Monument Park

Monument Park

Concept

In mid-2012 MCR and MAB started working toward the realization of `Monument Park’ – a space between New Quay Promenade and `The Quays’ apartments.   It seemed that this place had to address all the negative perceptions of the Docklands.   The ambition was to readdress retail, to provide shelter, to engage all ages, be playful, somewhere to sit and be `Art’.  The artist Callum Morton’s submission was chosen and the collaboration was further enhanced by the inclusion of the landscape Architect Occulus.  The rest of the description of the project is best served by quoting Callum’s `opening’ speech.

“…about this place we have made here?  First of all, it is important to say that this is not a park with sculptures in it which some might be tempted to say, rather it’s one work that is a public park, a type of garden, a place to congregate, to sit, to shelter and play in.  These forms that rise out of the ground and the plants that emerge through it are underneath one plane that has been laid across the whole site.  And this ground plane is in the end the true subject and unifying element…”

Completed
December 2014
Location
NewQuay Promenade, Docklands | Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung and Bunurong Country
Awards

Australian Institute of Architects (AIA) Victorian Chapter Awards 2015

Small Project Architecture

Publications

The Age, Stephen Crafti, 25 Jul 2015
Landscape Architecture Australia, May 2015 Issue 146
Architecture Australia, 26 August 2015
Monash University, 13 February 2015
Urban Melbourne, 16 July 2014
Docklands News, 02 December 2013
The Sydney Morning Herald, 10 December 2014
The Sydney Morning Herald, 23 July 2015
ArchiTravel, 6 February 2016
ArchDaily, 31 May 2017

Sustainability

The Sustainability of this project is really about social sustainability.  The project is a sculpture park in the open air.  This project allows people in a densely built-up environment to stop and pause. There is built in seating, shade through the planting of trees(in time), lawn to lay on,  intellectual and physical engagement.  This is also a place to play in – in that location this space is rare but important.

The sculptures are made of glass reinforced concrete which allows the sculptures to be hollow.  The result is maximum effect for minimum material.

The `rug’ or unifying `Hoddle Grid’ is concrete, a material chosen for longevity.  As a group, we anticipated the crowds from the football and the inevitable use of a place like this.

The lighting is LED – the most efficient available that conforms to the Melbourne City guidelines.

Retail sustainability was also one of our concerns.  It was our hope that the design could re-address failing perimeter retail in this location.