Grand Central

Strong design expertise across retail, public realm and streetscapes has delivered a revitalised, meaningful community plaza space for Toowoomba locals to dine and relax at Grand Central Shopping Centre.

  • Location
  • Toowoomba, QLD, Australia
  • 👤
  • Client
  • QIC Global Real Estate
  • 📅
  • Year completed
  • 2018

Grand Central is the redevelopment of a major shopping centre within the Toowoomba CBD.  It was a key urban design and landscape architectural link for the city of Toowoomba. Located on West Creek which was the scene of the disastrous 2011 floods, the site has both a public realm and environmental response as well as providing to the street environments surrounding.

Place Design Group were commissioned to undertake early conceptual works for the main plaza and all of the surrounding streets.  Under direction of Probuild, Place Design Group documented the subsequent works.

The key design areas for this project are; meshing the project into the city fabric and delivering the outcomes required from the City Centre Master Plan; providing a public hub at Alford Place; providing a multi-use space and low maintenance environment along West Creek; integrating landscape to bring a human scale to the streets and providing opportunities to represent the strong garden theme of Toowoomba. This design manages to retain existing elements where possible but aims to make the space more accessible, legible, and useable allowing for greater social interaction and also creates a front door to what will be a major retail, entertainment and leisure precinct.

The finished outcomes have realised true city streets which have distinctive planting representing the Garden City of Toowoomba as well as upgraded pavements and furniture.  Alford Place has numerous sitting spaces in both hardstand and turfed areas and with the feature lighting showcases the property and the arrival corner as an entry to the CBD.

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