As part of a new development one kilometre of concrete channel was transformed. The design sought to achieve not only an ecological restoration but also a cultural and landscape restoration.
The restoration tells a story about waterways and our historical and cultural relationship to creeks, floodwaters and our urban environment. Rather than completely removing any evidence of the concrete channel, sections were retained, but ‘punctured’ with random ‘potholes’ in the channel, which were planted out. These elements sought to retain a physical memory of what the channel once was and to draw attention to its deliberate removal, rather than to simply eliminate any evidence of the concrete channel.
The trapezoidal form of the channel was highly artificial. Flooding and its impacts on existing development significantly constrained options that would allow any restoration of a low flow channel and a floodplain. Hence our approach to ecological restoration was not bounded by any intention to recreate a pre-European waterway or its idealized forms.
Our approach was to design a waterway landscape for visual interest using a geometric ecological tapestry in the creek itself. The waterway was designed as a landscape for people. The design took its inspiration from both cultural and ecological references - camping on grassy banks of creeks and creeks which are a mixture of softscape, hardscape and water. The design approach was highly conscious of the process of the creation of a new landscape and was conceived of as an ecological garden as much as a waterway restoration project.