The Square, developed as a public space area adjoining Brisbane City Hall in the 1960s, will be designed to blend and integrate civic and ceremonial space with a major bus interchange and related commercial and retail activities.

The UrbisJHD design proposal is called King George Square: A Space in Transition, emphasising the Square’s historic values and its evolving role as a vibrant place in a thriving city.

The winning design sees King George Square providing an elegant platform for events that work in tandem with an exciting new public deck to reintroduce urban life into the square. “Featuring integrated transport, sub-tropical design and simplicity of form, the design marks an evolution in the sophistication of Brisbane’s public realm and creates an iconic space in transition,” UrbisJHD Team Leader, James Tuma said.

“UrbisJHD is privileged to be part of a process that will deliver a new active space to Brisbane and we look forward to seeing the plan become a reality to further energise the city centre.”

The main motivation for redesigning the Square is the development of the Inner Northern Busway, which incorporates a bus station in the lower levels of King George Square and requires stair, escalator and lift access from King George Square to outbound and inbound platforms. James Tuma, Principal Urban Designer with UrbisJHD, says the scheme provides a coherent and contemporary design solution that meets functional requirements while projecting an attractive and timeless character.

“UrbisJHD’s design creates a flexible platform for a wide variety of events that will make the square very hard to miss,” Mr Tuma said. “We started from the position of wanting to create something that is visually simple and elegant, provides an evolution of Brisbane’s public space solution, makes the space more usable and active, all while integrating the bus interchange.“The existing Square was more or less built as an afterthought to cover over an underground car park, so despite previous attempts to improve the amenity, it has remained an under-utilised plaza which compromises the grandeur of City Hall.

“The square will evolve from a two dimensional experience to one that includes the qualities of depth and time. The scheme establishes a series of layered ‘skins’ that provide transition between the activities below the square, to those on the surface.”

“The introduction of commercial and retail uses below the skin of the square, delivers a quality public space solution at limited public expense.”

UrbisJHD was selected from a large number of bidding firms after being one of six short-listed companies earlier this year. Mr Peter Hyland, Director of UrbisJHD, said the success demonstrated the growing profile of UrbisJHD, positioning the firm at the top tier of urban design, urban planning and property economics  

“This signifies a new era of thought leadership in this sector,” Mr Hyland said. “This has been great work by James Tuma and his team. James has brought his international experience to the fore whilst respecting Brisbane’s history.

“It also highlights the benefits of a collaborative approach with other leading consulting firms including Architectus, Bonacci Group, Rider Hunt and RCP contributing to the winning design.”

For further information please contact either Peter Hyland or James Tuma on T: +61 7 3007 3800