Allara Street Masterplan & Phase 1 Works
Over a number of years, we have been involved across the three phases of transformation at Allara Street, Canberra – the strategic planning of the site at the project’s inception, the realisation and delivery of the masterplan, and the continuing social and cultural programming following construction.
Allara Street Masterplan & Retail and Tenancy Strategy
The site’s strategic masterplan encompassed the first phase of the wider transformation of Allara Street, central Canberra. At the heart of the city’s central business district, our plans detailed the upgrade to the street frontage and public realm – taking in twelve shopfronts, a colonnade, and the public spaces to the front and rear of the street’s eight-storey commercial building.
Our plan defined a phased approach to the regeneration of the area. Not only outlining the required longer-term architectural interventions to be delivered over a number of years, it included low-cost projects involving the local community, artists and makers.
Brew and Brew Cafe, Lobby and Workspace
The first phase of our work saw the renewal of the site’s private commercial lobby into a welcoming public facility, Brew and Brew creative workspace and cafe. We were commissioned to undertake the full architectural design of the space – the cafe, museum and exhibition corridors, seating areas, and open threshold to a planted, pedestrian courtyard. The design of the building’s facade and signage was in line with our work on the area’s street frontage.
Working with Canberran fabricators, the interior is a bespoke arrangement of local, natural materials reminiscent of the bush capital’s colourful surrounding landscape; terrazzo floors, timber carpentry, the hand-applied patina of steel-framed windows and doors. Natural light fills the space from each side, meeting custom-designed furniture and layered concrete panels echoing the orange pink strata of the area’s geology. Alongside material aesthetics, we have made improvements to the building’s energy performance.
