28 June 2024
North Sydney’s Sub Base Platypus Torpedo Factory won an award at the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects NSW State Awards.
It won a Landscape Architecture Award under the Cultural Heritage category. Turf Design Studio won the award for its work.
Formerly a torpedo factory, submarine base and gas works, Sub Base Platypus is a community recreation and work hub in North Sydney, homeland of the Cammeraygal people.
Offering shaded BBQ facilities and a maritime-themed playground, Oberon Park pays tribute to the Oberon-class submarines based here between 1967 and 1999. Meanwhile, the Torpedo Factory Precinct boasts a view of Neutral Bay as well as a storytelling space with historical artefacts and a three-piece artwork honouring Country. Other attractions include a sustainable furniture and homewares store, situated on the harbourside promenade, as well as regular guided tours.
The renewal and adaptive reuse of the 1942 built Torpedo Factory opens the building to the community as a new multi-use area with public spaces, terraces and gardens. Partial demolition of the factory on the harbour foreshore has allowed daylight back to the site and affords space for a future public park on the lower level. Connection with Country and interpretation of the stories of sea, stone and sky, with the industrial heritage of former uses has created a complex and multilayered experience that adds to public space assets of the community and the visitor experience.