The Concourse aka Chatswood Civic Place
17 september 2019
Project: The Concourse aka Chatswood Civic Place, Sydney, Australia
Architect: FJMT, Sydney, Australia
Fabricator/Installer: Alu-Clad Facade Systems, Tullamarine Vic, Australia
Year of Construction: 2011
Product: ALUCOBOND® naturAL Brushed, Bronze Metallic, Grey Metallic
Photos: FJMT
MEETING AT THE CONCOURSE
Concourse Chatswood, located in the heart of Sydney’s North Shore, offers a dynamic range of live arts and entertainment. The project revitalises the heart of the third largest retail precinct in Australia and has become the North Shore’s new iconic, urban and cultural landmark. It features a public open space, a 5,000sqm library, performance and exhibition spaces, restaurants, shops and underground parking facilities. FJMT architects drew up the master plan, carried out the community consultation process and were responsible for designing this sustainable development. Innovative and flexible solutions to a complex and technically challenging brief were required. The design evolved from a collaborative process between the authorities, owners, stakeholders and wider community. The terracing component is especially eye-catching and makes the project with citizens’ participation so distinctive. The building is physically elevated and, its raised position emphasises its importance. The overall geometry of each part of the complex is defined by its segment of the open public terraces. Like the concert hall’s extended galleries, these external dividing walls reach out to embrace the complex and divide up the area. Each pair of walls clad with ALUCOBOND® makes a welcoming gesture towards the adjacent street. A third one, also clad with ALUCOBOND®, stands diagonally to the previous two, and defines the main entry to the complex. The design continues by running the exterior walls uninterruptedly into the interior.