Planning and Urban Design

• G Line is a city-shaping opportunity to unlock the airspace above an existing rail corridor and deliver transport integration, housing, public space, economic activity and better major-event capability through one coordinated masterplan.
  
  It addresses infrastructure and connectivity challenges while generating significant civic and community value. The proposition is designed to be privately funded, providing government with an opportunity to facilitate transformative public outcomes without carrying the direct development cost.

• 

• Every decision in the masterplan traces back to three urban design principles. Each one answers a problem the rail corridor creates today, and together they shape the masterplan strategies.

  The approach to the masterplanning process has required a multi-faceted approach to solving and resolving key issues, considerations and opportunities along the corridor and its edges from the ground level to the rail corridor and above the corridor.

  Stitch the divide

  Challenge
  The rail corridor separates Melbourne’s sports precincts from their parks and gardens, and breaks the fabric of the neighbourhoods on either side.

  Principle
  The masterplan stitches the corridor back together, north to south. Access opens up in every direction and across each level of the corridor, from the ground plane to the decks above the rail. No barriers.

  Walk the line

  Challenge
  The same divide interrupts the routes between precincts, leaving people to move around the corridor rather than through it.

  Principle
  Pedestrians come first. The masterplan provides continuous public access from Cremorne to Birrarung Marr along shaded, tree-lined boulevards, where people can walk or cycle without stopping for traffic lights or cars. Community spaces sit along the way, giving people reasons to pause between destinations.

  Reflect and connect the urban grain

  Challenge
  The corridor is undeveloped, inactive land in the heart of our city, surrounded by long-established cultural and community life.

  Principle
  The masterplan takes its cues from the neighbourhoods around it. Jolimont’s parkland, Richmond’s industrial warehouses and pocket parks, the activity of Swan Street and the fine grain of Cremorne each inform what is built alongside them. The aim is to deliver more of Melbourne by building on the identity each precinct already has.

• Built form massing approach

  The masterplan’s building massing starts with the existing rail corridor, enclosed from William Barak Bridge to Cremorne, and a new station at Richmond. Neighbourhoods and streets are then set out over the top, with most of the height and density located around the station.

• 

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  Existing rail corridor.

  1/8

  1/8

  Existing rail corridor.

• Masterplan analysis

  G line is the continuous flowing pedestrian boulevard that connects Birrarung Marr to Richmond. The central pedestrian spine is the conduit of connectivity, wayfinding, access and experience for pedestrians, sports and entertainment patrons, visitors, residents, workers and all others interfacing with the postcode.

• 

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  Arrival and entry

  1/11

  1/11

  Arrival and entry

• Neighbourhoods

  As G Line traverses the rail corridor, it is defined by 6 distinct neighbourhoods that reflect, complement and leverage on the surrounding neighbourhoods and character they interface with.

• Jolimont Fields Room to arrive. Room to wander.

  

  Jolimont Fields Room to arrive. Room to wander.

  The key arrival to G Line and soft scape of the project. Jolimont Fields is a precinct dedicated to community use.

  Learn More

  • Jolimont Fields keeps built form off the ground to protect views from the city to the MCG, and extends the City of Melbourne’s Greenline along the northern bank of the Birrarung. The front lawn operates as an activated community oval, while the community tennis courts are open year-round and become event space during the Australian Open. Pedestrians have priority throughout, with dedicated bicycle links connecting to William Barak Bridge.

  • 

    

    1/2

    1/2

  • Jolimont Fields size

    3.7ha

    Jolimont Fields open space

    97%

    New tennis courts

    8

  • 

    Materiality in Jolimont Fields extends the City of Melbourne palette from the CBD and the Birrarung, including the iconic bluestone. An extension of the tennis bring in the blues of the Australian Open, mixed with large flowing lawns.

    The plant palette will include large scale Australian native features trees, with a mix of evergreens and deciduous for seasonality. Under storey flowering meadows further enhances the sense of colour and seasonality within the precinct.

• Olympic Plaza A century of sport. An open invitation.

  

  Olympic Plaza A century of sport. An open invitation.

  This becomes the meeting place that consolidates and connects Melbourne’s world famous sports and entertainment precincts.

  Learn More

  • Olympic Plaza extends the MCG concourse and carries it through to John Cain Arena and AAMI Park, giving patrons a continuous route between venues. A central plaza forms the neighbourhood’s main gathering place, framed by new buildings for functions, conferencing and exhibitions, with an allowance for a larger MCG footprint in future. A dedicated pedestrian walkway above Barassi Way links the precinct to Richmond Station.

