Perth Waterfront project
Perth Waterfront project
- Background
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The Perth Waterfront project will reconnect Perth city with the magnificent Swan River, creating a stimulating, active and enjoyable place for locals and visitors alike. A new inlet will bring the river closer to the foot of the city and is framed by uninterrupted public terraces, promenades and civic spaces. The inlet provides a unique landscape, a quiet place for relaxation, and a habitat for our native Black Swans. The cafes, bars and restaurants spilling out onto the public promenade and over the water’s edge, will create a vibrant experience day and night and will be accessible through uninterrupted pedestrian circuits, cycle paths and bridges and a commuter ferry.
- Summary
- The Perth Waterfront project will reconnect Perth city with the magnificent Swan River, creating a stimulating, active and enjoyable place for locals and visitors alike. A new inlet will bring the river closer to the foot of the city and is framed by uninterrupted public terraces, promenades and civic spaces. The inlet provides a unique landscape, a quiet place for relaxation, and a habitat for our native Black Swans. The cafes, bars and restaurants spilling out onto the public promenade and over the water’s edge, will create a vibrant experience day and night and will be accessible through uninterrupted pedestrian circuits, cycle paths and bridges and a commuter ferry.
It has been an aspiration dating back to the 19th Century that the central city of Perth is linked to the Swan River. The will and intent for an activated link diminished in subsequent developments throughout the 20th Century. In the 1960s and 70s Perth’s road network received a major upgrade which, while further adapting the city to private transport, had the unfortunate corollary of detaching the city from the water.
The Perth Waterfront Masterplan re-establishes the historic connection between the city and the river by extending the existing city grid towards the water and excavating an inlet that brings water back to the city’s doorstep. New buildings containing residential, retail, commercial, and hotel functions frame the inlet, and at the centrepoint of the inlet an iconic island is activated by large public events. The major Indigenous Cultural Centre is sited at the point where the William Street axis meets the Swan River.Together with Ashton Raggatt McDougall and the consultant team, AUDRC staff are assisting in developing this significant investment in the future of Perth as the capital of the west.
To realise the Perth Waterfront vision, the State Government has confirmed funding for capital works to enable the commencement of project construction in early 2012.