Architect: Stanic Harding
Builder: Eastside Construction Group
Location: Lilyfield, NSW
Congratulations to Stanic Harding Architects on receiving a commendation 2025 NSW Architecture Awards for their project, Callan Park Waterfront Green Amenities, for the Small Project Architecture category. Partridge was pleased to support this project as structural engineers, also working closely with landscape architects Tyrrell Studio.
Callan Park occupies 61 hectares along the southern edge of Iron Cove and holds significant cultural and historical value. The broader goal for the park was to create a connected and inviting public space, while preserving its heritage and acknowledging its Indigenous history. The council’s intention was to transform a portion of the foreshore along the Bay Run, and remove two intrusive structures to open up views across the water.
The new structure sits within a grove of mature casuarina trees, identified through consultation with the Bangawarra people as a place of shelter and gathering. A curved timber screen marks the entry and frames views into the trees, while a rear archway reinforces the connection. The roof lifts at either end and along the grove-facing edge, aligning the form with the surrounding landscape. Pale brick, timber dowels, and muted steel were chosen to reflect the park setting.
Strict planning and heritage controls required the new built forms to stay within the footprint and height of the removed structures. The pavilion is set back from the open green, preserving sightlines to the water and connecting with new paths and open spaces.
The structure is comprised of a free-standing steel framed roof with tapered cantilevers at either end and masonry construction of the amenities block sitting independently beneath the roof.
The structural design required close collaboration with the architect and steel fabricator for the detailing of the expressed steel connections including custom fabricated fascia beams, countersunk bolts in tapped holes, cruciform splice connections and eccentric connections between the roof beams and steel posts.
The project has provided the community with new amenities that are both functional and carefully integrated within the parkland setting.
