Narellan Town Centre Opened
December 19, 2017
The $200M expansion of Narellan Town Centre in Sydney’s south-west, opened earlier this year by NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian.
The expansion doubled the centre’s floor space from 35,000m² to more than 70,000m² and incorporated a sky bridge over Camden Valley Way, which joined the existing southern shopping precinct to the new northern sector. The completed additions make Narellan Town Centre the largest privately owned shopping centre in Australia.
Buchan was appointed by Dartwest Developments in 2009 to provide architectural and interior design services to the project, revising the centre’s original design concept to create a modern town centre.
Sydney Project Director Anthony Palamara said he was excited to see the project come to completion recently, with the building fast becoming Sydney south-west’s new retail, food and recreational hub.
“The town centre is set to revitalise the Narellan precinct by acting as a catalyst for further high-quality developments in the area,” Mr Palamara said.
“The project brief was developed in conjunction with council planners and the owners Dartwest Developments.
“The process involved the consideration of international and local benchmarking to create a major townscape adorned with hard and soft landscapes, flanked by restaurants and an active plaza space.
“Our design narrative was to create a heart for Narellan that emphasised true pedestrian connectivity to the proposed elevated shopping precinct.
“The town centre’s external sky bridge, two entrance lobbies and sweeping retail facade have been designed to create a gateway landmark that embraces the restaurant precinct and civic plaza.
“In terms of standout features, the adjoining fashion-oriented sky bridge is the pinnacle of the centre’s extraordinary design. It links the north and south retail precincts seamlessly and effortlessly for shoppers.”
Mr Palamara said the town square was embraced by a sweeping upper-level façade, which was set back from the busy roadway.
“It’s refreshing to see the pedestrian links being used as we anticipated, with people walking along the new town square’s edge flanked by restaurants, shops, landscaping and water features,” he said.
Materials for the project were kept simple and colours neutral to allow longevity, while large zones of glass created permeability in areas of pedestrian focus.
