Geocon should engage with heritage council on Kingston Arts Precinct, design review panel says
The National Capital Design Review Panel has expressed concern the Geocon-led consortium has not engaged with the ACT Heritage Council to address heritage issues associated with its Kingston Arts Precinct project.
The panel, whose advice was published on the precinct development's website, highly commended the proponent team for changes to the proposal since the last presentation but requested the team engage with the heritage council to get advice on building footprint, height, massing and view corridors before the next session.
The project will see the area around the heritage-registered Kingston powerhouse and former transport depot redeveloped. Facilities for key arts organisations will be purpose-built alongside residential apartments and commercial spaces.
Any development application for the site would be referred to the ACT Heritage Council for input as part of its assessment process.
The panel was also concerned there was insufficient traffic information to determine what impact the new development would have on the site.
The heritage-registered Kingston powerhouse, right, would be at the centre of the arts precinct development. Picture: Jamila Toderas
"The panel however remains concerned that traffic studies of the existing road networks have not yet been presented and requests that the provides analysis of their findings accompanied by a robust justification for how the study has informed the resultant vehicular circulation strategy for the precinct," the panel's report said.
"Furthermore, the panel requests that the proponent discusses impacts and management strategies for the existing road network under predicted event capacity for the precinct (i.e. market day, concerts)."
The ACT government last year signed an agreement with Geocon to deliver the long-awaited project.
Geocon, along with architects Fender Katsalidis and Oculus, won the tender for the site, the last to be redeveloped in the precinct, in February 2017.