Alternative Water Strategies in Public Domains: Innovative Strategies in Progress along North Terrace, Adelaide
Date
2004
Authors
Jones, David Sydney
Editors
Advisors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Type:
Conference paper
Citation
Proceedings of the 2004 International Conference on Water Sensitive Urban Design : Cities as catchments : 21-25 November 2004, Adelaide, Australia. [CDROM].
Statement of Responsibility
David Jones
Conference Name
International Conference on Water Sensitive Urban Design (2004 : Adelaide, Australia)
Abstract
Water sensitive design on our urban threshold is increasingly becoming topical. In Adelaide it is being
driven by stormwater management strategies and economic efficiencies in a city that is beginning to
embrace its Mediterranean environment, low water sustainability, and whether our showpiece public
domains in Adelaide can afford large expanses of manicured lawns.
This paper reviews four projects in progress along the North Terrace in Adelaide. The first involves a
major redesign of First Creek as it traverses Adelaide Botanic Garden to address stormwater
management issues. The redesign includes strategies to control flash flooding, to cleanse stream
water from pollutants, and to carefully incorporate a wetland system as an integral botanical and
horticultural feature of a botanic garden. Further down North Terrace, the University of Adelaide is
evaluating a scenario that will totally redesign Goodman Crescent, its picture-postcard promenade
lawn. The scenario is to host an integrated water retention and water purification and cleansing
system that will service independently of mains water an irrigation system and a waterfall. The
proposal draws upon a similar strategy recently adopted by the South Australian Museum to capture
and cleanse surface and roof water but place the installation and process on display as part of its
overall biodiversity museum display that will unfold over the next five years under director Tim
Flannery. The fourth example, in process at present, is to devise an integrated water system that may
enable the Government House grounds to remove itself from dependence upon costly mains water to
totally sustain its extensive gardens and lawns.
Importantly each project has similar threads: creative water maximization and purification use, and a
desire to place these ‘installations’ on display as public statements of their commitment to water
sustainability in Adelaide. But radically, here are four prominent cultural institutions readily willing to
redefine the notion and traditional visual imagery of a ‘wetland’ on what is the main cultural boulevard
of a capital city.
School/Discipline
School of Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Urban Design