Cherrywood Public Realm – Tully Park

Murray & Associates were engaged by the largest land-owner in the SDZ area to design three of the largest public parks in the open space network: Ticknick Park, Beckett Park and Tully Park.  Each of the parks was designed to provide different facilities, spaces and experiences for the future residents, creating a different atmosphere in each park to respond to their context and function in the new settlement.

Tully Park is located at the centre of the Cherrywood SDZ development, and the park itself is centered on the ruins of the Tully Church and Graveyard. The proposed design aims to provide an appropriate setting for this National Monument, as well as a variety of facilities to support the needs of the local population, befitting its designation in the planning scheme as a ‘Flagship Park’. The proposed development comprises of 10 hectares of Class 1 Park, with associated roadways, footpaths, cycle lanes and car parking.  Included in the application is also a park building (café), public lighting, drainage proposals and power.

In general terms, the design concept for Tully Park aims to exceed the brief and create high quality spaces with a range of facilities appropriate to the spaces. The park is designed in four zones, each with a different, but complementary character. The space allocated to Tully Park in the Planning Scheme is split by Lehaunstown Lane, existing hedgerows and tree lines, and the topography of the site, which varies considerably in each of the segments of the site.  The design aims to use these varying characteristics as inspiration for the type of features and facilities to be included and also to create unique spaces that combine to form a single high quality park.  Also of concern in the design are the interfaces between the zones and the adjacent housing areas, and addressing connectivity through the park as a whole.