The WA-based owners of Waterford Plaza are building on their community-first philosophy with work underway on the shopping centre’s multi-million-dollar High Street redevelopment project.
Designed as an area the whole community can enjoy, Waterford Plaza’s new High Street precinct will feature a vibrant mix of cafés, restaurants and outdoor dining, along with landscaped spaces for relaxing and catching up with friends and interactive art for people of all ages to explore.
Peter Atzemis, CEO of shopping centre owner GPA, says the vision is for a vibrant, urban village with communal spaces for socialising, dining, relaxing and activity.
“Shopping centres are having to become completely different kinds of spaces,” Atzemis said.
“People now want interactive areas in which they can engage and build a sense of community. Places to rest, relax and enjoy. That’s our vision for Waterford Plaza.
“We want to reposition the essence of what the local shopping centre should be and put the focus back on that all-important sense of a village community.”
Waterford Plaza will feature a mix of rustic-urban materials for a more organic and authentically local look and feel
Changes in the way people shop, the impact of the pandemic and the changing needs of the local community have also helped shape GPA’s plans for the new-look Waterford Plaza.
The shopping centre has long been a favourite with students from neighbouring Curtin University, but with more residents moving into the wider area around the centre, the community’s needs have been evolving too.
“The High Street project is the first step in repositioning Waterford Plaza so that it truly becomes what today’s shopping village should be,” Atzemis said.
“Lively Perth shopping and dining hot spots such as Oxford Street in Leederville and Beaufort Street in Mount Lawley have helped shape the High Street design and GPA’s own popular Empire Village in City Beach. The keys are convenience, community and intimate spaces, all so different from big-box shopping centres.”
Waterford Plaza’s new High Street precinct will feature a vibrant mix of cafés, restaurants and outdoor dining
The revitalised Waterford Plaza will feature a mix of rustic-urban materials for a more organic and authentically local look and feel.
Adding to the colour and vibrancy will be pieces from the extensive public art program that GPA has commissioned, especially for the project.
Joyful murals and fun sculptures will be part of the overall art program that draws on the talents of various local artists.
GPA has liaised with the City of South Perth throughout the initial planning phase and will continue to do so as it master plans future stages of the shopping centre’s redevelopment.
