Jury comment
Creating a ten-hectare wetland in an urban growth area degraded by agriculture takes vision and quality of execution. Gum Scrub Creek is such a project. Located in Officer, Melbourne, the project has taken five years of planning to deliver and sets a benchmark for quality urban development.
Exploring the project even at a basic level reveals innovation in engineering interventions, including biofiltration systems and habitat ponds. But the results go deeper. The completed project reveals crafted natural patterns, architectural interventions and, most crucially, community pride. Combining natural restoration with creative stormwater management, the project provides a habitat for threatened species and promotes the restoration of diminishing ecosystems.
Once a farmers’ drain, Gum Scrub Creek has become a centre for community engagement and a developing natural environment to be cherished by generations to come.
Credits
- Project
- Gum Scrub Creek
- Landscape architect
- Outlines Landscape Architecture
Melbourne, Vic, Australia
- Consultants
-
Consulting engineers
Neil Craigie
Ecology consultant Biosis
Engineer Calibre Consulting
Project partner Melbourne Water Department of Environment, Land, Water Planning, Cities as Water Supply Catchments
Supplying nursery Officer Tubes & Blooms, Ecodynamics, Westernport Indigenous Nursery, Green Circle, Outlook Greenery
Vegetation and erosion consultant Australian Ecosystems
- Site Details
-
Location
Officer,
Vic,
Australia
Site type Urban
- Project Details
-
Status
Built
Category Landscape / urban
Type Conservation
Source
Award
Published online: 27 Oct 2016
Words:
National Landscape Architecture Awards Jury 2016
Images:
Nick Stephenson
Issue
Landscape Architecture Australia, November 2016
