Pattison Street Pocket Park

The Moonee Ponds Creek is going to have significant changes over the next twenty years. This pocket park plants one of the first seeds to grow this ambitious greening project.

Our regular collaborator Dale Holden helped us design a monumental vine-strewn arbour, to respond to the scale of surrounding infrastructure like the Fleminton ‘hot chip’, to funnel walkers and cyclists down into the creek path and future ‘chain of ponds’. The arbour signposts the threshold between the suburb and the future greener spine of the creek. The concept of the arbour explored ideas of avenue planting, typologies of traffic gateways in Melbourne and playfully, a shared path super-mario boost.

A large feature tree (Ficus macrophylla) will give shade to the curved custom seating as it weaves through the site, with chess boards etched into picnic tables. Recycled bricks salvaged from the house and a selection of retained trees from the previous garden pay subtle homage to the site’s previous life as a private home.