Scope: Bulk earthworks, excavation, accessible concrete pathways, decomposed granite surfacing, sandstone flagging and crazy paving, custom sandstone and composite timber seating, sheltered dining area, planting, turf and site reinstatement
Client: Blue Mountains City Council
Location: Springwood town centre, Blue Mountains NSW
Springwood has a busy main street, but until recently it had almost nowhere to sit down and eat outside.
Telstra Park sits in the middle of the town centre, and for years it was a space people walked past rather than used. Blue Mountains City Council approached Laser Landscapes and Excavation to change that.
The upgrade turned an underused piece of public land into a proper outdoor dining and gathering space, with accessible pathways, sandstone paving, custom seating and a new sheltered dining area. Here is how the project came together.
A public space in the middle of a working town centre
Telstra Park is surrounded by shops, footpaths, a bus stop and constant foot traffic, and that shaped the entire project.
Every stage had to be staged and fenced so pedestrians could still move through, local businesses could still trade and buses could still run. The work happened around the town rather than instead of it.
Public domain work carries obligations a closed commercial site does not. Existing trees and surrounding infrastructure were protected throughout construction, access was maintained, and the site was left safe and tidy at the end of every day. You can read more about how we approach commercial landscaping and excavation.
Bulk earthworks and subgrade preparation
The project started with site establishment, demolition, excavation and subgrade preparation, with approximately 250 cubic metres of material excavated and managed off site.
Levels decide everything that follows on a job like this. Path falls, paving joints, garden bed depths and drainage all depend on getting the subgrade right before a single paver is laid.
Working around protected trees and live services limits where machinery can sit and how material can be moved, so the earthworks were planned around those constraints from the start. More on our approach to commercial excavation.
Accessible pathways through the park
New accessible pedestrian pathways were constructed to connect the street, the bus stop and the dining areas.
Formed and poured concrete footpaths carry the main pedestrian routes, with decomposed granite pathways and surfaces used through the softer landscaped areas. That combination keeps the park easy to move through for prams, walkers and wheelchairs, while keeping the finish appropriate to a park rather than a footpath.
Accessibility in a public space comes from the levels and the surfaces, not from a sign at the entry. Getting it right meant setting the grades during excavation and holding them through every pour.
Sandstone paving, crazy paving and outdoor dining
Sandstone flagging was laid to create the paved outdoor dining areas, with detailed crazy paving used through the feature sections of the park.
Crazy paving is slow work. Every piece is cut and fitted individually, and the joints have to stay consistent across a large area for the finished surface to read as one thing rather than a patchwork.
Sandstone was the right material because it belongs in the Blue Mountains. It handles constant public use, it weathers well, and it sits comfortably alongside the sandstone already used through Springwood.
Custom seating, shelter and sandstone features
New and existing sandstone features were integrated across the site, including custom sandstone seating built into the landscape.
Composite timber seating and custom park benches with integrated LED lighting were installed through the dining areas, so the space stays usable into the evening. A new modern sheltered dining area gives people somewhere to sit out of the sun and the rain, which is the difference between a park people walk past and a park people stop at.
A new bubbler was installed, and works were also carried out in association with the relocation of the existing bus shelter, so the public transport stop and the new park layout work together instead of competing for the same ground.
Respecting what was already there
Existing memorial and heritage elements within the park were carefully relocated and integrated into the new layout.
These elements matter to the people who use the park, so they were treated as a design consideration rather than an obstacle to work around. The new layout gives them a clearer setting than they had before.
Gardens, planting and finishing works
Landscaped garden areas were constructed and expanded across the site, with new planting, turf and mulch supplied and installed throughout.
Landscape edging was used to hold clean lines between the paved areas, the pathways and the garden beds. Edging is a small detail that decides how a park looks in five years, because it is what stops mulch, gravel and turf migrating into each other.
The project finished with complete site reinstatement, detailing and a final clean-up, handing back a space the public could use straight away.
What the upgrade gives Springwood
Springwood now has a fresh, modern and accessible space in the heart of its town centre, with somewhere to sit, eat and meet that did not exist before.
Telstra Park is our second park upgrade in the suburb, following the Lomatia Park upgrade nearby, and it is the kind of work we enjoy most. You can also see the full range of our landscaping, concreting and excavation services in Springwood.
Thank you to Blue Mountains City Council, and to the local businesses and residents who worked with us through construction. A project in the middle of a town centre only runs smoothly when the people around it are willing to work with it, and Springwood was.
Watch the Telstra Park project
Take a closer look at the completed Telstra Park upgrade in Springwood.
Talk to us about your public domain or civil project
If you have a park upgrade, town centre works, external works package or civil landscaping scope coming up, send us the plans.
We work with councils, builders, developers and project teams across the Blue Mountains, the Nepean and Penrith region and Central West NSW. Upload your drawings, scope or site details, and we will review them and discuss what is required before preparing a quote.
We are also ISO certified, fully licensed and fully insured, which matters when your project carries its own compliance and procurement obligations.
Call Andrew or request a commercial quote.
