Northcliff Park
Northcliff Park
Location
Cammeraygal Country
Milsons Point, NSW
For
NSW Dep. of Planning, Industry & Environment
Design Team
Jane Irwin Landscape Architecture
Public Domain
The landscape design for Northcliff Park responds to the rich history of the site by considering archaeological findings and past use, and is also informed by the natural history of the area. Located within Northcliff Park, which is perched 3 above Luna Park, was a large free-standing sandstone house known as Northcliff4 House, which stood from 1876 1926, when it was acquired by the NSW Government and demolished as part of the Harbour Bridge construction.
The geometry of Northcliff Park refrences Northcliff House by using sandstone walls in the alignment of the old footprint, initially based on early real estate plans and further refined following recent archaeological investigations. A timber deck extends outside of the footprint; as the verandahs if the house would have, and the use of predominantly recycled paving and stone for walls helps to settle the park in the landscape sooner than had exclusively new materials been chosen.
The park is terraced to form a better relationship with the surrounding streets, and to provide a series of diverse spaces. Upper terraces loosely follow the architectural form of the former house layout, and are relatively open with broad views filtered at one end by the lower parts of the heritage listed Fig trees. The lookout has wide open views across the harbour, as the residents of Northcliff House would have once enjoyed.