From an idea of wanting to improve our local neighbourhood, germinated a multi-site transformation that is now loved by the locals and businesses alike.
In late 2015, Inglewood on Beaufort wished to enhance its understanding of what the community wanted in its neighbourhood and embarked upon a series of consultation exercises to identify this. The consultation included a stall at the 2015 Mount Lawley Beaufort Street Christmas Festival, a series of stalls at the Monday Night Markets, two "walk-shops" with local business owners and residents walking Beaufort Street and its laneways, an online questionnaire, and numerous meetings. These included meetings with City of Stirling staff, local Inglewood Ward councillors, Terry Tyzack and David Lagan and the local state MLA, Lisa Baker. In all, over 500 people informed ten key "areas of interest" through their feedback, comments and visions.
These were formulated into Inglewood on Beaufort's Place Activation Strategy, with the number one priority to "beautify and activate the various unsightly sections of our main street"- being Beaufort Street.
The project turned a set of unsightly and dark spaces into vibrant places for people to gather, connect and celebrate, dubbed the Inglenooks. Being the private front setbacks of 884 (Dove House), 896 (Tirza Court) and 898 Beaufort Street these were spaces owned by landlords and privately owned spaces that could benefit from a little love.
Process
With the confidence of the communities voice to "beautify and activate" seed funding was received from the City to commission concept designs. Undertaken by the City based landscape and urban designers, Place Laboratory, the designs provided a vision for how the spaces could look and the various benefits they would provide. This gave a powerful basis for conversations with the owners of these strategic landholdings, which quickly uncovered a willingness for these once underutilised spaces to be transformed into new public places.
Local landscape architects, Four Landscape Studio (4LS) (who, while getting a fee for their service, were doing it a very good price) were engaged to develop detailed landscape plans so to collaborate with the committee, the City, and the landowners and their tenants.
The design had some pretty smart components to it:
- Retained a number of the existing trees to capitalise on their scale and screening properties.
- Salvaged large stone boulders in the setback areas and relocated into garden beds adding a 'settled' look to the spaces.
- Tied the pocket parks together via a series of steel framed, jarrah clad seating and planter units set out in a manner to create interesting places to gather, eat (long table), entertain (stage), play (like stepping stones) and dwell.
- Used the same feature paving of the footpaths to blur the lines of public and private realms and introduce creative rug decals on paving to give the impression of an 'outdoor lounge room'.
- Removed the barriers of letter boxes, low height walls and fences to provide multiple opportunities to enter the spaces.
- Introduced over 15 new trees to provide respite, patches of lawn to "kick off the shoes" and lower ground cover that is in the majority native, so its resilient to the conditions.
- Added a productive garden, that has a lemon and lime tree but also a herb patch that locals can pick from.
- Festoon lighting to reflect the Monday Night Markets festival atmosphere and deliver warm, glowing light to the spaces.
Following development approval, a civil contractor was engaged to construct and install the core infrastructure – new service lead ins, reticulation, paving, seating and lighting – with contract management being delivered by the landscape architect 4LS.
To instill community ownership and reduce costs, the local community was engaged through planting and mural painting days. A gardener was paid to mow the lawns and trim the plants and a couple of times per year the community assists with ongoing maintenance like, oiling the wooden seats.
Approvals
Negotiations were held with landowners to develop an access licence that would enable a development application to be submitted and give Inglewood on Beaufort security of tenure over the private setback areas to be used for public use. This was important to ensure when improvements were made, the landowner agreed it could be shared with the community. The key terms included:
- The space is licenced for no cost for a use similar to that of a "public park" and associated public events such as the Monday Night Markets.
- Inglewood on Beaufort is responsible for delivering the landscape upgrades and mural.
- Inglewood on Beaufort maintains the spaces and covers electricity/water use consumption.
- Option by mutual consent to extend for additional 5 years (3 + 2) – otherwise Inglewood on Beaufort to 'make good'.
