Collinsville town centre improvements

Challenge

SLR was commissioned by Whitsunday Regional Council to produce landscape and urban design concepts for Collinsville as part of the “Choose Collinsville Project”. Collinsville is a regional township in the Whitsunday Region (80km west of Bowen) that has long history as a mining and resource centre mainly in coal.

Collinsville’s inland location and mining focus required different considerations for townscape improvements. Council’s brief was to look at opportunities to promote the town’s character and embellish key entry points in order to attract visitors and enhance community pride.

Solution

SLR took the approach of undertaking an analysis of the town focused on identifying its key character elements as a way of promoting its unique identity and revitalising the urban centre of Collinsville; Stanley Street.
We identified a lack of legibility and wayfinding cues when navigating through Collinsville especially for the first time.

The team adopted the underlying theme of enhancing the entry roads with street trees to create a ‘Green Spine’ through town, whilst proposing landmark vegetation at key points to enhance wayfinding opportunities and directional cues leading to the town centre.

Enhancing Stanley Street as the centre of Collinsville was a major aim in creating an ‘Oasis’ or ‘Green Heart’ for the town. Linking Stanley Street to existing parks at either end was proposed to help reinforce the shaded, green nature of the town centre and encourage a more walkable, pedestrian focused environment.

Upgrades to key entry points and intersections into Stanley Street are also proposed in creating a hierarchy of public spaces within Collinsville and reinforcing a greener approach to this rural township.

SLR undertook a lead role as Landscape Architect and Urban Designer and oversaw a consultant team consisting of civil, traffic and quantity surveyors to advise on the design concepts.