Black River Reclamation
UoABlack River Reclamation Semester 1, 2023, BAS
A proposed intervention that removes the Learning Quarter segment of Symonds Street and excavates to basement level, replacing the road with a native New Zealand wetland cut into the earth. The project re-establishes whenua within the campus and creates a student performance landscape where tarmac used to be.
Two double-height pedestrian bridges span the length of the new corridor, integrating with existing building entrances while providing communal space for students to circulate, rest, gather, and perform. Interactive seating throughout the bridges can be rearranged at will, fostering ownership and encouraging spontaneous use. The structure itself is open-air and multi-storey, designed to be climbed and explored.
Over a 24-hour cycle the space captures the ebb and flow of campus life: commuting between classes, gathering in communal areas, crossing paths to the student bar, watching from above, protesting, or simply sitting. The design treats pedestrian movement as programme rather than circulation.
The title refers to the transition from the industrial black tarmac of the road to the natural environment beneath it. Environmentally, the wetland mitigates air pollution and urban heat island effects, provides habitat for native wildlife, and manages stormwater by temporarily storing runoff and releasing it slowly to reduce flood risk.