The $315 million upgrade of Queensland’s busiest public transport station should not simply be functional and bland, but rather an impressive statement piece, a conference has heard.
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Brisbane City Council’s public and active transport chairman Adrian Schrinner was part of an industry briefing for the Brisbane Metro on Wednesday, which was attended by more than 200 leaders from local and international companies.
The expression of interest for several parts of the $944 million project are now open, including for the construction of the underground station at the Cultural Centre, which is estimated to cost about 33 per cent of the total cost of the project, or $315 million.
“This project needs your innovation and needs your input,” Cr Schrinner told the industry briefing.
“We have obviously got a concept design which has been released ... but I have no doubt the final product for Metro will change again.”
Cr Schrinner said the overall project would likely change following input from the businesses, but stressed the importance of putting forward ideas for the station upgrade that would "wow people".
“It has to be more than an engineering project,” he said.
“The Cultural Centre station, the new underground Metro station that we want to build through this project is the busiest public transport station in Queensland.
“We believe it’s more important than Central Station, more important than Roma Street station, this is the busiest hub in the network.
“It has to be more than a functional station, it has to create a sense of arrival.
“We need that station to have a bucket load of public art and impressive features ... we want this to be a true statement of this city.
“A bland station that does the job from a technical point of view is not going to be enough.”
Opposition transport spokesman Jared Cassidy said a $315 million station and a billion-dollar busway extension was an enormous amount of money.
“We don’t even know if this is the best option,” he said.
“We know council considered over 20 options but they never released the options analysis, they’ve only told us what they think is the best option without explaining to people if there were other cheaper options.
“We think this is more a statement piece than the best outcome for this city.”
Cr Schrinner encouraged Brisbane companies to partner with international companies to be part of delivering the metro project.
Cr Cassidy said Labor would like to see a guarantee that Brisbane companies would be given preference for the work.
The two main packages now open for tender are for the inner-city construction and the vehicles.
The package for the depot at Rochedale and a package for suburban station upgrades will be put to market at a later date.
