Geraldton’s Rocks Laneway wins 2020 Urban Design Award

Geraldton’s Rocks Laneway has won big at the WA Architecture Awards last Friday taking home an Urban Design Award.

The awards panel, broadcast on YouTube due to COVID-19 concerns, commended the project for its adaptive reuse of buildings, recycling of materials and expansive public art piece by Trevor Richards.

Architect Fred Chaney of Taylor Robinson Chaney Broderick who led the design spoke to the Geraldton Guardian ahead of the awards ceremony.

“We really came out of it feeling like it was a successful project,” he said. “It was a pleasure working with the city to bring alive their vision of a community hub.”

“We borrowed a lot of design elements from the city itself, trying to honour the heritage of the post office and using steel from the silos at the port to create the veranda on the waterfront side.”

City of Greater Geraldton Mayor Shane Van Styn praised the project contributors saying they were very deserving of the prestigious urban design award.

“The space makes a vital link between the CBD and the Geraldton Foreshore, and has quickly become a community favourite because of the design, artwork and nod to history it represents,” he said.

As a State winner, the Rocks Laneway Project will now be considered in the National Architecture Awards, which will be announced in November.

Formerly the Rocks Newsagency building between Marine Terrace and Foreshore Drive, the building was converted to a pedestrian crossing and hub for community events.

The project, part of the City of Greater Geraldton’s revitalisation of the centre, finished construction by Geraldton Building Services & Cabinets in September at a cost of $1.48 million.