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Griffith Park Precinct Design Competition

We’re inviting architects and landscape architects to rise to the challenge of creating a high-level plan for the Griffith Park Precinct in Bankstown.

We’re excited to announce our first-ever architectural competition!

 

Update: 6 March 2024 - winner announced

We’re excited to announce that the winner of our first-ever architectural design competition is Collins and Turner, Jane Irwin Landscape Architecture and WSP Indigenous Specialist Services.
 
Over 100 teams of architects and landscape architects across Australia entered the competition, which was judged by a jury that included independent experts and a member of council staff with experience in architecture and urban/landscape design. 
 
The competitors were asked to submit designs that considered community feedback on the area, including the desire for a new community centre, better access, enhanced green space with more recreational opportunities and an area that would be activated day and night.
 
The winning design will maximise the potential of Griffith Park and bring improved facilities, enhanced green space and more recreational activities. 
 
Collins and Turner, Jane Irwin Landscape Architecture and WSP Indigenous Specialist Services will now go on to finalise their designs for the community centre and a revitalised Griffith Park.
 
The image below shows their winning concept. See more photos and have your say here.
 
In the architect’s words: 
 

“Griffith Park knits into Bankstown centre's framework of streets and places to host diverse activities and opportunities - cultural and commercial, bringing the life of the street through the precinct.

“A series of rills, pools, and wetlands structure the park, linking it to past connections to Salt Pan Creek and a strong First Nations heritage and identity.
 
“The community centre forms a soft welcoming southern edge. Spaces for movement, gathering, meetings, and learning are unified beneath a dramatic sweeping roof - a contemporary verandah conceived as a richly coloured three-dimensional tapestry, a celebration of one of Western Sydney’s most vibrant multicultural communities."

Update: October 2023 - shortlist announced

Four groups of architects and landscape architects have been chosen to move forward in our first-ever architectural design competition.

Each of the shortlisted candidates will now create design proposals to reimagine and maximise the potential of the Griffith Park precinct.

Read each candidate’s description of what they believe they will bring to the project below, and under that is more information on the competition.

TZG, TCL and WSP provide a unique combination of vision and experience.

TZG takes a philosophical approach to change through design – working together to create flexible, enduring designs that build places, shape cities, and unite people.

TCL undertakes a detailed exploration of context, site and community, focusing on the poetic expression of landscape and contemporary culture. Through dynamic dialogues with clients and communities, TCL delivers diverse work that evokes quality, commitment, beauty and richness.

WSP’s Designing with Country team brings extensive history working across multidisciplinary teams to bring Cultural Heritage into projects, liaising with Traditional Owners and Indigenous Communities.

ARM Architecture, JMD Design and WSP are proud to collaborate and compete in the Griffith Park Precinct design competition.

ARM Architecture designs joyous, immersive, community places. JMD Design is committed to designing creative, liveable, and delightful places. WSP’s deep experience of Indigenous design and knowledge, ensures aboriginal design principles will be at the heart of Griffith Park.

We design places of all scales, from sandpits to suburbs, and together we look forward to reimagining this important place for the people of Bankstown.

Sibling Architecture and ASPECT Studios have come together as a multidisciplinary team bringing a diverse range of experience in designing for communities at the scale of master planning, urban design, landscape and public buildings.

Sibling Architecture is recognised for its socially engaged and participatory environments, from intercultural centres, galleries, creative hubs and public schools for communities across NSW and Victoria and will lead the design for the Griffith Park Precinct Design Competition. ASPECT Studio’s expertise in city-making is evidenced in the success of many transformative projects and will guide the urban design and landscape strategy.

Our team is deeply committed to crafting distinctive structures, environments and spaces that harmoniously unite people and the natural landscape, while honouring the traditions and conditions of country:

Collins and Turner is an architecture studio renowned for innovative design solutions that enrich the public realm. Honours include the John Sulman Medal for Public Architecture, awarded for the Waterloo Community Centre.

Jane Irwin Landscape Architecture champions an informed, thoughtful and restrained design ethos that reverberates with the essence of each unique location and its cultural heritage.

WSP Indigenous Specialist Services brings the invaluable depth of Indigenous knowledge and culture into infrastructure and built environment projects, forging resilient and culturally-sensitive connections with Indigenous communities.

We’re inviting architects and landscape architects to rise to the challenge of creating a high-level plan for the Griffith Park Precinct in Bankstown. This will include the design of a new community centre, surrounding landscape and the wider public domain.

The competition is open to registered architects across Australia and supports our goal of ensuring CBCity is a well-designed, attractive city that celebrates our identity and character.  We want to encourage innovative design solutions that will maximise the potential of Griffith Park, a key location at the heart of our City.

Proposals should:

  • Present an optimistic vision
  • Have a place-specific identity
  • Be accessible and safe
  • Be sustainable
  • Suit the interests and needs of our diverse population

Architects interested in taking part in the competition should register here by 17 August 2023. The process will start with an open expression of interest (Stage One) followed by a design response stage (Stage Two). The competition jury (see below) will choose up to four competitors to proceed to Stage Two. At the end of Stage Two, the jury will choose a winner to deliver design services for the project.

Timeline

Registration period   18 July-17 August 2023
Stage One Response Period   1 August-24 August 2023
Stage Two Response Period   9 October-16 November 2023
Winner announced   March 2024

Jury

  • Andy Sharp - DIRECTOR PLANNING CBCITY
  • Annabel Lahz - DIRECTOR AT LAHZNIMMO ARCHITECTS
  • Laura Harding - DIRECTOR, HILL THALIS ARCHITECTURE + URBAN PROJECTS
  • Oi Choong - CONSULTANT LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT
  • Simeon King - DIRECTOR TURF DESIGN STUDIO