Canopi Valley Lake - Niddrie Quarry Housing

Our Design Process Site Analysis: careful site analysis revealed a highly degraded site.

Quarrying had exposed ancient basalt, some of the oldest in Melbourne.

Very fruitful consultation with City of Moonee Valley, Urban Land Authority, local residents’ groups, landscape architects, and Melbourne Water.

Research (white) Site History: The 48-hectare Niddrie Quarry sits at the eastern edge of a vast lava plain stretching from Melbourne to Mount Gambier.

• Respect the site’s history:
• Pay homage to the tremendous role the community played in saving it.

At the time initial design, no frameworks existed for consulting Traditional Owners. We are pleased this has changed.

Research Local Precedent Projects: We examined local former quarries: Fitzroy Gardens, former bluestone quarry; All Nations Park (Northcote), former clay quarry; Highpoint Shopping Centre, former basalt quarry; Royal Botanic Gardens Cranbourne, former sand quarry.

Establish Guiding Principles:

• We set a rule to repair only – minimise further disruption to the site
• Take the topography as it is, to preserve the memory of the quarry
• A view for all - share the views to celebrate the unique place
• Prioritise pedestrians
• Repair habitat
• Build in timber - and minimise concrete which significantly contributes to global carbon emissions.

We have exceeded the design brief by providing an exemplar ‘missing middle’ project, that has seeded development of the remainder of the site.

We have used a housing typology familiar to Melburnians to create acceptance.

The density is 9.4 x denser that a quarter acre block, and 3.5 times denser than the immediate surroundings.

We have provided 104 terrace houses in the same space as 29 freestanding adjacent houses, or 104 houses in the same space as 11 houses on quarter-acre blocks.

The road network is ‘local traffic only’ and prioritises the pedestrian.

It is planted with indigenous species to attract fauna and insects.

Our 2-hectares of medium density (low-cost) housing sits within Development Victoria’s larger 48-hectare quarry site, of which 30% or 14.4 hectares is public open space.

Our site alone includes hundreds of newly planted trees, and low drought-tolerant plantings in lieu of lawns.

Using the guiding principle of ‘minimum site disturbance’, our masterplan introduces a network of roads and walking tracks that preserve and reinforce the existing, unique topography of the quarry.

The housing layout capitalises on rock ledges, cliffs, and changing levels left by its industrial past.

The houses are arranged so all share in views of the quarry wall.

We chose the terrace house typology after testing cluster housing and low-rise apartments, not only due to its familiarity to Melbournians.

Terrace housing was chosen for its light impact on the found topography.

The final long snaking linear terrace forms sit on and underscore the quarries topography.

The linear forms use the remnant quarry ledges, rather than requiring additional earthworks that other tested typologies would have required.

Orientation of the compact timber 2- and 3-bedroom dwellings provide views to the lake and solar access resulting in each house having a 6-8star NatHERS energy rating.

There are five different townhouse types.

The pedestrian experience is foregrounded.

We introduced view corridors and quiet pedestrian cut throughs to create permeability and links to a network of boardwalks, bike trails and walking tracks established by Development Victoria.

Just 12km from the CBD, this is the creation of a stunning lakeside neighbourhood surrounded by wetland sanctuaries and natural parkland.

Unlike many new greenfield developments, Valley Lake taps into existing infrastructure, such as schools in Essendon and Keilor, shops, and a bus network, helping to make the city greener and more compact.

Brownfield Site Repair: Canopi Valley Lake is a unique model for establishing housing on a brownfield site.

It uniquely creates affordable family housing with extensive open space within 12 km of the city.

Unlike new sub-divisions, it taps into existing local schools, hospitals, transport and shops making the city more compact while preserving a green fringe.

The innovation stems from the adaptive re-use of a disused quarry for housing, whilst giving back open space to the community, and actively sharing that space with non-human animals by providing habitat.

It is born out of a unique set of circumstances and has provided the community with the housing they fought for.

