Design with Country: Resilience Studio - Transect #8

Banyule Flats transect #8 Designing with country 2022 | DEV GOLDING | 588 142

Heidelberg

Healing

Yingabeal Heide

Bulleen

Heide

Transect #8

EXISTING SITE PLAN SCALE

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songlines

Site History Transect 8 is located in the network of bends in the Greater Birrarung parkland, and is bounded on the west by Rosanna road, and on the east by Templestowe road.

It stands on the traditional grounds of the Wurundjeri people, and is a place of cultural significance. The parklands were a place of creation, a spiritual site, a healing landscape, a source of food, and a place of gathering for the first nations people. It was inherently tied to indigenous life.

The site also has a rich artistic history being the location of the Heide Museum of Modern Art. Which prompted the discussion, creation and promotion of modern art and literature since the mid 19th century.

A place of land and water

Project vision

Access for the future The vision for the project seeks to enhance the cultural, environmental and ecological priorities of the Wurundjeri whilst celebrating the modern and artistic history of the site.

The intent is to align with the Birrarung Councils’ recommendations and create an internationally significant cultural place.

The project will be underpinned by three guiding principles:

A place of spiritual connection First, to create a place of land and water - a healthy living entity where indigenous plants and animals thrive.

Secondly, Providing access for the future - where connections are rebuilt between landscapes, water, people and places And creating a place of spiritual connection - where layered stories of the Wurundjeri, colonial, and modern history are celebrated and kept alive.

Proposed master-plan

0 1. S K Y L AW N / PA R K I N G 0 2 . TA N D E R R U M P L A C E 03. YINGABEAL 04. HEIDE II & HEIDE III 05. HEID E I 06. I N D I G E N O U S K I TC H E N GA R D E N 0 7. S E R P E N T I N E PAT H 0 8 . H E I D E S C U L P T U R E PA R K 0 9 . W I R R A R A P WA L K 1 0 . E C O L O G I C A L R E S T O R AT I O N Z O N E

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The site’s program includes the new sky lawn, tanderrum place, terraced botanic gardens, Wirrarap trail, and a dedicated ecological restoration zone along the river corridor.

These additions are designed to complement the existing character of the Heide whilst reinforcing the significance of Yingabeal.

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PROPOSED SITE PLAN SCALE

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Tanderrum place As visitors start their journey on Country, they are welcomed through Tanderrum place. Tanderrum place was designed to celebrate water country, with the design echoing the riverbank and the geology of the surrounding lands. Varying surface finishes were used to reflect the rippling of water, and sunken billabongs would create seating areas that act as yarning circles and double as bioswales during wet periods. A water feature could be integrated to guide visitors through the space, much like the Birrarung guided the first nations people in their travels from the Yarra valley to Naarm. And seasonal gardens would complement this, with feature plantings teaching visitors to feel and read Country, before it takes them past Yingabeal. Yingabeal would be celebrated under the proposed design, and it would become a key figure in the landscape and education program of the precinct.

“Sunken billabongs would create seating areas that act as yarning circles and double as bioswales during wet periods”

SEASONAL GARDENS The wurundjeri had intimate knowledge of the seasons and environment. Seasons were marked by the movement of stars, changes in the weather, and cycles of plants and animals. Seasonal gardens would be provided with feature plantings to teach visitors to feel and read Country.

Serpentine path As visitors move through the site, a terraced landscape that acts as a flood barrier will be provided. It will provide the initial level of flood protection with bioswales positioned to the lower banks. And if more extreme weather events occur, the upper terraces will filter and capture excess water.

More importantly, this serves as a cultural connector. The terraced zone would provide a sloped path for disability access to the gardens, and be planted with a host of indigenous species that exhibit the aboriginal’s craftsmanship.

The exact plant selection would be developed and refined in collaboration with the wurundjeri, but for example, She-oaks could be grown to reference the milling of hatches, wattles could be provided to demonstrate the many uses of resin, and lomandras could educate visitors on the crafting of fishing nets, bags, and weaving.

“The terraced botanic gardens serve as a cultural connector. The gardens could be planted with a host of indigenous species that exhibit the aboriginal’s skill, craftsmanship, and respect for the landscape.”

S U S TA I N A B L E D E S I G N The first nations forging of artefact’s not only demonstrates an intimate relationship to nature and a connection to culture, but also speaks to a sustainable design sense - only using that which you need.

Wirrarap trail The trail is designed as a healing landscape, where native species will be provided along the wirrarap to educate visitors on the site’s history as a healing area. These species could include the old man’s salt-bush that was used to treat cuts and stings, or Native cherries which were crushed and applied to snake bites. Mudstone and other indigenous rocks could be provided to educate visitors on the grinding refinement of plants for indigenous medicine. With the exact plantings chosen in close collaboration with the traditional custodians’ guidance.

This would be combined with an increased focus in the sculptural gardens to exhibit the best of contemporary indigenous artists such as Reko Rennie, Jonathon Jones, and other emerging first nations creatives.

“The trail is designed as a healing landscape, where native species will be provided along the wirrarap to educate visitors on the site’s history as a healing area”

A HEALING L ANDSCAPE Plant selection would be completed in close consultation with first nations elders but could include austral mulberry that was used as an ointment on stings; river mint that was boiled and used as a tea to treat coughs; or paperbark that was wetted and used as a bandage.

Habitat creation The project’s ecological response would include a series of areas designed to complement the restoration zone along the riparian corridor. But in that restoration zone, a specialist response would be developed to aid in the return of the Helmeted honeyeater. The honey-eater is almost a symbolic representation of the river’s health - and a fundamental threat to their numbers has been the fragmentation of the Birrarung’s riparian corridor over recent times. So to regenerate their native habitat, there would be the provision of tussock grass for nesting materials, tea treas and paperbarks for nectar, and eucalypts for canopy cover.

KEY

AREAS OF OPPORTUNITY I N D I G E N O U S B O TA N I C G A R D E N S R I V E R I N E G R AS S Y WO O D L A N D W E T R I PA R I A N Z O N E D R Y R I PA R I A N Z O N E SEASONAL WETLAND A R E A S U B J E C T T O I N U N D AT I O N I N D I C AT I V E C O N N E C T I V I T Y F O R A Q U AT I C A N D A M P H I B I A N SPECIES

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B A N K S I A PA R K

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SILLS BEND

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B A N K S I A PA R K D O G PA R K

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YA R R A VA L L E Y C O U N T R Y C L U B

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H E I D E S C U L P T U R E PA R K

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TERRACED FLOOD BARRIER

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INDIGENOUS KITCHEN GARDEN

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TEMPLESTOWE RD GARDENS

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TARGETED ECOLOGY

BUGS & INSECTS

H O N E Y E AT E R S

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POSSUMS

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LIZARDS

KO O K A B U R R AS

OWLS

PA R R O T S

FROGS

ECHIDNA

WAT E R B I R D S

P L AT Y P U S

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HABITAT CREATION PLAN SCALE

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The hope is that this project would create a place that resonates with future generations. And in turn, it would to infuse cultural sensibilities as a normative part of twenty-first-century life to support transformative change.