Located along a section of coastline in Marengo vulnerable to the effects of coastal erosion due to sea level rise, the design deploys a series of constructed elements that aim to protect the coastal edge whilst providing new public amenities to existing areas / uses. A gabion wall acts as a piece of infrastructure to build on the existing fabric, providing services to the public, while immersing the user within the site. The revitalisation of the foreshore will provide new infrastructure to boost tourism and the local economy. With this, a new publicly accessible edge is created that links the existing Great Ocean Walk with the proposed bridge that traverses The Backwater.
View from the foreshore
The project uses a gabion wall system to create a barrier of protection against the effects of coastal erosion and sea level rise in a particularly vulnerable point along the northern foreshore of Marengo. This view illustrates use of the wall as it runs along the edge of the carpark area, to combat future flooding.
Intervention projection
A series of interventions along the wall provide amenity to the foreshore, revitalising the space for public use in hopes to boost tourism and the local economy. These spaces have been incorporated into the wall to service visitors including tourists and the local community. Its formal language will allow for pockets of privacy within an open space allowing for natural ventilation and while immersing the user within the site.
Access for protection
Access to the foreshore is achieved through layering, providing opportunity for revegetation working to strengthen the robust nature of the wall system for environmental resilience.
Melissa Torre Frois, View from the foreshore
Melissa Torre Frois, Intervention projection
Melissa Torre Frois, Access for protection