(see Circular Design) Minimising site disturbance:

The selection of timber-framed terrace housing in lieu of multi-level concrete apartment construction, or cluster housing, meant less disruption of the site.

It capitalises upon and emphasises the found quarry contours, while also accommodated the use of smaller builders.

The ledges and cliffs of the quarry are lined with rows of terraces that underscore their form.

This key move meant building on 6 levels of quarry ledges thereby providing all residents with views to the quarry wall.

This means that all share in the view to the quarry wall and lake.

The resulting masterplan creates a strong site memory – by underscoring its “quarryness”.

Flipped terrace house typology: Five terrace types of two-and-three bedrooms were designed.

We flipped the plans locating living areas on the upper floors to take advantage of views over lower rooftops and create greater sunlight penetration into living spaces.

Missing Middle: We have provided 104 terrace houses in the same space as 11 houses on quarter-acre blocks augmented by extensive shared open space and habitat.

Pedestrian short-cuts, planted with indigenous species, prioritise the pedestrian and link them to the open space.

We have been guided by the principles of Repair, Recovery, Re-use, healing, and belonging.

• Repair: As well as repairing the land and creek for the return of native fish and a breeding pair of peregrine falcons, the repair of the relationship with the local community was needed.

The project would never have existed without the community activism that saved the site.

The transformation of the quarry is the legacy of the Friends of Steele Creek group. (see below Circular Design)

• Recovery - Community Benefits: The transformed quarry provides valuable community spaces for housing, recreation, leisure, and cultural activities.
• It is cleaner and has removed truck traffic and dust from the suburb.
• More homes are closer to workplaces.
• The lake and café are a desirable outdoor leisure space, for walking or seeing birds.
• The pedestrian short-cuts we designed create access from the top of the site to the lake.
• Economic Development: Seeding surrounding housing development: Our medium density development on one portion of the site seeded the residential development on the remainder of the site.
• Healing - Sustainable Development: Transforming brownfield sites aligns with sustainable development goals by reusing land within bike riding distance to 10 existing schools, a dozen parks, hospitals, sports and cultural facilities and shops, transport and infrastructure and resources.
• We minimised concrete, by building in timber.
• Belonging: Instigated by the passion of the local community, this project has been many years in the making.

This year, with the completion of the lookout by McGregor Coxall, and Perry’s Café, Development Victoria will hand over management to Moonee Valley City Council.

The community have allowed us to enact their vision. The site is a surprising oasis.

The project would never have existed without the community activism that saved the site from becoming a toxic dump.

They led the campaign to repurpose the disused quarry for housing and recreation, to heal the waterways and eliminate truck traffic and dust from their neighbourhood. They wanted more housing and open space to be given back to the community.

Community Impact - Re-Use: The history: in the late 1930s, Reid Brothers established Fowler’s Quarry (later Niddrie Quarry), selling it to Boral in 1965. The quarry’s primary output was basalt, which was used to pave the roads of Melbourne from the 1940s to 1975. The site lay vacant for the next 25 years. During this time various proposals to use the site for landfill were rejected or blocked by strong community environmental advocacy, and eventually by the election of the Bracks government who promised no toxic dumps.

The community fought to have Niddrie Quarry repurposed for housing.

In 2000, Urban Land Corporation purchased the site, and developed an innovative masterplan embracing the site’s unique features.

The lake became the focus of the estate, while the soaring basalt cliff behind creates a stunning connection to the land and its past.

The re-use and repair of the site for housing acknowledges the impact community can have on shaping their environment.

Recovery - Environmental Rehabilitation: Rehabilitation of the quarry site has restored natural habitats and improve the overall environment. The wetlands attract frogs and bird, native fish have returned to Steele Creek. An indigenous planting regime has been enacted. A breeding pair of peregrine falcons return to the quarry annually.

We minimised site disruption by selecting a housing type that sits on the existing topography, and was delivered on budget.

Walking is encouraged throughout the site by providing pedestrian-only short-cuts, and a local traffic-only network.