Projects

Location:

Richmond Road, Keswick Terminal, South Australia

Client:

Axiom Properties

Sector:

​Community, Education and Healthcare​ 

Role:

​Statutory and Land Use Planning​ 

Description:

In late 2019, Axiom Properties engaged MasterPlan SA to prepare and submit a development application for the creation of a new purpose-built Emergency Services Sector Headquarters Precinct. This followed a comprehensive Government process to identify the optimal location for this essential state infrastructure. MasterPlan supported the Government in the location analysis and assessment. 

The facility forms the home for the following Emergency Services and Government Agencies:

• State Emergency Services (SES),
• Country Fire Service (CFS),
• Metropolitan Fire Service (MFS), and
• South Australian Fire and Emergency Services Commission (SAFECOM). 

The precinct serves as a crucial post-disaster facility acting as the operational base for South Australia’s Emergency Service providers in the event of a major disasters such as earthquakes, terror attacks, fires and floods. It is a key component of the States resilience and contingency planning.

The precinct includes a multi-storey office building, public plaza, a large warehouse for storing emergency service vehicles and equipment, a hardstand area for the marshalling of personnel and vehicle in an emergency event, and a multi-deck car park.

As a significant piece of public infrastructure, MasterPlan obtained planning approval for the development via the Crown Development assessment pathway, with the State Commission Assessment Panel (SCAP) as the relevant authority.

A major consideration for the proposal was ensuring the facility’s design was resilient to disasters and attacks, allowing it to remain fully functional and operational after a major event. Additionally, it was important, to create an attractive, durable, and environmentally sustainable development with an architectural expression and urban design that reflected the site’s important civic function and primacy within the locality. Through engagement with the Office for Design and Architecture South Australia (ODASA), MasterPlan negotiated was able to negotiate a design outcome that met the project brief and balanced these different objectives.

The site became fully operational in November 2021.

Contact:

Nick Wilson

Collaboration:

Hames Sharley

Aspect Studios

Wallbridge Gilbert Aztec (WGA)

WSP

MFY

Coffey