Case Study - Cooke Street Precinct, Monash CC

Monash City City Council was confronted by a significant challenge - how do you make a community centre set in a sea of car parking pleasantly accessible to pedestrians?

The City of Monash Urban Design & Architecture department put theory into practice, applying a shared space concept to surrounding streets, while introducing great landscaping, seating and art.  They also cleverly created pedestrian corridors through surrounding car parks that seamlessly extend across the now traffic calmed streets.  The transformation of a car dominated environment into a liveable streetscape is impressive.

The project won the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects 2008 Award for Design in Landscape Architecture: 

"The Jury believe that the completed design successfully met ambitious objectives for an extensive public space. In its detailed realisation, it has achieved a viable, amenable public realm where the central streetscape in particular pushes beyond the usual traffic calming and civil design solutions to provide a sophisticated and gracious pedestrian experience."

See the presentation below for further detail on this project and the design influences behind it.