The Parramatta Park Trust invited lahznimmo architects to participate in a limited paid competition to design new amenities and shade shelter structures for Parramatta Park.
Amongst the diverse variety of Parks across the Sydney Region Parramatta Park stands out as being a genuine palimpsest of cultures that have formed a unique terrain through shifting occupation and land use. The result is a rich and diverse environment comprised of a layering of structures from different historical and cultural eras as well as landscapes. As an architect the design challenge was to develop a suite of new Amenities and Shade Structures which can sit equally comfortably anywhere across the varied landscape of Parramatta Park.
Rather than introducing new materials to the Park we proposed continuing the tradition of building in brick and timber and exploring the potential opportunities presented by these materials in creating the new amenities building.
The shade shelters of our youth designed for the nuclear family have now given way to larger shelters catering for extended families and social gatherings as well as for the delivery of educational programs.For flexibility we proposed a modular ‘kit-of-parts’ for the shelters that can easily expand and contract as required to cater for a variety of sized groups.