Nundah Village: Delivering Placemaking through Tactical Infrastructure

The Context

Nundah Village, a vibrant hub in Brisbane’s north, faced a common urban dilemma: a high-quality streetscape dominated by vehicle transit, leaving little room for genuine community connection. Brisbane City Council (BCC) identified the need to reclaim asphalt for people, but permanent capital works required distinct, data-led justification.
The challenge was to move beyond theoretical planning and deliver a live prototype, a “Village in the City” that would rigorously test the impact of pedestrian-prioritised design on the local micro-economy and social fabric.

The Collaboration

POMO was commissioned by Brisbane City Council to lead this project. Bridging the gap between Council’s strategic urban design goals and the on-ground reality, we operated as the lead delivery partner. Our role was to translate high-level policy objectives into tangible, safe, and engaging temporary infrastructure that could be deployed rapidly and measured accurately.

Delivering Nundah: The Implementation Process

Moving from “vision” to “build” in a live traffic environment requires precision. POMO’s role shifted from purely creative ideation to technical implementation, ensuring the temporary interventions met the rigorous safety and engineering standards.

Rapid Deployment & Logistics Management:

We managed the end-to-end logistics of the “tactical urbanism” deployment. This involved the procurement and installation of heavy-duty planters, custom seating nodes, and shade structures, all coordinated to minimise disruption to operating businesses while instantly transforming the street function.

  • First Nations Interpretive Design: To ground the project in its authentic history, we facilitated a co-design process with local children to create surface treatments reflecting the concept of “Waterholes” the traditional meaning of Nundah. These were not merely decorations, but interpretive design solutions integrated directly into the street surface, requiring specialised application techniques to ensure slip resistance and durability under heavy foot traffic.
  • Safety & Subcontractor Administration: Acting as the superintendent of the works, POMO managed all safety protocols and subcontractor coordination. This ensured that the transition from car park to temporay people-park was seamless, compliant with Council safety standards, and structurally sound for public use.

The Impact: Evidence-Based Urban Renewal

The Nundah Village project moved beyond “beautification” to provide measurable data for future planning.

  • Social & Economic Value: The intervention successfully disrupted the vehicle-dominant hierarchy, creating a “sticky” destination that encouraged families to dwell longer in the precinct.
  • Climate Mitigation: By replacing asphalt with native planting and shade structures, the project demonstrated a tangible reduction in the Urban Heat Island effect, validating the case for green infrastructure.
  • Community Mandate: The live prototype generated overwhelming community support for returning the area to nature, providing Council with a clear social licence to proceed with permanent upgrades.

This project stands as a benchmark for how tactical implementation can de-risk major capital works, ensuring long-term revitalisation is built on proven user behaviour.

Sustainability Outcomes

Social Sustainability Outcomes

  • Empowers Community Voice in Urban Planning: The project’s core function was to give the local community a direct say in the future of a public space. By creating an engaging event where residents could review and respond to design concepts, it empowers them and ensures the final outcome will be overwhelmingly supported and valued.
  • Strengthens Community Connection and Identity: The event itself, with activities for families, kids, and even dogs, acts as a powerful community-building exercise. The co-creation of street art featuring the First Nations word for the area (“waterholes”) further strengthens local identity and acknowledges Indigenous heritage, fostering a shared sense of place.
  • Demonstrates the Value of Public Space: By temporarily reclaiming a car park for community use, the project provides a tangible, real-world demonstration of the social benefits of prioritizing people over cars. This helps build public and political support for creating more green, community-focused spaces.

Environmental Sustainability Outcomes

  • Promotes Urban Greening and Biodiversity: The giveaway of native plants directly contributes to increasing local biodiversity, even on a small scale. More importantly, the community’s strong preference to “return the area to nature” provides a clear mandate for a final design rich in green infrastructure, such as trees, gardens, and permeable surfaces.
  • Reduces Urban Heat Island Effect and Car Dependency: Converting car parking into a green, natural space directly combats the urban heat island effect, as vegetation and soil are cooler than asphalt. It also represents a small but symbolic shift away from car-centric design towards more walkable, people-friendly urban environments.

Do you have a main street or precinct requiring a strategic intervention?

Contact POMO today to discuss how we can bridge the gap between your urban vision and physical delivery.



Read next: Winter Street Pocket Park

More projects

Winter Street: Creating Community Connection through Placemaking and Data

 
Winter Street: Creating Community Connection through Placemaking and Data

Malvern’s Winter Street “pocket park” presented a classic urban design failure: a residual green space strategically located between a toy library, a childcare centre, and a supermarket, yet completely underutilised. The site offered zero amenity, two lonely benches meant local workers ate lunch on the ground and families transited through without pausing. The City of Stonnington required a rapid, evidence-based intervention to test the site’s potential before committing to significant capital works.

Palmwoods Town Square: Delivering Community Identity through Creative Placemaking - Bespoke Urban Infrastructure

 
Palmwoods Town Square: Delivering Community Identity through Creative Placemaking - Bespoke Urban Infrastructure

For decades, the physical centre of Palmwoods was defined by a sloping asphalt car park that offered utility but no community connection. The Sunshine Coast Council identified the need to transform this functional void into a genuine town square.
The challenge was not simply to build a modern park, but to deliver a “civic heart” that felt established and authentic. The community did not want a generic urban upgrade; they demanded a space that reflected the town’s timber-getting history and agricultural heritage. The mandate was to create new infrastructure that felt like it had been there for a century and fit with the historical buildings that surrounded it.

Southport Broadwater Play Attraction: Delivering Place-Based Creative Play Infrastructure

 
Southport Broadwater Play Attraction: Delivering Place-Based Creative Play Infrastructure

Destination playgrounds are increasingly vital for urban activation, but they often rely on off-the-shelf equipment that lacks connection to place. For the Southport Broadwater Parklands, the City of Gold Coast required an iconic play attraction that was not only fun but deeply rooted in the ecological narrative of the Broadwater Estuary.