A Vision for Toombul

Project Overview

During the February 2022 Brisbane floods, Toombul shopping centre was inundated and has remained closed ever since. Located in Nundah in Brisbane's inner north, the centre is a key transport, shopping and community hub servicing the northern suburbs and its sudden closure has been devastating for locals. Feedback through local community groups reveals the sense of loss that they share. Toombul was not only a place where their practical needs were met but it also occupies a place in the collective memory as the setting for a range of life events - from the prosaic to the profound - in which the community situates its shared identity.

As members of this community, PRAX Studio is a stakeholder in the future of Toombul and we have the unique opportunity to engage with the developer to share our views on its redevelopment. Our masterplan vision for Toombul prioritises the community's needs and desires while taking maximum advantage of this once in a generation opportunity to deliver an open, green and accessible community heart for the enjoyment of future generations. By advocating for the community and articulating a vision in which their views a better represented, our vision will contribute to achieveing a development outcome that will be an enduring piece of public architecture befitting this wonderful site.

Masterplan Principles

Flood resilience is achieved through a celebration of the adjacent waterway, using landscape design to turn an unloved stormwater canal into a thriving green ecosystem and community heart.
A "super green" design response is proposed with all parking moved below an elevated ground floor plane to prioritise landscape as the primary design driver.
Connectivity to a variety of transport options is maximised including a new pedestrian footbridge to Toombul train station, integration of the existing bus terminal, ride share porte cochere and new green transport links with priority given to pedestrian access.
An equivalent sized shopping mall is reinstated on the site, configured for a similar range of retail tenants to serve the needs of the local community. The retail area supports large format supermarkets, department stores, specialty stores, cinemas, entertainment and food and beverage outlets of similar size and configuration to the existing centre.
A retail model is envisaged that rejects the prevailing paradigm of inward-looking sheds in a sea of asphalt parking and instead envisions an open, outward looking, permeable and landscape-focused shopping experience that celebrates our subtropical climate. Wide, open air malls running north-south create permeable through-site links allowing pedestrians, light and air to penetrate the site while a porous perimeter maintains views to the landscape from the internal malls.
The opportunity is taken to externalise food and beverage outlets via landscaped alfresco terraces at both mall levels. The retail food court should be an open, green, airy and light-filled experience that maximises views to nature.

A commercially realistic approach is taken to increased density and mixed-use on the site. Permanent residents and workers can improve a public space by introducing a more permanent community and extending the site's activation and passive security beyond retail trading hours. These benefits need to be balanced against amenity impacts on surrounding neighbours and overall density, height, street setbacks, built form and consideration of trafic impacts need to be sensitive to this. Low-rise residential development along the site's northern boundary is envisioned to create a smooth transition in scale and use while commercial uses are oriented towards the noiser and more impermeable Sandgate Road corridor.
A central small business and start-up incubator hub provides supported co-working and workshop spaces for local businesses with the possibility to directly transition into the larger commercial office spaces.
A programmed outdoor public green space links the Kalinga Park green precinct to the Kedron Brook Bikeway and Albert Bishop Park sporting precinct. The landscaped outdoor space extends the amenity of the shopping centre and supports activities for a range of ages and abilities.
Sustainability drives the design of the new buildings and several overt responses are envisaged including green roofs, passive solar shading to all glazed elevations, centralised chilled water plant, on-site solar energy production, green transport prioritisation and a focus on health and wellbeing.

Masterplan Key Metrics

Total retail GLAR: 48,000m² (approx. 47,000m² existing)
Total commercial, co-working and incubator NLA: 23,000m²
Total residential NSA: 31,500m²
Total parking: 1,900 retail, 350 residential, 120 commercial. (approx. 1,820 existing spaces)
Over 30,000m² of landscaped public public domain
Over 20,000m² of green roofing and community gardens