Perched on Southbank Promenade like a monument to creative ambition, the bright red amphitheatre at Queensbridge Square has become the kind of public landmark that divides a city. Office workers eat lunch on its tiers. Friends gather before theatre shows. Tourists climb to the top for skyline photos. Yet locals have spent two decades debating whether the structure is architectural treasure or embarrassing eyesore.
For nearly 20 years, the bright Red Stairs at Queensbridge Square have doubled as grandstand, rendezvous point and front row seat to the Yarra. Originally commissioned in 2005 as part of the Sandridge Precinct Renewal and delivered ahead of the 2006 Commonwealth Games, the structure arrived with artistic credentials. Designed by Marcus O'Reilly Architects and sculptor Nadim Karam, it was meant to do triple duty: create wind shelter, hide a car park access tunnel, and define an urban gathering space.
But intended functions and actual experience rarely align perfectly. Two decades of sun, rain and heavy use have taken their toll. More pressing, the feedback from those who live and work in the area has grown increasingly pointed.
Councillors have approved a $1.7 million draft design at the Future Melbourne Committee meeting on Tuesday 3 March, with plans to update the landmark and make it safer, greener and easier to use. The proposed changes cut deep: the proposed $1.7 million redesign will lower the structure by three metres, replacing the top tier with a new viewing platform and balustrades to improve sightlines.
Landscaping would play a bigger role in the redesigned space, with two new trees and an additional 40 square metres of greenery planned to soften the structure and create a more relaxed environment for people spending time in Queensbridge Square. The new materials will be harder to vandalize and easier to maintain than the aging red plywood.
The path to this moment reveals the tension that sits at the heart of public space design. Bold, distinctive structures can feel inspiring or intrusive depending on your vantage point. The big red staircase featured in Queensbridge Square has plagued the river promenade for many years, as a failed attempt at activating the area to become a popular public gathering place. Yet clearly it succeeded in some respects; hundreds of people use it daily.
Lord Mayor Nick Reece has framed the redesign as an evolution rather than erasure. It is not about changing what the Red Stairs are, but ensuring they continue to work for the way people use the riverfront today. This refresh gives us a chance to keep what people love, fix what the community has told us no longer works and ensure this stretch of the river keeps pace with the city around it.
That's pragmatic logic. Public spaces do not stand still. They age, they wear, they accumulate community feedback. Melbourne's willingness to invest $1.7 million to refresh rather than demolish the structure suggests a city comfortable with its quirks, even when those quirks require maintenance and occasional reinvention. For a landmark that has survived 20 years of use and debate, that feels like an honest outcome.