VicUrban
Harbour Esplanade Masterplan
Melbourne’s Docklands is one of Australia’s largest urban-renewal projects ever. Harbour Esplanade is the centrepiece of its public space.
BKK collaborated with landscape architects TCL to develop a positioning strategy, masterplan and delivery model for over 10 hectares of public realm along the 1.2km waterfront Esplanade.
Based on the theme of Melbourne’s Creative Playground, the masterplan is a vision for a vibrant, playful, and activated waterfront. The new harbourside park and boulevard will make it a visitor destination as well as a rich environment for locals.
Harbour Esplanade’s open space corridor links the Yarra River to Victoria Harbour, also in Docklands. It passes Marvel Stadium and Docklands Park and intersects with the major CBD thoroughfares of La Trobe, Bourke and Collins Streets.
The first realised stage is a pedestrian-friendly waterfront thoroughfare with a bike path and rationalised roadway that has a central tram median lined in traditional Melbourne bluestone.
We lined it with two dramatic rows of Norfolk Island pine trees. It establishes a spine for the ongoing transformation of Melbourne’s harbour front.