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Urban Design Charter
The South Australian Urban Design Charter (the Charter) commits government agencies to achieve good urban design and foster liveable, efficient, creative, sustainable and socially inclusive environments through the design of public places and their interaction with private buildings. It applies to urban areas, including metropolitan Adelaide, regional centres and country towns.
The Office for Design and Architecture SA (ODASA) provides assistance to other State Agencies in meeting the objectives of the Charter.
The department directly contributed to the enhancement of South Australia’s public realm in 2015-16 through the following initiatives:
South Australian Government Architect and ODASA
ODASA supports the Government Architect’s (GA) role as an advocate for design excellence in the built environment. In promoting the value of excellent and effective design, the Government Architect:
- provides strategic advice to the South Australian Government on design, planning and development of major projects, policy and processes
- leads and delivers design review in South Australia
- measures and communicates the value of design and publishing best practice guides
- establishes policy and practice frameworks for achieving design quality in the built environment
- values the successful development of our future heritage.
The Adelaide Festival Centre Precinct Upgrade and the refinement of the O-Bahn infrastructure were significant state projects in 2015-16 that were guided and enhanced by the GA’s advice on design generally, and urban design and public realm specifically.
The most direct influence of the GA is through the Design Review Process that is offered as part of the Pre-lodgement Service. Design Review offers independent and impartial advice on the design quality of proposed construction projects and supports design excellence in South Australia. The Port Adelaide Office accommodation building and the Anzac Memorial walk are South Australian Government projects that were reviewed in 2015-16.
The Design Review Panel (DRP) supports the Government Architect, as a statutory referral body, in forming advice to the Development Assessment Commission (DAC) on the design merit of proposals assessed by DAC. Development in the City of Adelaide and sections of Metropolitan council areas are defined under the Inner Metropolitan Growth Development Plan Amendments. As part of this new policy framework, the DRP is essential to the pre-lodgement process for development proposals over $10 million in the city and over five levels in surrounding metropolitan areas.
The DRP is one of the only statutory referrals regarding design excellence in Australia and illustrates the ‘line of sight’ concept outlined in the National Urban Design Protocol for linking policy directly to project delivery.
2015-16 saw ODASA expand its design advocacy role to the procurement and delivery of government projects, including infrastructure projects such as the CBD High School and Park 19 (Marshmallow Park) in the Park Lands.
A series of design guidelines to assist design teams and developers in generating projects that meet good design principles for built form and public realm outcomes have been developed by ODASA. These guidelines anticipate the focus on the public realm and importance of quality design in the New Planning and Infrastructure Act 2016 and associated Design Code.
The 30-Year Plan for Greater Adelaide
The 30-Year Plan for Greater Adelaide is currently being updated to respond to changing population and housing profiles, review land supply assumptions and locations for urban infill, provide greater focus on economic development and the creation of job opportunities, increase affordable living options and to facilitate the creation of a better designed, more walkable urban form.
The updated plan will emphasise the importance of enhancing our urban green canopy, improving urban interfaces and providing for an increased amount of quality public space which is well designed, connected and maintained.
Places for People grants
The Places for People funding program is aimed at revitalising or creating public spaces that are important to the social, cultural and economic life of their communities.
The program aims to foster a culture of strategic urban design in councils and establish practices, including Design Review that will benefit future public realm projects. In 2015-16, twelve Places for People grants totalling $3.6 million were provided to local government.
Since 2002 around $37.2 million has been made available for 259 Places for People projects, many of which have received professional and industry awards.
Capital investment program
The department plays a lead role in overseeing and providing across government/industry leadership in the planning, development and coordination of strategic projects.
The department has focused on provision of facilities that represent good urban design, as well as being highly functional and safe for use by all. For all major projects, quality urban design principles are developed and can shape the finished product. For example, urban design and sensitivity towards public space is a major driver for projects such as the O-Bahn City Access Project, and the North-South Corridor upgrades at Darlington and Torrens Road to River Torrens.
The department also works in partnership with government agencies and private sector professional service contractors to plan, design and deliver social infrastructure projects.
The key principles of the Charter are integrated into the planning and design process for building construction projects undertaken by the department on behalf of other government agencies.
Building construction projects currently being designed, and recently completed, incorporate good design principles. Specific attention is given to government policy for environmentally sustainable development, art in public places and safe work practices. Projects include attention to community consultation, as well as collaboration, cooperation and alliances with local government and the private sector to better meet government’s strategic priorities and community needs.
Our Buildings, Our Communities continues to articulate the objectives and principles for public building construction procurement. It complements the Charter by drawing attention to the importance of good buildings, ethical, transparent and fair procurement processes and meeting the objectives of South Australia’s strategic and infrastructure plans.