Spiire were engaged by Welsh Group to provide water engineering , landscape architecture, surveying and visual media services for the Thornhill Park Wetland project. The aim of the project was to design a large scale constructed wetland catering for stormwater treatment and flow mitigation of the future suburb and growth area of Thornhill Park. The project involved into a multidisciplinary, collaborative design focussing on truly beneficial community and environmental outcomes rather than just an engineered design.
Our Surveying team delivered as construction surveying and UAV fly overs during construction to show progress. Our Visual Media team were engaged to develop a series of 3D renders of the design for community and stakeholder engagement.
The wetland is designed to treat 740 ha of a future developed catchment. Due to the scale strong consideration was given to design in the many stages of the design life in both stormwater, community requirements, environmental requirements and budget constraints. Thornhill Park Wetland will be the largest Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) system within the sizable network and is currently the largest wetland under construction in Melbourne.
Due to the large scale of the project this required flexibility in the design, incorporation of scale and integrating stormwater function, however, it also came with opportunities due to the size of the community and connectivity to the area. The following main elements were considered:
- Integrating community requirements as the initial starting point and acknowledging the size will naturally be used by the local community.
- Using biophilic design principles and natural elements as solutions, with the expectation future wildlife will be drawn to the area, and as an opportunity to enable community connection to nature.
- Scale: this is the biggest wetland currently under construction in Melbourne. The large size required consideration to constructability, robust design, flexibility during all the design phases and significant changes in flow and volume over the design life.
- Multiple catchments and integrating the design with the adjacent waterway required the solutions to be flexible during all stages of construction and the lifespan of the asset.
The design has been progressed from concept to Issued for Construction stages, enabling a consistent, collaborative design from the get-go. Contract Administraton construction support is currently being undertaken to ensure the design intent is executed.
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To learn more about our work at the Thornhill Park Estate development please click here
