The Corril Connector – Forgotten spaces creating legacy places

As the 2032 Olympics draw nearer, attention is firmly fixed on big stadiums and infrastructure. Their location, style, cost and size are subject to an unavoidable debate that occupies a lot of the quickly diminishing time before the Opening Ceremony.

Here, Matthew Durning, Studio Director of ASPECT Studios in Brisbane, explains how connecting a chain of disused urban spaces could create a truly meaningful legacy for the Brisbane Olympics.

We must ensure that we find the space to think more broadly about what the Olympics will mean for Brisbane in the long-term. For the host city, the Olympics need to be about more than just the sports themselves. There must be some kind of legacy, whether this takes the form of improved transit infrastructure, or more housing, or better public spaces, or even just a city that has been “beautified” after pulling itself together to host out-of-towners.

This is how, for better or for worse, the cost of hosting the world’s biggest event is justified. What will visitors remember about the city? What moments will spark joy for locals? How will we be able to look back at the Olympics and see it as something that changed our city for the better?

We think it is a mistake to focus too intently on major infrastructure projects in answering this question. To do so ignores the potential held by smaller, more surprising interventions. We need to start considering (and valuing) the moments that only happen in human-scaled spaces.

If we all want the same thing—for Brisbane to be at its best for the Olympics, but also for these improvements to mean something outside of those few weeks—then we need to think beyond large, costly interventions and focus on how everyday spaces can be transformed into places of meaning and connection. Our work in Brisbane and elsewhere in Australia has shown us that some of the most impactful changes occur in overlooked, underutilised spaces. These forgotten pockets of the city are where small investments can yield immense social and cultural returns.

We’re proposing that we devote at least some of our time and resources ahead of 2032 to smaller, human-focused projects—projects that enrich the spaces in-between the big developments and create meaningful interactions for both locals and visitors.

It’s less about making an obvious, physical stamp on the city—it’s about creating the space for people to make the stamp themselves. A well-designed space invites activity, engagement, and discovery. There is a version of Brisbane’s Olympic legacy that won’t be a collection of stadiums, but a city that feels more connected, vibrant, and alive.

The “Corril Connector”

In 2023, we argued that the Brisbane River could play a bigger part in the life of the city, using the Olympics as a goalpost for getting projects moving. We proposed small-scale interventions—expanded pedestrian access, better ferry connections—which could turn the river into a centerpiece of urban life. Part of our thinking was that, despite its obvious environmental and economic important, the river was a forgotten part of the city. It represented an opportunity to create a “new” public space out of something that we already had.

Elsewhere, “forgotten” spaces have been reclaimed to incredible effect, whether these are parks forms atop disused railway lines, or in the space underneath elevated highways. Examples from ASPECT Studios’ own body of work include The Goods Line and The Ribbon Playground in Sydney, and the Caufield to Dandenong Railway and Linear Park in Melbourne. These projects have transformed underused spaces into thriving public areas that connect precincts and unlock the city—in the case of Caulfield to Dandenong, an economically vibrant and extremely popular public space has emerged in what was once a quiet suburban area.

Brisbane has a similar opportunity to unlock under-utilized open space beneath railway lines—where, unlike the examples mentioned above, the shade created by the infrastructure would be climactically perfect for subtropical Brisbane, of which the most successful spaces are interstitial spaces, neither indoors nor outdoors, the quintessential verandah and Queenslander undercroft.

The opportunity exists to extend the ideals of Fish Lane Town Square and South Bank to create a continuous, 3.5-kilometer linear urban park linking Kurilpa, South Bank, the Mater Precinct, and Woolloongabba.

This land is currently owned by a mix of public and private entities, including Queensland Rail, Brisbane City Council, and private owners such as Parmalat. Some of Brisbane’s most successful public spaces, such as Fish Lane Town Square (ARIA Property), West Village (Sekisui House), and RNA (Lendlease), have been delivered through public-private partnerships. Fish Lane Town Square, for instance, operates under a 99-year lease with Queensland Rail—a model that could be replicated to create more public spaces.

In-between places

The opportunity here is not to just to create a textured collection of small, pleasant spaces. It is also to improve connections between precincts and activity centers. One of the key recommendations of the Green Pathways, Gold Places initiative, produced by four of Australia’s design and planning institutes, including the Australian Institute of Architects, was to pursue “precinct-based approach to venue design and planning” -- with a particular focus on the spaces that link Olympics venues.

Good design of the in-between spaces and wider precincts delivers significant experiential benefits to spectators, athletes, and media during the weeks of the Games, as well as delivering long lasting legacy benefits for residents and visitors to Brisbane, SEQ and Queensland well into the future.

Under the new Kurilpa Sustainable Growth Precinct Plan, Kurilpa and South Brisbane are proposed to increase in population by 22,000 new residents and 10,000 dwellings. This would require at least 11 hectares of additional green space to meet the needs of the expanded community. Currently, the Plan only provides 2.2 hectares of new green space, for a total of 3.5 hectares. Our proposed connection could provide up to an additional seven hectares of new public green space, providing subtropical gardens, an arboretum of trees, adventure and discovery play spaces, sports courts, fitness loops, bike trails, interpretive signage and ephemeral local artwork displays.

As we look toward 2032, we should embrace an approach that values the small, the overlooked, and the everyday. By doing so, we can ensure that Brisbane’s Olympic legacy is not just about stadiums and spectacle, but about creating a city that feels more connected, welcoming, and alive—both for the Games and for generations to come.

About