As one of the Melbourne CBD’s largest ever urban planning developments, the Docklands has faced a number of criticisms from those who contend it is disconnected from the city’s built environment.
While critics have called it ‘barren’ and ‘cold,’ the Docklands precinct is actually home to some of Melbourne’s most exciting and architecturally successful developments. However, it is the area’s isolation that could leave success out of the precinct’s reach.
Melbourne’s Lord Mayor Robert Doyle said it is important to remember that the major development is not yet completed. He reiterated this notion in defending the precinct at the Sustainable Urban Development Conference hosted by the Property Council of Australia this year.
Doyle explained that major works to link the city sector to the already built spaces were still underway, efforts that include the recently announced $100 million North Wharf redevelopment. Standing as the missing link between the iconic Yarra River and the Docklands, the city’s iconic heritage wharf is set to be revamped after property developers, landlords Asset1 and the Victorian government were granted a 99-year lease for the space. The redevelopment plans include the construction of a 13-storey office building and the redevelopment of heritage sheds to make way for riverside cafes and restaurants.
The promenade will run approximately 290 metres and provide a link to the Docklands via the Jim Stynes Bridge, which is expected to be completed in 2013.
According to Asset1 chief operating officer Gavin Boyd, the redevelopment will revitalise the area, finally filling in the gaps within the precinct.
”We will work hard to ensure it becomes a central commercial and cultural destination in Melbourne,” he says.
Lead architects Cox Architecture envisions a modern and contextually sensitive aesthetic for the space, one that optimises urban modernity but stands as a connecting built space, rather than as an ostentatious standalone development.
”Aesthetically, it will be low-slung and linear, in keeping with the linear quality of the goods shed below,” says Cox Architecture design director Patrick Ness.
Once plans are finalised, Boyd says the construction phase should commence in 2013 with an aim to have it completed by 2015. The development is a welcome addition to Melbournians who, after almost a decade of works on the Docklands precinct, are keen to see the area performing to its full potential.
