Kangaroo Island Town Centre Upgrades

The Kangaroo Island Town Centres Project has revitalised the main streets and foreshore precincts of the island’s four main townships of Kingscote, Penneshaw, American River and Parndana.

Kangaroo Island council engaged Tonkin to provide civil, structural and stormwater engineering to support the project, working closely with Louise Custance, Landscape Architect, who was recruited by council to manage the project. The works included large areas of paving, level adjustments, kerbing, planting, artwork, bespoke furniture, stormwater upgrades, raised crossings, traffic reconfigurations and road surface improvements.

This was the first time Kangaroo Island Council delivered streetscape upgrades in quick succession, and Tonkin was well-placed to provide expert advice. Tonkin’s long history providing consulting services for open space, street and town centre upgrades for councils meant we were able to draw on extensive experience, and share expert knowledge with council. 

Drawing on each other’s strengths, council staff and Tonkin’s engineers developed designs that improved aesthetics of the road reserves, whilst also creating functional roads that support pedestrian movements and formalises carparking arrangements. The vision to create town centres that attract more residents and tourists to the space and promotes the adjoining businesses has been realised.

With accessibility being a key objective, seamless surfacing was prioritised. To achieve seamless transitions between footpaths and roads, council proposed ACO drains – channels that enable flat pavement drainage. To support this, Tonkin undertook a stormwater flow analysis to model future stormwater events to ensure the road reserve provides flood protection to properties with the kerbing removed.

The outcomes of this project realise significant tourism, economic and community benefits, which are especially significant after the island suffered in the wake of drought, bushfires and COVID19. 

High tourism and primary production traffic at Penneshaw presented unique challenges. Tonkin’s engineers, under council direction, innovated to improve traffic movements, including installation of various formalised parking arrangements with use of protuberances and landscaping.  

The project achieved its objectives through collaboration - council staff, engineers, architects, the community and other contractors together achieved something bigger than any one organisation could have in its own right. Collaborative workshops and online meetings between council and Tonkin were frequently undertaken to openly discuss design challenges, review alternative solutions, whilst managing approaching milestones. This approach ensured the design is out to tender in a timely manner whilst achieving a successful design that aligned with community needs.

Kangaroo Island Council received the following awards: