Monash Art, Design and Architecture Graduate Exhibition 2023
This Eco City Studio has explored precinct structure planning and design for the growing regional town of Colac in Victoria’s Western District, about two hours’ drive southwest of Melbourne. Colac is on Gulidjan Country of the Eastern Maar Nation (Colac is Kalak in Gulidjan language) and sits within the state’s volcanic plains and lakes district. It is home to around 12,000 people and is expected to double in population over the next few decades. The studio has collaborated with the Colac Otway Shire Council, which is currently preparing a Precinct Structure Plan to facilitate the expansion of the town. The project area is located on Deans Creek which flows from its headwaters in the foothills of the Otway Ranges to Lake Colac, Victoria’s largest freshwater lake. Existing planning establishes a vision for Colac to become a ‘botanic city’ with green infrastructure to connect the town using its creeks and lake as key features. The site includes diverse ecological conditions and planning and design challenges, requiring careful exploration as part of the studio. This has included considering important cultural heritage values associated with Lake Colac and the waterway and considering the impact of bushfire risk from the Otways. The studio has ‘reimagined’ Deans Creek, which has been highly modified in sections and forms a large shallow flood plain across much of the site. Students have planned and designed a diverse range of housing types to cater for the different socio-demographic needs of the town, having regard to this ecological context, and explored opportunities for green infrastructure to build on the town’s vision. The studio also included a site visit to Colac where we met council staff, and visited the precinct and surrounding areas to inform student work. This is an integrated studio with Master of Architecture students and Master of Urban Planning and Design students.
Studio Leader: Delia Teschendorff and Suzanne Barker
