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New town square opens as Bowden celebrates sustainability achievement
29 Oct 2016
The Bowden urban renewal project has achieved a major sustainability milestone as it hosts its biggest celebration ever to mark the opening of a new town square.
The Renewal SA site has been recognised as having the highest concentration of Green Star buildings anywhere in Australia, becoming only the second development in South Australia to achieve a project-wide 6 Star Green Star – Communities rating.
The rating signifies world leadership in planning, design and construction.
The award coincides with the opening of the town square, featuring the Bowden Park and converted industrial warehouse Plant 4 — the first part of Bowden’s new retail hub.
Adelaide-based Landscape Construction Services won the contract to build Bowden Park, while South Australian developer Mossop significantly upgraded the Plant 4 warehouse.
Together the two projects form Bowden Town Square. The construction contracts were worth approximately $5 million in total, supporting more than 200 jobs for South Australians.
Today’s celebration will be a preview of weekly markets to be held every Wednesday and Saturday from November, taking their inspiration from the Ceres Group’s highly successful Market Shed on Holland.
The event will include a range of food and drink pop-ups in Plant 4 and food trucks fronting the Bowden Park.
The official opening ceremony will be held at 2.30pm by Housing and Urban Development Minister Stephen Mullighan and City of Charles Sturt Mayor Angela Evans.
Background
The Bowden Town Square opening celebrations will be held from 2pm to 8pm today, with food, live music and entertainment.
Plant 4 Bowden is designed as a place to taste, shop and explore eateries, weekly produce markets, organic traders and indie stores, as well as regular hosted events.
Bowden Park is approximately 5,000m2 in the heart of the urban renewal project, landscaped with trees, grass and feature gardens.
So far more than 250 homes have been built at Bowden across 10 apartment and terrace developments, and more than 450 homes have been sold since the project was launched in 2012.
Once complete, Bowden will be home to about 3500 people in more than 2400 new homes, equating to about $740 million in private sector development.
The Bowden development is designed to optimise natural heating and cooling through building orientation, sunshades, natural ventilation and quality materials such as windows.
The 6 Star Green Star – Communities certification was awarded by the Green Building Council of Australia.
Developed by the GCBA, Green Star is an independent and voluntary rating system for sustainable buildings and communities.
The Tonsley innovation precinct is the only other site to receive the 6 Star accolade in South Australia.
Quotes attributable to:
Housing and Urban Development Minister Stephen Mullighan
Bowden is being developed as one of the most sustainable communities in Australia.
The 6 Star Green Star rating shows Bowden is an advanced, healthy and environmentally sustainable place to live, as well as being safe and affordable.
Bowden is not only a fantastic example of sustainable high-density inner city living, it’s also a great example of the Government-led transformation of an industrial site into a prime residential development.
Renewal SA has invested significantly in a refurbishment of Plant 4 which acknowledges the building’s industrial roots, while offering a unique retail precinct, delivered by local South Australian family business, Ceres Group.
The Bowden Town Square will provide important open space for this precinct for those who live locally or from further afield.
Green Building Council of Australia Chief Executive Officer Romilly Madew
Bowden is a bricks-and-mortar demonstration of leadership in sustainability.
Renewal SA set a high benchmark when it mandated that each and every building on the Bowden site would achieve a 5 Star Green Star rating.
This has not only delivered the highest concentration of Green Star residential buildings in the country, but also helped South Australia’s development industry gain new sustainability skills to meet the demands of a zero carbon future.