Goulburn Mulwaree Council recently approved a DA for a multi-storey car park near the Goulburn Workers Club in the CBD.
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The private car park will comprise 237 spaces over four levels.
The design will have one underground level and three above it and will undergo several approval stages.
It will also incorporate a ‘green wall’ (a wall covered with plants) to soften its look.
Goulburn only has one other such car park, behind Goulburn Square, which was established many years ago.
But due to increasing parking pressure in the city, providing adequate car parking that is also aesthetically pleasing and fits in with the heritage buildings – is an issue.
Goulburn Heritage Group member David Penalver said the whole issue needs careful consideration to get the balance right.
“There is no doubt about it – car parks are ugly,” Mr Penalver said.
“When the council sent out the DA for this new car park some months ago the Heritage Group thought about it and said if it can be done well then we will support the idea.
“As a heritage group you can put off it forever and say not here, but if the city is going to become more pedestrian friendly then we need to get these somewhere.
“So the question then becomes how do you make a car park look better?
“Why not set a high standard of design now so that when council comes along later to more of these there will be a plan to follow.”
The group met the project manager and he showed them the designs. There were a number of issues they pointed out to him.
“We would have preferred it to go more underground, but if you have an underground car park you need fan-forced air for ventilation. We had hoped to use the slope so more of it could be put underground - but this option was too expensive,” Mr Penalver said.
“So we combined the idea of cross air flow with something that looked solid - most of the old buildings in Goulburn have a vertical structure.
“So the idea of vertical columns in the new design is to allow air flow and break up the skyline.
“We also wanted to break the top up so it didn’t look like a factory.
“We also did not like the concentration on the McKell St and Clifford St elevation, without worrying about the back of it.
“It has to look good all the way around.
“We wanted to ensure the surfaces were subdued and that it had a reasonable colour scheme.”
”Therefore, the challenge was to do something positive and we were trying to look at the best possible vertical form, softened with vegetation.”
David Cole
Journalist at the Goulburn Post
Journalist at the Goulburn Post
