Austin Lara

Spiire was engaged by Austin Land to provide integrated consulting services to the 1100 lot masterplanned community of Austin Lara.

Services

Civil Engineering Construction Consultancy Landscape Architecture Surveying and Spatial Town Planning Urban Design Water Engineering

Client

Austin Land

Location

Lara, VIC

Spiire Visual Media Render, aerial of Austin Lara Estate

Aerial photo of Austin Lara Wetlands by Spiire Landscape Architecture

Spiire’s local civil and water engineers, landscape architects, surveyors, urban designers and planners are all working collaboratively as an integrated service offering to deliver this significant property development project. Minutes from the township of Lara and conveniently close to Geelong, Austin Lara is destined to become a vibrant new community in Melbourne’s west.

The design outcome delivers a healthy, sustainable, and connected community that promotes housing diversity and lifestyle choice outcomes while supporting the future development of the precinct.

Our Urban Design team was engaged to develop a visioning document, and subdivision plans to support the planning permit application and approval for Austin Lara. The team developed four distinct precincts, each with their own housing typologies, streetscape character and landscaped public spaces, creating an integrated community connected through pedestrian, cycling, road and open space networks.

Key considerations included a diverse range of housing options, preserving view-lines of the You Yangs, responding to the town centre to the north, and accommodating the electricity easement running through the eastern part of the site. A central drainage corridor was also incorporated acting as both a functional drainage asset and a shared pedestrian corridor, connecting the southern area to the town centre.

Our Civil Engineering team are working closely with Barwon Water in the delivery of critical infrastructure, including a sewer pump station and trunk water mains, to service the current and future development areas. Both assets require infrastructure to extend in excess of one kilometre from the Estate itself.

With a major constructed waterway and wetland, our Water Engineering team have undertaken all 2D flood modelling and design working closely with our Landscape Architecture team.

Spiire’s urban designers and landscape architects have master planned an extensive open space network that makes best use of the constructed waterway and wetland, existing high pressure gas easement and existing overhead transmission line reserve.

As well as undertaking all titling works, our Surveying team are also providing construction setout and machine control services to the civil contractors which, is one step closer to automating the engineering design in the field.

Given the relatively short delivery program for this project, together with the Estate’s proximity in relation to services, our Spiire’s key disciplines have been working in close collaboration and have been coordinating our works with downstream landowners and developers.

Connecting community, infrastructure and environment

Our integrated project team worked collaboratively to design and deliver the Austin Lara wetlands and waterways, a key focal point of the Austin Lara open space network in the Greater Geelong region spanning more than 3.9 hectares.

Comprising a wetland retarding basin, southern tributary and western conveyance channel, the project delivers a multifunctional water infrastructure network through a single coordinated design. The system provides essential stormwater storage capacity to protect downstream communities, whilst improving water quality, supporting environmental outcomes, and creating an engaging space that connects the community to the local landscape and each other.

The successful delivery of this complex project required careful planning and problem-solving across several of Spiire’s disciplines.

Maintaining asset functionality during construction presented a key challenge. To overcome this, our team developed multiple design and construction packages throughout the project, ensuring the appropriate infrastructure was delivered to align with each stage of development. Our specialists worked closely with our client, contractors, neighbouring developers, and the City of Greater Geelong to ensure infrastructure connections, interfaces and future development opportunities were supported across the broader precinct.

Our Water Engineering team developed the strategy and designed infrastructure that directs stormwater into the wetlands as well as a meandering waterway system to safely manage stormwater flows and create a naturalised waterway corridor that supports local biodiversity.

In addition to delivering master planning for the development, our Landscape Architecture team undertook the Landscape design, incorporating high-value amenities to create an accessible interface between the Austin Lara community and the surrounding landscape.

A 1.7km off-road shared path (pedestrian and cycling), culvert structure and elevated boardwalk was designed in close collaboration between civil, water and landscape teams in order to maintain waterway functionality whilst also providing essential connectivity throughout the development.

Construction delivery was supported by our Landscape and Engineering Construction Consultancy team, which provided construction administration services, tender support, and establishment maintenance coordination. Working closely with civil and landscape contractors, the team helped maintain design intent and support construction in accordance with approved engineering and landscape outcomes. Our ‘One Team’ approach enabled more efficient management and issue resolution, helping to keep the project on track through to practical completion.

The project delivers both environmental and community benefits, including recreation spaces, outdoor fitness equipment, a pedestrian bridge, and a future playground. More than 174,000 indigenous plants and 600 trees were also established to support local habitat.