Council offers a glimpse of what Parramatta will look like in the near future
The City of Parramatta Council has unveiled an animated flythrough of Parramatta's CBD offering residents and those from further afield a glimpse of what the city will look like in the near future. The projects shown in the animation encompass 30 different projects that won design excellence competitions over the past four years with the council stating they have a combined development value of $5.5 billion.
Design excellence competitions are normally triggered when a proposed development hits certain thresholds relating to height, site area, capital value or location (i.e. a key or landmark site). The City of Parramatta requires a design excellence competition for projects that are proposed to have a height of 55m or more, likewise if the capital value of the project exceeds $100 million a competition is also required.
Lord Mayor, Cr Bob Dwyer, said,
"At the core of any great city is quality design and planning. This leads to the construction of first-rate commercial and residential buildings and infrastructure that meets the needs of current and future populations. The flythrough animation provides a remarkable glimpse into the future of Parramatta, showcasing exceptional architecture that will undoubtedly help cement Parramatta as a world-class city."
Projects featured in the fly through include Bankwest Stadium, Parramatta Square, Parramatta Aquatic and Leisure Centre, the Civic Link and Arthur Phillip High School which will be NSW's first high-rise public high school.
Parramatta is also a major focus for new public transport projects within metropolitan Sydney. Parramatta has already seen early-stage works begin for its new light rail system that will travel from Westmead through North Parramatta, into the Parramatta CBD, then it will replace the existing Carlingford Sydney trains line.
The second stage of light rail expansion might see a network junction near Rosehill that would then connect through Melrose Park, crossing the Parramatta River into Westworth Point and then terminating at Sydney Olympic Park.
Metropolitan Sydney's blitz of new metro lines - railways operated by driverless trains, operationally separate from the existing Sydney trains network - will reach Parramatta's CBD as well with the state government team driving the Sydney Metro West project recently outlining station locations in the region.
Construction on Sydney Metro West is set to start in 2020 at the Bays Precinct site further up the line toward Sydney's CBD to prepare the site for major tunnelling works.
Bankwest Stadium opened in April 2019, the new aquatic and leisure centre's development application will be lodged in 2020 and new learning spaces in the new Arthur Phillip High School will be ready for teachers and students at the start of term 1 in 2020.
Parramatta is no stranger to the Urban.com.au database with many of the projects shown in the City of Parramatta Council's animation listed locally where there upwards of 40 medium and high-density projects being tracked for the locality.