Major Road Projects Victoria
Fitzsimons Lane
What could have been a simple retaining wall blossoms into an environmentally sensitive gateway to Melbourne’s north-east
Fitzsimons Lane is a north-south arterial road located 17km north-east of Melbourne’s CBD. To the south it covers a primarily suburban context, while over the Yarra River it transitions into the verdant Nillumbik Green Wedge, characterised by steep ridges, sloping hills, sprawling reserves and leafy bushland.
Between 2021 and 2023, Major Road Projects Victoria’s Fitzsimons Lane Upgrade aimed to widen the road to reduce congestion, improve safety and enable safer walking and cycling nearby. BKK Architects was brought on board to design a retaining wall at the Fitzsimons Lane and Main Road intersection: a gateway to the leafy suburb of Eltham.
Big-picture Thinking
In the early consultation stages of the project, Major Road Projects Victoria swiftly discovered the extent to which members of the local community cherished the area’s natural beauty and character. We made it our mission to remain sensitive to these concerns, elevating the retaining wall as a landmark arrival moment without compromising the prestige of the existing surroundings.
The result was a precast concrete retaining wall designed as a sinuous band, curving with the natural contours of the existing landform. Shrinking and growing with the surrounding embankment, the wall sweeps low in parts, ensuring safety while honouring the leafy bushland views.
Collaboration and Humility
We worked closely with landscape architects ASPECT Studios, with the shared goal of reducing formal architectural elements to prioritise the existing landscape – as well as shared paths for walking and cycling. We also collaborated with engineers from Arcadis and builders from BMD on problem-solving complex technical details and matters of compliance.
Playfulness and Innovation
Where there was a need for significant built form, we aimed to retain and preserve the landscape wherever possible. In one particular section of the retaining wall, a low dip on a 15-degree angle reveals bushland views beyond the road. This detail provides both a sense of relief and a moment of storytelling, employing the visual language of surrounding geology through panels with a fractal, crystalline structure and oxide colouring reminiscent of local Silurian mudstone. Read as a whole, the walls recall an excavated rock face, sensitively and playfully responding to their local context.
Leadership and Advocacy
At BKK Architects, we feel a responsibility to advocate for better infrastructure, better public spaces and better urban environments for everyday people. What at first appeared to be a straightforward element of a road upgrade project quickly grew into an exercise of championing thoughtfully designed infrastructure.
Transformative Places, Holistic Benefits
In other hands, this project could have been as simple as a bare concrete wall. But what eventuated was a sensitive, built ode to the cultural and environmental history of the area. Major Road Projects Victoria achieved their goals of widening the road, reducing congestion and improving safety – and we’re proud to have elevated those achievements to include a transformative experience for the thousands of people who pass by every day.