“Prince Alfred Park was originally laid out for the Inter-Colonial Exhibition, and the memory of this exhibition is recalled in a series of park elements that abstract the circus pens and animalia of the Agricultural Shows. The toddlers’ playground is the most direct interpretation, evolving from two stories reported in the Sydney Morning Herald in 1870.
The first was the sea voyage of Prince Alfred’s vessel, the “Galatea”, and of their pet elephant, which was given temporary residence in the park. The second was the story of an intrepid aeronaut infamous for launching hot-air balloons from the parklands. The playground conflates the stories of boats, elephants and hot-air balloons!
Within the park Ronstan Tensile Architecture installed Carl Stahl® stainless steel X-TEND® tensile mesh was chosen to clad the transparent ribbon-like fence of the public pool, as it was proven un-climbable. So when the exterior of the 4.5 metre high balloon needed securing, we chose to capture this space with the same silver netting. Serendipitously it now resembles drawings of Mr Gale in his balloon!”
Sue Barnsley,
Sue Barnsley Design
Photography: © Brett Boardman Photography