Devonport Living City Stage Two
Devonport Living City Stage 2 Waterfront Park and Hotel is the next step in realising the Council’s vision to regenerate and reinvigorate the city centre through a shared investment in public and private infrastructure. The new public Waterfront Park and privately owned Hotel work in compositional unison – creating an articulate and dynamic urban design form which acts as a highly functional connector between the city and the river, as well as an attractive destination for the community and visitors alike. The elevated ‘pier’ walkway frames the south edge of the park and compositionally extends the horizontal articulation of the hotel to the river – a highly charged attractor in the city. Completed in 2022, the project activates the public realm, creating an exciting first impression for sea passengers coming to Tasmania.
Community
Neil Appleton
ASPECT Studios
Devonport City Council
2 Best Street, Devonport TAS
Located on the traditional lands of the Punnilerpanner people
27,000m2 (Park) / 8500m2 (Hotel)
Complete, 2022
2023 Australian Institute of Architects Tasmanian Chapter, Commendation for Urban Design
“Devonport will thrive with the public and private investment, and the integrated urban design undertaken by Lyons wonderfully fulfills councils’ vision whilst respecting the existing city.”
Matthew Atkins, General Manager, Devonport City Council
The Mersey River and its connection to Bass Strait is one of the great attractions of Devonport. By developing the Waterfront Park and Hotel, the connection from the cultural and civic heart of Devonport will be both visually and physically evident. We started our design thinking by drawing three key strong connections between the city, the river, and the straights. Extending from Stage 1, a landscaped promenade traverses between the Paranaple Centre and the art gallery, culminating at the riverbank. With the Art Gallery’s relocation, this pathway becomes a key sculptural walk, anchoring the city’s cultural core to the waterfront. Along this axis, visitors encounter a dynamic water feature, leading to vibrant riverbank destinations, including a waterfront picnic pavilion and nature play park.
Strategically positioned on Best Street, south of the Waterfront Park, the Hotel’s design minimises its ground-level footprint, dedicating space to an inviting lobby, restaurant, and bar, while relegating essential services discreetly. Elevating guest rooms above the ground plane preserves and amplifies sightlines from key urban vantage points, through the park, to the river, and beyond to the strait. Notably, from the Rooke Street Mall and Best Street intersection, vistas extend beneath the Hotel, through the park, reaching out to the lighthouse beacon and the strait. This axis guides pedestrians directly to the historic lighthouse beacon and the newly envisioned ’roundhouse’ pavilion, an homage to the site’s railway heritage. Elevating the Hotel at this prominent corner crafts a striking urban gateway to both the park and the Hotel’s communal spaces.
Aligning with the entrance of the new Paranaple Centre, a new pedestrian route traces the Hotel’s northern façade, leading directly to the waterfront. Conceived as an elevated public pier, it spans over Formby Road and the railway, extending as a viewing platform over the river. This vantage point offers panoramic views of berthed ships to the south and the expansive strait to the north. Nestled between the first and third axes lies a nature playground, providing a wonderful new space for the community and visitors. The cohesive design of the Hotel and Pier manifests as a unified architectural composition.
The Waterfront Park was designed to accommodate a diverse range of community activities, from city workers on lunch breaks to families picnicking, children playing, and major public events. A garden featuring local and Indigenous plants was created, integrating a sculptural stone and water feature that celebrates the unique geology of central Tasmania.
Neil Appleton, Practice Executive, Directors
View Neil's Profile
Designed by Lyons in collaboration with Haworth Tompkins and Silver Thomas Hanley, the boundary-breaking ECU City campus was unveiled in 2021 and early works are now underway. Recently, Sean Henriques, Program Director at ECU spoke with Architecture AU on his experience working with Lyons.
As 2021 comes to a close, Corbett Lyon addressed the studio last week and reflected on the year that was.
The Emerging Architects and Graduate Network have invited architects to consider a message they would share with their younger selves, and this week they’ve shared words from Lyons Director, Carey Lyon.
Stonnington City Council has reclaimed what was once the Cato Street car park
