Bangs and Mount Street Parks
GLAS Landscape Architects was engaged to provide landscape design expertise for the Warrnambool Learning and Library Centre in 2019, working as a sub-consultant to Kosloff Architecture. The scope of the project focuses on the external spaces surrounding the hub, with a design aimed at integrating the new facilities into the existing TAFE campus and connecting them to the surrounding town, all while reflecting the local coastal environment and historical conAt the heart of the landscape concept is a desire to create spaces that not only function well but also connect people to nature and each other. The design takes cues from the coastal landscape, with its sand dunes, rock outcrops, and indigenous plant life, to inform everything from the material choices to the arrangement of planting and seating. The iconic Norfolk Island Pines that frame the entrance stand as sentinels, welcoming visitors into a civic plaza where the boundary between hard surfaces and soft greenery is intentionally blurred, encouraging exploration and casual interaction.
This project sees the completion of the first two pocket parks from the Mount Street Masterplan by GLAS and the City of Stonnington. These two parks provide much-needed new public open space to this rapidly developing area of Melbourne. The parks are small but have a big impact on the local community. Designed to be multi-purpose social parks with similarities and subtle differences they demonstrate the opportunity of the masterplan that will ultimately deliver 4 hectares of new public open space for the residents of this part of the City of Stonnington. Taken the masterplan from vision to reality highlighting the importance of open space investment for liveable cities. The designs integrate a systems approach to creating a small open space network to create a social and green ecosystem, considering the whole neighbourhood as part of the network. The designs aim to be fun, providing colour and materiality inspired by the local neighbourhood and history.
Traditional Custodians
Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung
Location
Prahran, VIC
Scale
40,000 sqm
Year
2019
Client
City of Stonnington
Team
City of Stonnington
OPS Consultants
WRAP
DesignFlow
SALT3
ZINC
G&M Connellan Consultants
Awards
2024 AILA Victoria Landscape Architecture Award for Small Projects
Planting
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Contributing to the City of Stonnington’s tree canopy cover target of 25%, one of the highest in inner Melbourne.
Soil
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The parks include a total of 364m² of soft landscaped areas, from the previous lawn-only condition to a healthier soil system that was achieved by introducing diverse planting.
Water
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Through research-led strategic design – Using the historical flooding issues of the site and turning this into a positive to create a WSUD strategy that considers the whole precinct as a catchment and the parks as the filter.
Carbon
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This is equivalent to driving from Melbourne to Sydney around 24 times per year. The project has planted over 2,000 shrubs and grasses, and also uses recycled bricks as a sustainable building material, integrating them in areas where they add both durability and a rich patina to the design.
Social
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The small parks have a total of 166 m² of flexible lawn space for passive activities, complemented by brick seatings lining the park edges. These areas provide a variety of spaces and configurations, encouraging residents to meet, to socialise, to play and to ‘Jam’.
Community
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The Mount Street Precinct Masterplan was developed through 3 rounds of community consultations, the future plans include building 2 more parks and 5 shared streets.