The RydeCivic Centre is a landmark modernist civic building in Ryde, a northern suburb of Sydney, Australia. It stands in the centre of Ryde, along Devlin Street. Designed in the Post-War International style by Buckland & Druce architects, the Civic Centre was the seat of the City of Ryde from its opening in 1964, and was extended in 1972 to include the Civic Hall as an event and function space. The Civic Centre remained the council seat until 2016, when the main building was closed due to maintenance and safety issues. Identified for redevelopment and demolition since 2011, the Civic Centre has been vacant since 2016 while its future is being determined, while the Civic Hall remains open.
History
Designed in the Post-War International style by Leslie J. Buckland & Druce architects, who designed the Parramatta City CouncilAdministration Building and Library, the Civic Centre, with its curtain wall facade, was noted for its similarity to the 1962 AMP Building in Circular Quay. The council last met at the Council Chambers on Blaxland Road on 4 August 1964, with the mayor, C. M. Cutler, declaring that there had been “tremendous advances in the municipality”. The Civic Centre was officially opened on 15 August 1964 by the Premier of New South Wales, Jack Renshaw.
Redevelopment and future
Described in The Sydney Morning Herald as an "ugly, unloved building", the Civic Centre has been identified for redevelopment since 2011. However a newly-elected council resolved in September 2012 not to proceed further. In November 2012, the council supported the rezoning of the Civic Centre site back to community space but this was overturned by the Liberal-majority council seven votes to five in mid-2015. In June 2015 council voted to spend $771,000 on an international design competitionfor the future of the site of the Civic Centre, with the Liberal mayor, Bill Pickering, noting that safety concerns had prompted further action, calling the building a “dinosaur” that was “falling down around ears.” Ryde Council first met in new chambers across the road from the Civic Centre in Top Ryde on 27 September 2016. In August 2016, the Design Our Ryde international architectural competition for the Ryde Civic Hub Precinct was won by the Beijing Institute of Architectural Design, a state-owned architectural firm in China. With the election of a new council with a majority opposed to the redevelopment plans in September 2017, the "Civic Hub" proposal was overturned. The design competition-winning proposal was rejected in December 2017, with the new Labor Mayor, Jerome Laxale, explaining that “the winning entry from the International Design Competition has proved to be unworkable, as predicted at its inception The design competition itself has wasted well over $1 million in ratepayers money and our community has rejected 500 to 600 apartments time and time again.” Laxale also commissioned council staff to prepare a report on "a feasible new Civic Centre which will include council chambers, administrative space, meeting rooms, a performance space and retail space".
