Bogong Multi Level Carpark

The project responds to the loss of parking infrastructure in Glen Waverley following land acquisitions for the Suburban Rail Loop (SRL). They key challenge of this project was to retain and expand the building vertically without having an adverse urban design impact. This involved a structural innovation to solve the vertical extension without the loss of any car spaces below, made more remarkable with the constraints of loads on the SRL directly below the site. The scale of the building would have a detrimental impact if not for a strong architectural and urban design solution that activates the precinct.

The design solution exceeds the brief by extending the existing carpark vertically, avoiding land expansion while doubling capacity. The primary challenge is to ensure such large-scale infrastructure contributes positively to the urban realm. The façade is carefully designed with perforated screens, animated to the street with locally inspired patterns based on a Bogong moth, lit at night to create a distinctive precinct arrival statement. The circulation core is animated with glass and colour to provide safe access and strong CPTED response. The decision to retain the original structure, results in an efficient and sustainable solution geared to community outcomes.

The project delivers significant commercial, environmental, and societal impact by doubling parking capacity within the existing footprint, improving efficiency to support the retail and entertainment precinct. Environmentally, the retention of the original structure reduced embodied carbon and construction waste and is complemented with on-site solar energy generation. Socially, the design enhances safety and accessibility through CPTED, while its striking illuminated façade establishes a strong urban gateway contributing to local identity and place making. Completed within a tight timeframe, the project demonstrates how innovative, cost-effective infrastructure, when carefully designed, can elevate both functionality and public experience.

The most remarkable feature of this structure is that it does not look like a multi deck carpark and adds so much to placemaking. The strong architectural facade provides an activated presence that successfully conceals the prosaic function of the building. By day the subtle gradation of anodised colour across varied folded panels of perforated aluminium provides an attractive statement piece to the precinct. An abstract graphic of a Bogong moth (inspired by the street name) is discernible with the large characteristic circle eyes from the wings expressed as openings to the facade. At night, the building comes alive with a playful colour lighting sequence that alternates on the hour. The colours change and pulse rythmically, adding great spectacle to your arrival at the precinct heralding the great night ahead. Complimentary to this, the narrow ends of the building feature super sized fins, cantilevered of the structure and likewise lit in alternating grades of colour. The light position is thoughtfully considered beyond the building itself and positioned to flood neighbouring pathways and engage with users and those passing by. The main circulation core is glass and transparent, featuring glass lifts and dramatic stair, further heightening the sense of arrival to an important place.