Balfour Street Park facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Balfour Street Park |
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Balfour street pocket park located on the junction between Chippendale and Broadway
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| Type | Urban park |
| Location | Chippendale, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
| Area | 640 m2 (6,900 sq ft) |
| Created | 19 June 2011 |
| Operated by | City of Sydney |
| Status | Open all year |
Balfour Street Park is a small, public park in Chippendale, a part of Sydney, Australia. You can find it at the corner of Balfour Street and O’Connor Street. This park helps people walk easily to Central Park. The City of Sydney worked with JILA to design it. It even won an award, the Horbury Hunt Brick Award, in 2010 for its design.
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History of Balfour Street Park
Before it became a park, this area was just unused land. It was covered in weeds and owned by the State Rail Authority.
In 2011, local people wanted to make it better. They worked with the North Sydney Council through a program called "Streets Alive." This program lets communities create gardens on government-owned land. With this help, they got permission to build a park. The Lord Mayor officially opened Balfour Street Park on June 19, 2011.
How Balfour Street Park Was Designed
The first ideas for Balfour Street Park came from Sue Barnsley Design. The goal was to connect the big Central Park development with the smaller homes nearby. JILA then took these ideas and added more details. They used rich materials and small touches to make the park feel welcoming.
By closing Balfour Street between O’Connor and Wellington Streets, the park gained more open space. This also created an important path for walkers and cyclists to reach Broadway. It also helped improve local traffic flow.
Cool Features of the Park
Bricks are a main material used in the park's design. This helps the park match the brick buildings around it. The bricks are laid in different directions. One way faces a drainage channel, and the other faces the grass.
A special brick channel, called a swale, is a key part of the park. It has arching lights that make it stand out day and night. This swale also helps drain water away. Some bricks stick out from the swale to catch rubbish and slow down water. The park also uses recycled stone from local streets, which connects to the area's history.
Plants and Animals in the Park
Balfour Street Park has many native Australian plants. These include NSW Christmas Bush, Banksia, Bottlebrush, Port Jackson cypress, Lillypilly, Tea tree, Eucalyptus, and Grevillea. Plants along the park's edge were chosen for two reasons. They help hide the railway line and attract native birds to the park.
Gallery
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The brick swale feature which slows water flow and captures any rubbish
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Central Park in background
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Brick swale vegetation
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Brick paving
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Fixed concrete benches
