Urban design concepts and projects for the revitalisation of the towns and villages within the New England High Country including identification of key objectives and principles, and streetscape and public domain improvements. The towns and villages include Armidale City, Guyra, Uralla, Walcha, Hillgrove, Ebor, Bundarra and Wollomombi.

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Armidale City 
Reinforcing Armidale City as the centre of the LGA. Improving connectivity and permeability and links to open space areas and other precincts, creation of a night time economy, improving activation and enhancement of the streetscape and mall and incorporation of a redevelopment/transformational project.

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Concept development for a key development site to assist in the revitalisation of the centre. This includes identifying the built form, heights, connections and land use. The key site addresses all street frontages and provides connections from the city through to the extensive open space lands on the northern side of the centre. Architectural concepts consider:

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• Public car parking.

• Improving amenity of the building by sleeving development around the carpark.

• Activating the street frontages as the site faces onto three important corridors.

• Provision of visual and physical connectivity between the city centre and the Dumaresq Creek open space corridor.

• Floor plans suitable for a number of differing land uses incorporating civic, commercial, retail and residential development.

 

Guyra  
The township of Guyra is physically separated from the highway by the disused railway. The enhancement plan develops ideas to use the disused railway ensuring connectivity with the highway to increase visitors to the town. The plan also proposes streetscape improvements.

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Uralla and Walcha
Streetscape improvements complementary to the villages in continuing the art themes in the area and ensuring permeability and connectivity are enhanced.

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Ebor  
Ebor has a significant number of day and overnight visitors to its spectacular water falls. The village enhancement plan develops ideas to assist in the revitalisation of the village and improve safety including linkages to the falls, separated walkways and improvements to the road infrastructure.

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Wollomombi 
Wollomombi is located off the highway and visitors must turn off the highway to visit. A gateway treatment to help attract tourists to visit Wollomombi. Walks to the falls and gold mines are also identified to increase the attraction and the possibility for overnight camping.

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Hillgrove  
Hillgrove was a prosperous gold mining town and most of the buildings were relocated once the town’s gold mining diminished. It still has a great story with many walks in the area and the gold mine still exists. The plan proposes to enhance ideas that the village had already commenced to increase visitation through improving signage, heritage interpretation and the implementation of walking trails.

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Bundarra
The village is located on the main street, which is lineal in form with heritage buildings and varying uses dotted along the strip. Concepts for streetscape improvements complementary to the heritage buildings and that link the main street up with recreational uses adjoining the creek to the east.