Corporate Member Feature: CONVIC

What We Do

CONVIC is the premier global youth facility and active space design and construction company based in Australia. Over the last 20 years, we have successfully designed and delivered active recreation facilities across the world that meet the needs and demands of local and global youth and community users.  Our passion, commitment, engaging approach, and extensive experience in delivering highly successful youth spaces and active sports facilities will ensure the community and our clients are provided with a result that will be cost-effective, robust, and an iconic design specific to place and contextual setting.

An alternative to the traditional separated design and construction delivery method, CONVIC can provide a streamlined Design and Construction (D&C) contract delivery model with a shorter design and construction program to the allocated budget. As a global leader in the industry, we provide a simple end to end turnkey solutions as a specialist head contractor. This process mitigates the risk of design budget overruns and saves time through the removal of tendering and subsequent procurement processes, ultimately affording our clients, a greater value for money outcome.  We believe in the rich benefits of working integrally and collaboratively to provide specific and site-responsive outcomes that add to the overall health and wellbeing of the community. CONVIC provides a simple and holistic solution that guarantees the highest quality design and construction outcomes.

Who We Are

Our in-house project team comprises of qualified design and construction staff, all working together in one office, towards one goal. The design team consists of landscape architects, specialist skate designers, architects, civil engineers, and other technical staff, all with a passion for skateboarding and alternative active recreation. The construction team consists of project managers, civil & mechanical engineers, and cost estimators. Our on-site construction teams consist of a foreman, concreters, and form workers, all with specialist experience in the delivery of skate parks and youth spaces.

As Landscape Architects, Convic brings an in-depth knowledge of the master planning and concept design of public recreation precincts. We understand that aspects such as environment, views, topography, access, surveillance, and safety form the building blocks for the successful integration of highly activated spaces within the public urban realm.  

Our experience of creating innovative and progressive facilities has highlighted the crucial benefits of working with complementary and contrasting skills and disciplines to push the boundaries and integration of ideas. We work closely and collaboratively with clients, design consultants, engineers, and artists to generate new visions specific to each project. Many technical and social innovations resulting from this approach can be applied to a wide variety of contexts.

Our Process

CONVIC adopts our CDCA delivery model to all the projects we deliver.  This model includes four critical phases to ensure a high-quality designed and built outcome is delivered to the communities in which they sit.  Included within this model are the following phases:

Consult

CONVIC engages with the client, stakeholders, youth, and the broader community to ensure all are given a voice in the decision-making process. Applying a ‘consult first’ approach to projects results in an outcome that aims to create and foster a shared vision for the precinct which is facilitated through advocacy, governance, and stewardship by the community, end-users, and youth.

Design

CONVIC provides an integrated, holistic, and consultative approach to the design of skate spaces and youth precincts commensurate in quality to their unique settings and outcome objectives.  Our landscape and youth design responses are built on a strong foundation of research and planning. This, in combination with a targeted consultation and engagement strategy, are the key fundamentals to ensuring the built outcome is a fully integrated active precinct and public space that nurtures the needs of current and future users, in a social and welcoming setting.

Construction

CONVIC brings professional and expert leadership and knowledge as a head contractor to convert the project's specific needs into an outstanding built outcome.  Our dedicated and professional team of specialist construction managers and trades people ensure the safe and environmentally responsible delivery of a quality asset to the highest degree of professionalism.  CONVIC adds value and mitigates risk with our integrated management systems, expertise, resources, value-engineered solutions, and problem-solving. This translates to efficient client administration and contract management, mitigating the potential of time and cost escalations.

Activate

Rounding out the Consult, Design, and Construct delivery process, CONVIC provides specialist advice for the activation of skate spaces and youth precincts. CONVIC can prepare activation programs to facilitate continued engagement long after the project has been delivered. This includes programs such as facility openings, community events, clinics, and competitions.

Projects

Fremantle Esplanade Youth Plaza

The plaza is a manifestation of the very essence of Fremantle’s culture. Developed with the community to create an all-inclusive facility that caters to a broad range of users including actioned wheeled sports, parkour, bouldering, and table tennis.

Its high quality and inclusive design are celebrated by both young and old. The parkland has been reinjected with local energy and occupation and has transformed the western end of Fremantle’s historic district into a hub for community gathering and skill-sharing ensuring community engagement and activation. The plaza is a destination for local, national, and international visitors.

Margaret River Youth Precinct

CONVIC returned to our birthplace, Margaret River, and the site of our first park to complete the design and construction of an all-inclusive youth precinct.  The facility includes an upgrade and extension of the original skate park, bringing the facility into the modern era to be enjoyed by generations to come.

The Margaret River Youth Precinct has been designed as a unique youth and action sports experience. The facility caters for a range of action sports including wheeled sports, parkour, and climbing/ bouldering. The wheeled sports area has several advanced level obstacles, designed to push the limits of users, all the while catering for many users of varying abilities. Also, a first of its kind, the sports area is encircled by a 250m long pump track which has been immensely popular with younger users.

More than just action sports, the precinct contains a range of additional amenity including nature play, a ropes course, picnic and BBQ facilities, a performance and spectator area, softscaping zones and seating opportunities for both active and passive users.

ATP South Eveleigh Youth Space

Tucked in a tight space between buildings, the South Eveleigh Youth Space aspired to truly reflect an urban skate plaza feel in the inner suburbs of Sydney. The material palette includes custom brick transitions, industrial steel elements, granite ledges, and pavers.

The historic locomotive workshop and industrial era that drove the original development of the Australian Technology Park have been used to inspire the skate plaza design. The park also features extensive use of outdoor gym equipment and other climbing and active structures with a large area of wet pour rubber soft fall to allow maximum use of the space.

To view more incredible project designs, click here

All photo credits: CONVIC

For the latest updates on our current projects, please visit our design hub at www.designhub.convic.com.  If you have a project you would like CONVIC to be involved in, please send all inquiries through to enquiries@convic.com or call +61 3 9486 9899.