Maitland Riverlink

by CHROFI & McGregor Coxall

From a threat to a community asset – CHROFI & Mcgregor Coxall revive a country town’s heart by linking it back to the river.

The Maitland Riverlink is a public project that will crystallise new value for the regional centre of Maitland, both in terms of its identity and its assets. The project will support a revitalisation of the central business precinct, extending it beyond the main street to the river.

The space acts as a kind of ‘public living room’ for the community, reactivating an unused part of town and drawing locals back to the river that is a fundamental part of Maitland’s heritage, whilst bringing tourists and visitors to the town. In recent years, rural Maitland’s town centre had turned its back on the river, disconnecting it from its main commercial and community activities.

The Maitland Riverlink will support a revitalisation of the central business precinct, extending it beyond the main street to the river.

A series of devastating floods meant locals no longer see the river as an asset, but as a threat to the community. Working with McGregor Coxall, CHROFI identified an opportunity to help reframe that dynamic, then worked closely with Maitland City Council to find buildings which could be purchased and redeveloped to act as pivot for the revitalisation of the centre of town.

The space acts as a kind of ‘public living room’ for the community.

The building unites Maitland’s two key assets for the first time – its architecturally rich High Street and the environmental amenity of the Hunter River – providing a greater experience for tourists and locals. The building is expressed as a ‘sculptural gateway’ that frames views to and from the Hunter River and attracts people to pass through the space. The timber and brick arch frames a covered space for the community use, reactivating an underused part of town. The building also houses a café and restaurant as well as public amenities.

The architecture has a strong civic presence in a street full of historic buildings and is a landmark when viewed from the river. The precise angles of the walls, ceiling and ground plane frame a ‘public living room’ that offers a comfortable place to sit, a mobile library, high quality public amenities and a café/restaurant all of which can be transformed into an outdoor cinema or theatre for special events. 

The building unites Maitland’s two key assets for the first time – its architecturally rich High Street and the environmental amenity of the Hunter River.

Handmade brick was chosen as the primary building finish to complement the heritage brick and sandstone textures of the town. The warmth and texture of clay bricks works at the urban scale and at the interior human scale to provide an enduring finish. Unique brick corners help the monolithic brick walls bend at unlikely angles giving the material a razor-sharp, abstract quality.

The architecture has a strong civic presence in a street full of historic buildings and is a landmark when viewed from the river.