  • 

    

    1/2

    1/2

  • Olympic Plaza size

    4.4ha

    Olympic Plaza open space

    75%

    Wider southern MCG concourse

    +10m

  • 

    Materiality in Olympic Plaza extends the treatment of the MCG concourse into the plaza itself, a continuous field of decorative paving softened by lawn and understorey planting. A civic-scale variety of texture and public art gives the space real presence, while deep soil zones support large canopy trees at key locations.

    The plant palette mirrors Yarra Park Residences, a mix of indigenous and exotic species. A vibrant understorey brings colour, seasonality and biodiversity to this otherwise hard-paved civic space.

• Yarra Park Residences A quiet address with extraordinary neighbours.

  

  Yarra Park Residences A quiet address with extraordinary neighbours.

  Refined living and activation that reflects the setting of Yarra Park and East Melbourne.

  Learn More

  • Terrace housing and apartments look out over Yarra Park and Gosch’s Paddock, set along the G Line’s central pedestrian boulevard. The boulevard runs at podium level above the rail corridor, with car and bus parking stacked beneath and new public gardens built over the top. At street level, a relocated tram stop improve access to AAMI Park, and a new pedestrian bridge crosses Olympic Boulevard. New connections open onto Yarra Park and Swinburne Oval, and south to Gosch’s Paddock, where the existing memorial is retained.

  • 

    

    

    1/3

    1/3

  • Yarra Park Residences size

    1.4ha

    Yarra Park Residences open space

    63%

    Neighbourhood Residential Floor Area

    35000m²

  • 

    Materiality in Yarra Park Residences brings an upmarket mix of public and private materials, bluestone paving alongside honed and exposed concrete, with layered planting softening the hardscape throughout.

    The plant palette mixes loose, informal native planting in the public realm with more manicured landscapes highlighting the private gardens, colour and seasonality carried through both.

• Richmond Circus Made here. Sold here. Lived here.

  

  Richmond Circus Made here. Sold here. Lived here.

  A new location for mixed-use activity and density surrounding Richmond Station.

  Learn More

  • Height and density are concentrated here, around a new multi-modal transport interchange with direct concourse access to Richmond Station. A vaulted colonnade runs along the corridor, and new linkages open up the ground plane between Olympic Boulevard and Barassi Way. Above the Punt Road and Swan Street intersection, the Halo provides a dedicated elevated path for pedestrians and cyclists, separated from the traffic below. New civic plazas sit at the base of the towers.

  • 

    

    1/2

    1/2

  • Richmond Circus size

    1.9ha

    Richmond Circus open space

    57%

    Yearly Richmond Station Passengers

    4million

  • 

    Materiality in Richmond Circus introduces brick into the palette, tying the neighbourhood into the raw materiality of its surrounds. Precast concrete retaining walls navigate the level changes across the podium, with all hardscape softened by planting and lawn.

    Much like Yarra Park Residences, the plant palette draws inspiration from the surrounding parklands, a mix of evergreen and deciduous species ensuring canopy, colour and seasonality year-round.

• The Village An authentic part of Richmond.

  

  The Village An authentic part of Richmond.

  Authentically Richmond and the melting pot of experiences and activity.

  Learn More

  • Smaller building footprints allow for a wider mix of uses and built form, from a new university hub to affordable and build-to-rent housing. The G Line continues through as a pedestrian boulevard, with activated arcades linking Swan Street to Stewart Street and McNall Street reinstated. Large atriums bring natural light down to the station concourse and platforms, which can be reached directly from level 3. At street level, the plan activates Swan Street around the station entries and tram stops.

  • 

    

    

    

    1/4

    1/4

  • The Village size

    4ha

    The Village open space

    34%

    New Swan St Market

    6500m²

  • 

    Materiality in The Village is a rich matrix of colours, textures and scales, reflecting the nature of the neighbourhood itself. This bleeds into the surrounding street network, echoing the variety of activity found in the built form.

    A varied and colourful plant palette further invigorates the public realm, providing good canopy cover for pedestrians.

• Cremorne Commons Stay longer in the postcode’s unhurried corner.

  

  Cremorne Commons Stay longer in the postcode’s unhurried corner.

  The quiet, leafy-green neighborhood that connects Richmond to Cremorne and to Church Street.

