The Wunggurrwil Dhurrumg Centre in Wyndham was created to provide a broad range of family support facilities and a safe gathering space for the local and broader indigenous communities. In November 2018, Landscape Plus was appointed by Devco to complete the hard and soft landscaping for the new Centre. Works were completed in mid-2019. The Landscape Plus maintenance team continued to visit the site for 3 months after installation.
The first task was to excavate a very wet site that featured clay soil and volcanic rocks. Then, the Landscape Plus team installed compacted sand pathways, random bluestone paving, stepping logs, a custom nature play area constructed from logs, a firepit area and volcanic bluestone walling utilising rocks recovered during the excavation phase. The team also installed asphalt for the carparking area, coloured asphalt and Flexi-Pave porous pavement.
The Centre is Wyndham’s first Five Green Star-rated building, and it was therefore important that the landscape construction works also lived up to expectations in regard to sustainability. Recycled materials were used wherever possible (such as the volcanic rocks recovered on site and then repurposed as stone walling) and no additional topsoil was brought in to condition the existing soil. Wherever possible, natural materials were used instead of synthetic alternatives.
The fact that the native soil had a high percentage of clay did make keeping the plants alive a challenge. What’s more, the area the Centre is located on is naturally dry and quite barren, and therefore the fact that irrigation was not included in the scope of works meant that our team worked hard to keep the plants alive during the construction phase. They also overcame drainage issues and strategized ways to keep the local wildlife from eating the newly installed green life before it had a chance to establish itself.
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