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Melbourne Square - City Shaper
- 09/12/2019
When it comes to determining the quality of our surroundings, architecture and urban design are key contributors to how we enjoy and experience our cities.
Great apartment projects and mixed use developments should add value to their communities in the form of integrated design, and providing infrastructure and services lacking in the local community.
Just check out The New Daily’s recent piece on this, featuring Melbourne Square as a key contributor to the future of our city.
The piece is an interesting examination of apartment living and supports our thinking of the ‘21st century village’, which we believe Melbourne Square embodies.
In the past our cities have been a patchwork of character-filled suburban villages offering their residents most of what they need to enjoy life – the essentials like post offices, cafes and butchers – and the intangibles that spring from this (a sense of community).
Fast forward to today, and as our cities are being transformed by blockbuster large-scale skyscraper projects, our village ethos is being redefined – but not lost.
Innovative mixed-use developments, inspired by highly urban and functional cities throughout Europe and the US, are finding ways to condense the village vibe into a smaller area.
Melbourne Square will have over 2000 homes and residents should enjoy the same community and services of any other suburb with a high street. MSQ upon completion
At Melbourne Square there has been careful consideration in creating community.
The square’s retail space, set overlooking a large public park, is one of the key levers created by the project’s designers Cox Architecture to bring forth the village vibe. It’s in addition to a range of other leisure options – both public and private – including dining, tourism and public art.
“Apartment buildings need to be contributors to our cities and provide benefits to the wider community. In the case of Melbourne Square, what we’ve created is an integrated precinct that delivers the services and social connection opportunities the area needs. It provides for many outside of the project, rather than just accommodating many inside,” says Cox Architecture director Paul Curry.
An integrated Woolworths supermarket will deliver the suburb’s first full-sized grocery shop, while childcare and cafes will cater for Southbank residents, workers and visitors.
“Ultimately this approach will increase the longevity and relevance of these developments and drive the suburbs in which they are located forward,” Curry says.
Melbourne Square is currently under construction, with completion anticipated at the end of 2020. Until then, early residents will move in early 2020 to start building what will one day be a thriving community.
