Phase one of a project to convert Rosebank’s Keyes Avenue area into a dedicated art precinct has begun.
This upgrade in the heart of Rosebank aims to attract visitors and tourists to a more pedestrian- and cyclist-friendly space.
The area is already home to the Everard Read Gallery, the Circa Gallery and the Goodman Gallery. The project’s objective is to create attractive streets so people will be encouraged to walk or cycle through the area. StudioMAS Architects and Urban Designers created the development plan for the area upgrade. It addresses the state of disrepair of streets, its many blank and windowless walls, and also parking garages that face the road. These create an unpleasant, even unsafe, environment for pedestrians.
“The current condition of Keyes Avenue appears to be a haphazard overlap of cars, scholars, church congregants, gallery visitors and daily commuters,” states the plan. Its architects highlight a street in disrepair, dominated by vehicle movements to the detriment of pedestrians. They note that despite the “degradations and state of the streets, pavement and buildings” the area is an emerging precinct with “great development potential”.
Phase one of the Keyes Avenue art precinct, involving the upgrade of the pavements, is currently underway. The second phase is imminent.
This article originally appeared in Neighbourhood, Sunday Times.
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