Scarborough Foreshore Arbors

Oct 27

Combining art, shade and flexible space for one of Australia’s most iconic urban beach experiences

Project info

Client: MRA
Location: Scarborough, WA
Traditional owners: Whadjuk people of the Noongar nation
Value: $3 Million
Date: 2016–2018
Collaborators: TCL, UDLA, Sharyn Egan and Anne Neil, Arup
Image credit: Douglas Mark Black,

As part of the Scarborough Foreshore Redevelopment, TRCB was engaged to integrate a series of arbors and an amenities pavilion with the larger project that has transformed a previously disconnected and carpark-dominated beachfront into a cohesive public space for all ages.

For the arbors, our collaboration with artists Sharyn Egan and Anne Neil, and the Arup structural team resulted in Voronoi-inspired geometric structures with colourful shaded canopies that celebrate the Noongar cultural heritage of Perth’s coastal places. Combining art with shade and flexible space, the arbors are visual drawcards for the busy pedestrian precinct.

The amenities pavilion complements its neighbouring inter-generational skate park whilst meeting robust securing, access and maintenance requirements. A series of ‘box’ change rooms sit behind a hardwood timber screen and beneath a sculptural roof – a composition of elements that balance playful and civic outcomes with long-term performance.

The arbors and pavilion are practical and poetic responses to the coastal setting – prominent visual and spatial elements within one of Australia’s most iconic urban beach experiences.

Awards

2019 Australian Institute of Architects WA Awards – Small Project Architecture Commendation (Scarborough Arbours)
2018 Lightweight Structures Association of Australia Design Awards – Category 3 Award of Excellence (Scarborough Arbours)
2019 World Architecture News Awards – Waterfront Gold Medal (Scarborough Foreshore Redevelopment)
2019 Planning Institute of Australia Awards – National Award for Best Planning Ideas – Large Project (Scarborough Foreshore Redevelopment)
2019 International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA) Asia-Pacific Landscape Architecture Awards – Award of Excellence (Scarborough Foreshore Redevelopment)
2019 Australian Institute of Landscape Architects WA Awards – Landscape Architecture Award of Excellence (Scarborough Foreshore Redevelopment)