Case Studies
Hobart Waterfront Renewal - Morrison Street

Design Feature

Type of project
Local Government Initiative
State
Tasmania
Location
Urban
Hobart’s Waterfront, like many dockside areas around the world, is changing from a working port to a place for people. Once dominated by sea freight and shipping activities, the wharves are now used for education, the arts and tourism purposes.
The waterfront has become Hobart’s premier destination for festivals, with annual icon events like Dark Mofo and Taste of Tasmania and the weekly Salamanca Market attracting crowds.  
A premier destination
The Morrison Street project provides a new movement network for the community, featuring a generous pedestrian and bicycle connection between two sides of the waterfront - Franklin Wharf and Salamanca.  

The project was planned, designed and implemented by the City of Hobart’s Infrastructure Team and completed in two stages by December 2016. The project aimed to shift the emphasis away from vehicle traffic and carparking, in favour of providing more public open space and a greater level of infrastructure, amenity and support encouraging pedestrian activity and locals to spend more time in this special waterfront place.   

The Morrison Street project emerged from the 2009 Jan Gehl and Associates report that collected and analysed urban life data in Hobart’s CBD and waterfront.  Hobart – A City with People in Mind, noted that the waterfront was dominated by cars and highlighted an opportunity to “_strengthen the waterfront as a people place_”.   

The Gehl report was used to identify the key transformative directions for the City of Hobart to work towards over the next 20 years. Community input was sought and used to prioritise a suite of projects – which became the Inner City Action Plan (ICAP). Improving pedestrian connectivity around Hobart’s waterfront with a continuous shared promenade was identified as a priority project. 

The project transforms the once car dominated thoroughfare into a place with a comfortable and safe space for walking and cycling with high quality seating to encourage people to rest, interact, view the water and generally take in the atmosphere. Morrison Street is a peopled, active space providing the primary walking link between destinations such as Constitution Dock and Hunter Street. It includes the University Arts Centre, major hotels and cruise ship terminal to destinations at the southern end of the Cove, Princess Wharf, Salamanca Place and the University’s waterfront campus.  
The project has also extended the existing Inner-City Cycleway towards Salamanca and Battery Point. This has created a continuous, generous pedestrian and bicycle promenade through Hobart’s waterfront precinct, and provided a continuous off-road route from Salamanca to MONA – a major private art gallery and destination north of the waterfront.  

The project has provided quality public spaces for community enjoyment, while pedestrian connectivity across the Cove has been greatly improved. The effect has been a reignited sense of community pride and place in the waterfront area. The place now welcomes visitors, encourages social interaction and supports community events and festivals. 
The design supports local events that occur throughout the year. A wide footpath adjacent to Parliament Gardens with relocatable bollards becomes a temporary taxi rank when the road network closes for the annual Taste of Tasmania and Dark Mofo festivals. Furniture conceals power outlets for events and buskers during busy festivals such as the Australian Wooden Boat Festival, the streetlights are programmable to allow for event lighting, and a community poster pole houses the new electrical switch board.  
Project team
  • City of Hobart 
  • GHD 
  • Street and Garden Furniture 
  • CDM Research 
  • Michael Small (access) 
  • JMG, TasNetworks 
  • Spectran (Construction (Stage 1)  
  • City of Hobart (Construction (Stage 2)  

Project Cost
Approximately $3.1 Million 
Health Value
  • The Morrison Street project offers health value through the upgraded streetscape that provides spaces for people to spend time in the street and encourages physical activity through improved walking and cycling infrastructure.
  • There has been an observable increase in families riding bikes on the new shared path on Saturdays when Salamanca Market is in full swing.
  • Social opportunities are enhanced, both in the public spaces and adjoining commercial venues drawing in people of all ages.

Economic value
  • The Morrison Street project offers economic value through the revitalised street space now effectively connecting major attractors at either end of Sullivan’s Cove, facilitating the movement of pedestrians through and around the precinct.
  • As well as the street space improvements, there has been positive uplift in local commercial activity, which has generated a noticeable increase in the vibrancy of the precinct.
  • New businesses in the area include restaurants, a function space and a bicycle hire outlet. Two existing bars have been relaunched, and the number of outdoor dining tables has more than doubled.
  • The observable change in business activity is despite the reduction in road and parking space dedicated to motor vehicles.
  • Morrison Street now offers a more welcoming place for visitors as the infrastructure supports and encourages business-led activation.

Environmental Value
  • The Morrison Street project offers environmental value through giving priority to active travel over vehicle access.
  • The project has delivered improved growing conditions for the existing street trees and introduced additional trees to the area. The trees delineate the space, provide summer shade and add a living, green element to the waterfront. Timber decking and seating now surrounds the bases of the Cornish Elm trees. The trees’ roots were previously causing damage to the surrounding concrete footpath. Now, the root zones have access to oxygen and moisture. The trees receive passive irrigation from storm water and run-off from the new water bubbler.
  • The LED street and feature lighting are controllable. They can be made brighter or dimmer depending on whether the street is being used as a thoroughfare or as a pedestrian-only event space. The lighting is designed with ‘dark sky’ principles, and limits the escape of excess light spilling to the night sky.

Social value
  • The Morrison Street project offers social value through revitalised and more generous public space, replacing narrow, uneven and uninviting footpaths. The increase in use of the area by young families and people with a disability is observable and indicates that the area is being embraced by city residents. The furniture at Watermans Dock was custom designed for the site. The generous size and forms of the timber clad benches allow for groups to gather, children to play and for people to sit upright or lounge, depending on their needs.
  • The complexities associated with providing shared access for (slow speed) cyclists and pedestrians and the increased capacity to accommodate large numbers of people congregating for major events is testament to the social value of the project.
  • The integration of public spaces and private entertainment, outdoor dining, bars and restaurants also adds to the project’s social value.

Use value
  • The Morrison Street upgrade offers use value through additional public space that fosters relaxation, sociability and playful activity.
  • The project has triggered a positive uplift in local business activity, which has contributed to a noticeable increase in the vibrancy of the precinct with the addition of new businesses and revitalised existing businesses.
  • During events and on market days, parts of the roadway are closed to vehicle traffic and therefore the prominence of pedestrians as the dominant users of the space is even more pronounced at these times.

References

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