Katrina Zayco Tongson

In response to the large infrastructural move of relocating the Great Ocean Road, a new urban gateway for Apollo Bay is proposed at the southern end of the town. This site has cultural and heritage significance, and the currently neglected and weary public realm was identified as being in need of revitalsation.

The new gateway adds and adapts the existing war memorial and introduces a series of new public spaces, which aim to enhance Apollo Bay’s appeal as a tourist destination. This prepares Apollo Bay to greet visitors and forms a monument that communicates a range of histories of the site for current and future generations.

The Gateway connects the Apollo Bay community to the public space and retells the story of the town. Visitors are invited to follow a narrative journey of history through weaving pathways that connect to different moments of pause and reflection. The variations of gathering spaces provide a wide range of opportunities to share the journey taken throughout the proposal

This journey brings the community together to cherish, value, and acknowledge the history of the town. The site has been previously manipulated to permanently increase the shoreline as the town was at risk of erosion. This project emphasises the difference in shoreline by building up pathways that reflect the 1856 and 1946 shoreline. These pathways also play a major role in the town during severe storms as a weather warning indicator that lights up red to notify the town to take shelter.