Casuarina Square Redevelopment

Casuarina Square in Darwin City is one of Australia's first experimental approaches to retail design, reworking a familiar shopping-centre format into something unique and collaborative. Hames Sharley drew on the people and landscape of the Northern Territory, bringing earthy Territorian colours, textures and native planting into the centre to engage the local community and reinforce a sense of place. The brief was to make a destination where the Darwin community could gather, supporting both economic growth and the wider socio-cultural life of the area through a comfortable, convenient and distinctly local design.

The works were delivered in stages across roughly two years so that the centre could keep trading and people could keep moving through it while key spaces were upgraded. The overall concept reads like a charming European town, with a series of simple streets connecting back to the central plaza.

At the heart of the scheme are four newly activated hubs, each responsive to how the community uses the centre. The Resort Node pairs generous seating with water features to create a tropical, light-filled place to pause. The Family Haven is a flexible, dynamic space with interactive educational elements and a range of places to sit, rest and recharge, drawing on a clean, familiar language rooted in the Australian modern home. The Coles and Recreation nodes offer smaller, cool and contemporary spots to meander and relax, their green character carried into the amenities through overhead planters and planting. Victoria Ash timber, the signature material of the nodes, runs through the main amenity corridors.

A considered palette draws people towards the entrances, combining elevated platforms, timber, stone-look tiled boardwalk walkways and precisely placed lighting so that each entry takes on its own identity while echoing the materials and patterns found inside.

Interior and architecture by Hames Sharley, with interior designer Rebecca Antos. Client: GPT Group. Photography by Shaana McNaught.