Birrarung Marr, the parkland adjoining Melbourne’s Federation Square, has taken out the Joseph Reed award - Urban Design, sponsored by Ability Building Materials, in the 2004 RAIA Victoria architecture awards.
Unlike Melbourne’s other parklands and open spaces which are designed primarily for passive recreation, Birrarung Marr has been created with city events and entertainment in mind. It comprises a number of simple but monumental gestures including a single flight of stairs, a serpentine water’s edge, a grassed embankment and a 300m long bridge linking the city to the park’s eastern end and axial pathways, all referencing the immediate built and natural environment.
Birrarung Marr represents a significant moment in the “Grids + Greenery” philosophy developed by the City of Melbourne Urban Design Department around 20 years ago. City of Melbourne in association with Taylor Cullity Lethlean, Paul Thompson and Swaney Draper were responsible for its design, which was described by the RAIA judges as representing “the final jigsaw puzzle piece that connects a network of parks and gardens encircling the city centre.”
Source: Building Products News.