A pre-development application meeting was held with the City of Stirling and as some of the proposed works sat within the road reserve, it required the City's support to submit for approval. There were minor modifications required to some of the planter boxes but generally the City supported the proposal with standard conditions.
Publicity / Messaging
While not initially contemplated in the design, with City of Stirling having funds available for art, a striking mural was commissioned in the Dove House Inglenook. Forty-eight expressions of interest were received with a detailed selection process, that included the City of Stirling, identifying George Domahidy's submission as the preferred design.
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What Worked
Be prepared to have setbacks and be patient along the journey, as from the beginning of the concepts in 2016 until completion in early 2020 there were a lot of pauses and lulls in activity.
Placemaking
Lighting in these spaces is crucial, and with the festoons included in the Inglenooks it adds a new dimension to these spaces which were previously not seen as places to go at night. The lights have transformed the Inglenooks from dark, intimidating spaces into attractive, safer, welcoming places where community activities now happen out of hours.
Lessons Learnt
- Not everyone was on the same wavelength as us and so – at times - compromises were needed to be made with the design and the maintenance. For instance, when the tenants on 898 Beaufort Street were worried the landscaping would block their signage, cooling, shade trees were not able to be included in that Inglenook.
- We think it's worth the community getting involved in these activities. The Inglenooks are quite unique as they are not typical public spaces delivered by government or private developers. As a result they have a strongly embedded community ownership and pride.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Design, plans, tender, survey | "2,000 |
| Construction including landscaping and initial maintenance | "80,000 |
| Planning consultant and project management | In-kind consultancy |
Funding sources:
- Monday Night Markets fundraising proceeds: 55%
- Federal Government - Stronger Communities Program: 20%
- State Government - Local Projects, Local Jobs Program: 15%
- City of Stirling - Place Activation grants: 10%
Awards
- 2020 Winner - President's Award WA Planning Institute of Australia (PIA)
- 2020 Winner - Great Place Award WA Planning Institute of Australia (PIA)
- 2021 Winner - Great Place Award National, Planning Institute of Australia (PIA)
- 2021 Winner - WA Landscape Architecture Award for Community Contribution, Australian Institute of Landscape Architecture (AILA)
- 2021 Winner - WA People's Choice Award (AILA)
Testimonials
Fieldwork Health team: "We have really enjoyed the Inglenook at the front of our building at 896 Beaufort St. It has been a huge improvement to the appearance of the building and many new clients have commented they had not noticed our business or the building previously. We have also had 2-3 new tenants in the building since the upgrade, so it looks like the Inglenook has helped to breathe some life into this part of Beaufort St."
Diane Kemp - owner, Tirza Court building: "The landscaping at the front of our adjoining properties has created a very attractive, well integrated streetscape and distinctive, shaded places which are well used by visitors, tenants and their clients as well as local residents and workers whilst also providing desirable space for the highly successful Monday markets. These improvements have certainly made 'Tirza Court' more distinctive and easier to market to potential tenants.
The tenants themselves have reported that they have found it easier to distinguish themselves, their business and their location which has helped them to market their businesses and attract new clients.
Consequently both the owners and the tenants are very pleased with the way that the Inglenook landscaping and 'public place making' have worked out to the mutual benefit of the local community, local residents, the property owners, local businesses, their clients, customers and employees.
The overall result has been to make this previously, somewhat neglected part of upper Beaufort Street far more attractive for customers and clients, new businesses and the public in general."
Marnee - owner, Sugar and Nice: "I knew having a public space next to my cafe would be beneficial, but since this space was installed, it has exceeded my expectations.
Covid struck and I decided to operate takeaway only. The Inglenook space initially provided a much needed oasis for my customers during the covid lockdown. The community embraced the space and kept their distance whilst still staying connected.
The transformation has added immeasurable value to the area. In a time of uncertainty, the Inglenook has given me hope that my cafe can survive these tough times. I'm looking forward to having special events to take advantage of the space.
The Inglewood on Beaufort team have done an exceptional job bringing this project to light and I'll be forever grateful for this space."
