building, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and Sydney TAFE that border the park.

The Goods Line converts an industrial relic into a linear, connected, elevated city park. By embracing unique, interspersed modes of heritage interpretation, the rich history of The Goods Line is revealed and at the same time a new identity is created for the precinct. There is a strong overarching narrative in the design revealing transformation from rich industrial history to one of social interaction, creative industries, and the promotion of innovation. The design utilises the robust materials associated with its rail infrastructure past - gravel, concrete, steel, and timber. Original brick was salvaged and the site is fused with contemporary and sustainable elements, reinforcing the legacy of the site.

The Goods Line has transformed a redundant, isolated industrial corridor into a vibrant, vital green space, in the heart of Sydney's most densely populated and urbanised areas. The Goods Line was painstakingly planned and executed with 'Study Pods' that cantilever over the adjacent city street positioned between the canopies of existing fig trees offering working and social spaces for students, workers and visitors. The palette of plants which are set in gravel along the remnant rails are hardy, yet bring colour and texture to the post industrial site. Landscape is integrated into built form creating a resilient environment using urban greening to create more environmentally and socially sustainable city.