Victorian Projects and Sites
Melbourne University VCA Campus, St Kilda Rd Frontage – Stage 1
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Landscape Architects: Coomes Consulting Group
Location: 234 St Kilda Road, Southbank
In January 2007 Coomes Consulting Group were approached by the University of Melbourne and Melbourne Water to prepare a Landscape Master Plan for a major upgrade and revitalisation of the St Kilda Rd frontage of the Victorian College for the Arts (VCA).
The overriding driver for this upgrade was the desire to upgrade and revitalise the frontage of the VCA while showcasing a water sensitive landscape that exemplified the sensibilities of a sustainable landscape through design.
Key drivers for the design included the desire for:
- enhanced pedestrian fluidity and activation,
- the provision of a sustainable green interface,
- sensitivity to the existing building access and usage,
- the provision for permanent and temporary art installations,
- On-site stormwater treatment from adjacent urban infrastructure.
- A contemporary, identifiable urban space and interface to St Kilda Road.
The primary design theme is the notion of ‘making visible’ processes that are normally concealed from the public eye. Typically, water is harvested from roof and pavement surfaces and directed into a number of cleansing bio-retention cells before being delivered to the existing stormwater system. Weaving together the expertise of surface and subsurface treatments, the harvested water is at once visible and invisible, functional and aesthetic.
This project is a major upgrade for the St Kilda Rd frontage of the VCA. The University is receiving a revitalised landscape and ‘face’ to its campus that provides it and the surrounding community with exemplary environmental benefits.
Stage 1 of the Master plan has now been constructed and stage two is underway.
Coomes Consulting Group, September 2008
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