Queen’s Wharf Mangrove Walk, Waterline Park win Master Builders Award for public space

The transformation of a once-unloved piece of Brisbane into a bustling parkland has taken out one of the nation’s top awards.

One of the first completed pieces of Queen’s Wharf, which turned unloved spaces under Brisbane’s Riverside Expressway into vibrant community areas, has won a national award for excellence in public recreation spaces.

The Mangrove Walk, Waterline Park and 500-metre Bicentennial Bikeway upgrade were first opened to the public in October last year, as part of the $3.6 billion project.

Brisbane’s new party zone made possible by Cross River Rail

Queen’s Wharf on track as contract for public space awarded

Residential cranes down while Cross River Rail, Queen’s Wharf hold up Brisbane total

Now the Master Builders Housing and Construction Awards has crowned the new waterfront areas as the winning project in the Best Public Recreational Facility category.

It’s a far cry from the area’s previous life as unloved car parks under the Riverside Expressway.

“We’re happy the award is there, but the real recognition is people using (the public space),” Destination Brisbane Consortium project director Simon Crooks said.

The transformative Queen’s Wharf Brisbane development has been acknowledged at this year’s Master Builders Awards, carrying off the prize for Best Public Recreational Facility.

“If you walk down there, there are people down there all the time.”

“It will get better in the next stages,” Mr Crooks said.

The project has taken previously unloved areas under the Riverside Expressway and given them a new lease on life. Picture: Queen’s Wharf.

Mr Crooks said an outdoor gym and indigenous totem pole were among features incorporated into the new public space.

Construction company Multiplex delivered the project over an 18-month period.

“It’s a proud moment for the team who all contributed to the finished product,” Multiplex project manager Tyson Macdonald said.

The transformative Queen’s Wharf Brisbane development has been acknowledged at this year’s Master Builders Awards, carrying off the prize for Best Public Recreational Facility.

“Ultimately the project was completed with great support of the public stakeholders and clients,” Mr Macdonald said.

Multiplex was recently awarded another contract for the fit-out of a further 12 football fields worth of public space within Queen’s Wharf, which is expected to be open by 2022.

Originally published as Queen’s Wharf Mangrove Walk, Waterline Park win Master Builders Award for public space