A new ‘green home’ for Parks Victoria’s Albert Park operation has been designed to blend into the environment while providing better service for the six million visitors to the park every year.
The combined office and depot on Aughtie Drive features a series of sustainable, park-like features, including a living green facade, an inner courtyard creating ‘a park within a park’, extensive use of timbers, setting in a lower part of the park and an expanded park nursery.
Initial concepts for the new building were presented to stakeholders and tenants of the park for comment recently by Parks Victoria and joint architects Harrison & White and Archier.
The new facility will replace the State Bank Pavilion in Aughtie Drive, a rundown and under-utilised building.
The space and carbon footprint will be significantly less than the existing site, with the new two-storey building using about 50 per cent of the area currently occupied by Parks Victoria at Albert Park.
This design also means there will be no net loss of open space in the park and will encourage even greater engagement with the local community.
Construction of the new complex follows an Andrews Labor Government election commitment to build a new South Melbourne Park Primary School on the edge of Albert Park at the site of the current offices and depot.
Parks Victoria will move to temporary accommodation in December, also in Aughtie Drive. Work on the new offices is expected to start later this year and be completed by the end of 2017.
Local residents can view the concepts at:
Quotes attributable to the Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change Lily D’Ambrosio
“Parks Victoria has created a sensitive, sustainable building design that blends unobtrusively into the park environment.”
“Everything about this building has been designed with sustainability and park users in mind from the low visual impact to use of timbers and landscaping to blend with the park and its low energy and carbon footprint.”
Quotes attributable to the Member for Albert Park, Martin Foley
“The green façade and central courtyard create a park within a park, accessible to everyone, and contribute to an impressive facility for staff and park users alike.”
Reviewed 19 August 2020