Harlowe

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This 450-lot development includes 18 stages of residential lots, as well as a proposed childcare centre, complemented by streetscapes and open spaces.

Services

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

Client

Wel.Co

Location

Bendigo, VIC

Harlowe Estate entry statement by Spiire landscape architecture bengio

Playspace at Spiire Bendigo Gumbilang Lar Reserve project at Harlowe Estate

Spiire has been engaged by Wel.Co to provide multidisciplinary services including town planning, surveying, civil engineering, landscape architecture and construction consultancy services to support the development of Harlowe estate in Bendigo’s growing Huntly region.

Our Town Planning team secured the planning and development plan approvals and has assisted with condition compliance. This included negotiating with the City of Greater Bendigo to establish a streamlined pathway for approving small lots in greenfield areas, which can now be adopted in other applications around the municipality.

Throughout the planning phase, the team identified an approach for several parcels of crown land within the Harlowe site. Our Surveying team is now working closely with the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning to provide extra documentation to support crown land acquisitions and road declarations.

Our local Surveyors have also provided a title reestablishment and feature and level survey. We are preparing the stage plans for subdivision, with the first nine stages delivered to date.

Our Civil Engineering team is delivering the road and drainage, sewer and water design.

Key infrastructure will include a new intersection with Midland Highway, drainage reserve and realigning an existing road, which will ultimately become a shared path. Working together, our engineers and landscape architects have developed solutions that retain many existing trees for future community enjoyment.

Our Bendigo team is also providing Construction Consultancy Services while continuing to deliver designs for future stages of the estate.

Landscape features

Our Landscape Architecture team developed Harlowe’s landscape master plan and continues to deliver detailed designs, contract administration and maintenance inspections for individual stages.

In close collaboration with local Dja Dja Wurrung (Djaara) Traditional Owner representatives, the team co-designed Gumbilang Lar Reserve, a vibrant community space within Harlowe estate.

Gumbilang Lar, meaning ‘Resting Place’ in the local Djaara language, brings together a central play space adjacent to a future drainage reserve. Together, these elements will create a large, vibrant parkland with walking trails, a playground, kickabout spaces, picnic areas, and places to relax.

The reserve celebrates and preserves the native flora and fauna while creating an engaging space within the new community.

Indigenous themes are woven throughout the playscape in the play equipment, shelters, footpath stencils and seat carvings, designed in collaboration with Dja Dja Wurrung enterprise DJANDAK, our clients, and Djaara artists Troy Firebrace, Natasha Carter and Andrew Saunders.

Our team also worked closely with supplier Safe Play Australia to modify the sensory play flowers, ensuring the play structures resembled the local flora.

With the play space now complete, landscape design for the drainage reserve will now commence, and will include planted indigenous species and seating nooks, offering visitors quiet places to pause and enjoy the surrounding landscape.

Our Bendigo Landscape Construction Consultancy team will continue working alongside contractors to deliver landscape designs for the play space, streetscapes, sales office, entry statement, upcoming drainage reserve and linear reserve.

A future Linear Reserve is also planned that will complement Gumbilang Lar Reserve. This secondary open space will celebrate retained indigenous trees and embellish the existing waterway with ephemeral planting, creek crossings, pathways and seating opportunities.

Landscape Architecture