The design team behind Hobart’s Museum of Old and New Art will create a $200 million masterplan to transform an underutilized, ex-industrial site on the Derwent River into a sports and recreation centre.
Lead architecture practice Fender Katsalidis and its collaborators Oculus and Ireneinc hope to elevate Tasmania’s reputation for delivering sport and recreation activities by creating a dedicated and considered precinct.
“The goal is to cultivate a vibrant and engaging district that prioritizes pedestrian movement and activity through designed landscaped areas, integrated infrastructure, and connectivity within the site,” said Nicky Drobis, director of Fender Katsalidis.
“Being in a prime location, the site needs renewal and investment that effectively responds to a lot of different and complex requirements which we are realising in the new precinct masterplan.”
“The masterplan will deliver something new to the area, improving its functionality and connections for other sites such as Mona and the city, while alleviating congestion along the highway.”
Masterplan for Wilkinsons Point precinct by Fender Katsalidis and Oculus.
The project will be located on a 15-hectare site at Wilkinsons Point in Glenorchy, currently home the Derwent Entertainment Centre, which will be refurbished to create a multipurpose venue that will serve as the home base for Hobart’s basketball team, the Jack Jumpers. The venue will also host shows, performances and other sporting events.
The precinct will include elite performance facilities, informal recreational opportunities, connections to a surrounding network of open spaces and trails, mixed-use capabilities such as waterfront dining, a hotel, sports-focused retail, as well as indoor recreation facilities such as basketball, soccer, gymnastics, rock climbing, indoor skydiving, indoor skiing and a kids play centre.
The masterplan will also link the proposed buildings with landscaping that will protect the facilities from the natural elements while also enhancing its river setting. It will retain as much of the existing vegetation as much as possible.
“Our masterplan seeks to consistently activate this site, far beyond its current use, and transform the peninsula into a state-of-the-art sports and entertainment precinct that has both social and economic benefit,” Drobis said.
Developer LK Property Group, who first brought the project to council in 2019, will begin demolishing the interior of the Derwent Entertainment Centre within a month. Renovation works are due to begin in 2021.
Source: Architecture - architectureau
