Proposal for shared space – Bond and Water Streets
Background
Following community workshops, we have developed a design for the blocks of Bond and Water Street that wrap around the Exchange. The feedback we received helped create an ambitious design with flexible, people-friendly outdoor space and a strong sense of history. Much as Jetty Street is a first step towards pedestrianising space, this is a trial for the creation of shared space for pedestrians, cars and bicycles alike.
The project is part of the final Warehouse Precinct upgrades and will tie in with Central City Plan upgrades over the next 15 years, particularly the redevelopment of Exchange Square. Preliminary master plans for the three remaining central city quarters (retail, cultural and entertainment, and creative) will go out for consultation from late 2017.
Proposed changes
The proposal is to create a vibrant shared space that features:
- a safe, slow-speed environment (the DCC will have the design audited to make sure it is safe for all users)
- grass pavers marking alternating car park spaces
- a greener streetscape that is flexible and can be used for events
- symbolic connections to the waterfront and the site’s history.
This project demonstrates how stories of the city’s diverse people and history could increasingly be embedded in urban design. Weaving patterns are the conceptual anchor of the project. Similar to use of the Māori tāniko technique as a decorative border, we have proposed a zig-zag pattern to border the shared space.
Bold paving lines are interwoven in the space’s centre to suggest an interweaving of cultures in Dunedin (dating back to the area’s historic use as a landing and trading space – Toitū Tauraka Waka).
Indigenous plants used for weaving and to provide food for native birds will be incorporated as a reminder that we share the landscape and natural resources.
A sketch of the proposed design.
We will incorporate community feedback into the final design, which we will share with the public before work begins. We expect to start work in late 2017/early 2018.