Victoria Square Visions

[Norman]

What about building a grassy sort of bridge over the road then?

[Edgar]

This plan is like creating another parklands in the heart of the CBD.

A place where nobody cares or even wants to go.

Goodluck.

[urban]

No one uses the parklands for the same reason no-one uses Victoria Square - they are isolated from the city activity by between four and eight lanes of traffic. Eliminate this problem and the city's squares and parklands will fulfill their potential and make Adelaide an even better place to live.

[Edgar]

It will not eliminate the problems. If all these parklands and Vic Square is only accessible through traffic, it will still be deserted as always.

Unless, we have big plans to introduce more tram routes throughout the metropolitan and making the stopover at Vic Square, is one of the many way we can bring more people to stay.

Put up a few kiosks selling ice cream, hotdogs, magazine and news stands etc, to make people want to go there, rather than a huge piece of grass land and no landmark is why nobody wants to go there.

[monotonehell]

Something Edgar said above lead me to draw this at lunchtime. It's terribly rough, dunno if it's a good idea though, I was just bored at lunch.

The bridge / sunken roadway in the middle forms a sloped bit of ground which is possibly an opportunity for temporary seating for outdoor stage shows of some sort. The Western side abuts to the buildings and except for the front of the Hilton (where there'd be a shared taxi/pedestrian zone) there's opportunity for park fronted cafes and restaurants.

Back to work...

[Will]

The proposal being presented by the lord Mayor is in my opinion a huge waste of money. Having a look at the proposal my immediate feeling was that Victoria Square will look relatively the same as it does know. There was nothing interesting or attractive about the proposal. Although the result of such a proposal would obviously make the square more attractive, it fails to include things that will actually make people want to visit the square in the first place. Furthermore not closing the Grote/ Wakefiled street in the centre, will ultimately result in the square remaining a more attractive yet ultimately dead heart of Adelaide.

Any proposal has to include items to attract people to the square. Things such as giant chess boards, volleyball courts, interactive fountains, ice-skating ring and so on.

[AG]

How about a giant bowl in the middle of the square? It would still require cutting off the central road link, but it would involve elevating the ground around the edge of the central part of the square to about 3 metres or so above the surroundings creating the bowl effect. From inside the bowl it would not be possible to see the roadways around the square.

[Wayno]

Something Edgar said above lead me to draw this at lunchtime. It's terribly rough, dunno if it's a good idea though, I was just bored at lunch.
The bridge / sunken roadway in the middle forms a sloped bit of ground which is possibly an opportunity for temporary seating for outdoor stage shows of some sort. The Western side abuts to the buildings and except for the front of the Hilton (where there'd be a shared taxi/pedestrian zone) there's opportunity for park fronted cafes and restaurants.

Back to work...

way to go monotonehell! good out of the box thinking - i certainly like the idea of a sloping lawn in front of a temporary stage...

[monotonehell]

way to go monotonehell! good out of the box thinking - i certainly like the idea of a sloping lawn in front of a temporary stage...

Now I feel bad about calling your "erection" tacky in another thread

[muzzamo]

lets replace victoria square with a freeway interchange of some sort

[rhino]

Good concept Monotonehell, I was thinking of something similar myself.

I like the diamond that KWS makes though the square, and I think, if Grote/Wakefield were not cutting the square in half, there would be enough space within the diamond for what everyone wants. Traffic would still flow well, the corners on the outside of the diamond could all support similar cafes etc to what the NW corner currently supports.

But - Grote/Wakefield needs to be a through road. We could cut-and-cover-tunnel it, as I've mentioned before, or:

We could half-sink it (lower it 3m instead of 6), and cover it with a mound which would be 3 to 4 m high through the middle of the square - tall but not too tall. KWS could slope down around the diamond to still intersect with Grote/Wakefield in the same way it does now. The mound through the middle of the square could be incorporated into a grassed amphetheatre which would fill the southern half of the square with a sound shell at the southern end, the back of which could be mounded up and covered with grass/floral display/native plants/whatever to beutify it when travelling north along KWS south. Concessions around the edge for food stalls etc. The northern half of the square would retain the fountain and be used for a meeting place / lunch eating place much as it is now. Once again, concessions for food stalls / craft market / something etc to liven it up.

[Shuz]

I like the squares shape as it is, and the idea of the smaller underpass/mound thing as muzzamo suggested is good. That way, the mound can be used for amphitheatre seating on one side (preferably the fountain side) and a a floral display on the other, with an in-ground resturant or something as a unique tourist experience.

I've come to the notion lately, that Victoria Square really just needs a touch up - on a large scale, rather than a 'makeover'. Kind of like putting on a tan and makeup, but without the plastic surgery.

[Wayno]

way to go monotonehell! good out of the box thinking - i certainly like the idea of a sloping lawn in front of a temporary stage...

Now I feel bad about calling your "erection" tacky in another thread

No probs about my idea, i'm just shooting from the hip - bad ideas by one person (me in this case) create the urgency for better ideas from others. good teamwork i'd say

Seriously, the more i think about it the more i like the "central mound" idea. Seating on the south side and perhaps a floral thingo on the north side to catch the sunshine. Probably not too expensive either. It should definitely be put forward to Harbison & Rann (as well as the Advertiser to generate publicity).

[rhino]

Seriously, the more i think about it the more i like the "central mound" idea. Seating on the south side and perhaps a floral thingo on the north side to catch the sunshine. Probably not too expensive either. It should definitely be put forward to Harbison & Rann (as well as the Advertiser to generate publicity).

You there, Harbo?

[.::G!oRgOs::.]

Um, the only way you can get people to go to Vic square is to actually give people somewhere to enjoy themselves.
Ever considered opening up some nice cafe/restaurant type places in what is now nothing more than a run down looking park?
Someone mentioned News stands, hot dog stands and other little stands/kiosks etc. these are definetly the way to go to attract the workers passing through in the morning and the cafe/kiosks to keep them there at lunch.

Why not have some type of functional art work mixed in as well?...I have an idea which I might play on in photoshop.