Aspect Studios: Integration of the public realm with large scale buildings and facilities is the key to the design for the new Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre and the adjacent South Wharf mixed use precinct. The design allows continuous and seemingly uninterrupted access through the site and amongst the buildings. This was a challenging task for a precinct that contains a convention centre, hotel, retail, residential, public forecourts, promenades, laneways, heritage landscapes and the now refurbished Exhibition Centre Park.
Public realm is the external connective space and tissue of the precinct. It is about ‘places’ and ‘paths’, providing an engaging, directional and textured environment, to complete the missing link in the natural progression along the Yarra River. The public realm weaves together the complex interplay of heritage wharf environment, varied building and podium elements, significant level changes and underground service, maintenance and access requirements, car parking requirements, unconnected cycle networks and disjointed pedestrian networks.
Far-reaching WSUD initiatives assisted in the overall water treatment that enabled the Convention Centre to attain a 6 star Greenstar rating, the highest sustainability rating achieved in Australia for developments of this type. The design of the Melbourne Convention Exhibition Centre exemplifies our approach to collaboration, sustainability and enduring quality. The wharfs, promenades, squares, laneways, rain gardens and integrated cycle ways forms a new significant public place for Melbourne, linking the City to the Docklands and to South Melbourne. The design has received various awards including 2010 UDIA National Environmental Excellence Award, 2009 UDIA Environmental Excellence Award and 2009 BPN Sustainability Award.
Landscape Architecture: Aspect Studios
Location: Southbank and Docklands Victoria
Client: Plenary Group, Brookfield Multiplex, Contexx, State Government of Victoria
Photographer: Andrew Lloyd
Text: ASPECT Studios
Budget: AUS $12 million
Consultants/Team: ASPECT Studios, NWHB (NH and Woods Bagot Architects), Direct Architects, JMP, Winward Structures, CJ Arms, Blyth Sanderson, Lincoln Scott, GTA Consultants
Scope: Urban design, design development, construction documentation, and construction design services.
Area: 6000 square metres
Completion date: 2010
Designers: ASPECT Studios /