  Learn More

  • Upper levels step back to respect the scale of surrounding Cremorne, and ground-floor apartments open onto landscaped courtyards. A vaulted colonnade runs along the corridor, while new connections across the ground plane link Swan Street with Stephenson Street. Atrium spaces give access to the Richmond Station concourse, and White Street carries the route on to East Richmond Station and Church Street. The plan also identifies the rail corridor edge for public art to activate the laneways.

  • 

    

    

    

    1/4

    1/4

  • Cremorne Commons size

    1.4ha

    Cremorne Commons open space

    61%

    Neighbourhood Residential Floor Area

    37500m²

  • 

    Materiality in Cremorne Commons draws inspiration from its surrounds, raw materials ensuring the east end of G Line bleeds into its surrounding context. Opportunities for public art sit alongside warmer brick tones.

    The tree palette reflects the surrounding street network in Cremorne, drawing on Acmena, Lagerstroemia, Fraxinus and Eucalyptus species.

• G Line is Melbourne’s opportunity to show the world what great city building looks like. We can bring transport, sport, public space and new development together in a way no other city has achieved at this scale.

  We see the master plan within the skyline scale and identity of Melbourne, winding alongside the Yarra river in echo, and then we experience the master plan at a personal and human level – its edges, interfaces, streets, laneways and connections. Our approach to the master plan, considers a multi-layered, multi-scaled strategy for creating walkable neighbouhoods, activating and connecting precincts, while infusing them with community spaces, shaded pedestrian boulevards and human scaled laneways. The master plan is informed through the need to improve connectivity, reflect the grain of Melbourne and its context, provide a sense of human scale and diversity, while also reflecting the grand scale of our much loved sports precincts.

  G Line not only resolves an urgent infrastructure and city mobility need; it does it in a way that responds to many of the other pressures of our time and to the challenges of the future. As a demonstration of how integrated planning can imbue resilience for the communities of the future, the project is a wonderfully meaningful endeavour to be a part of.

  G Line is the transformational, ground breaking and world class precinct project that this City needs, and more profoundly our world class sporting precinct demands, to reinforce and elevate both its global appeal for sporting/cultural content promoters whilst delivering a profoundly enhanced game/event day experience for fans/patrons/event goers alike.

• Common questions

  Who’s behind the planning and urban design strategy?

  For the past 7 years, G Line has been driven by a collaborative team who are each deeply passionate about Melbourne and all the things that make it one of the best cities in the world. With Planning led by Tract and Urban Design led by The OCD, our interdisciplinary team of professionals spans architecture urban design, landscape architecture, transport, urban planning, sustainability, placemaking, strategy, property, sports administration, project management and beyond, each dedicating their time, energy and creativity to this ambitious project.

  How is this different from Docklands?

  Unlike Docklands, G Line is not a government-led renewal initiative. This is a fully masterplanned concept which has been led by the human experience and community outcome, not to maximise development return.

  A key distinction is that this is a lease model, not a sale, and the land will remain the property of the people.

  It is a grassroots-led proposal by a team of industry leaders, galvanised by a shared aspiration for our city, who can’t unsee the potential that has been lying dormant for over 100 years. G Line offers a unique model and once in a generation opportunity to fix our city’s busiest rail corridor, all while creating more of what makes Melbourne great.

  This proprietary delivery model will also enable the transport and the precinct above to be delivered in a sequence that places no hindrance on the surrounding sports precinct, the road or rail network or the neighbouring parks and gardens.

  More than a transport project, G Line is a fully integrated precinct, comprised of 6 new neighbourhoods for open space, places to live, to create, to share experiences – everything within reach.

  Has anything like this been delivered before?

  Around the world, rail lines are being redeveloped and reimagined into new urban spaces.

  The Highline in New York, Hudson Yards in Manhattan, the Paris Rive Gauche project in France, the Broadgate development in London, and the IOTA Seoul redevelopment initiative are global exemplars of what can be achieved when people choose to embrace complexity for the benefit of their cities.

  It is possible to create new urban spaces over active transport lines, and now we have the solution. This is Melbourne’s chance to show the world what we’re capable of.

  Will this actually get built?

  As Melburnians, we have seen visions before, and we’ve seen them fade.

  Not only is G Line an ambitious vision, it is real. Behind the scenes leading up to this moment, this transformational project has been rigorously tested, planned, costed and designed to be delivered.

  But to make delivery possible we need a new approach. One that doesn’t ask the taxpayer to fund it. What makes G Line different is that it’s been designed to stack up – on its own merits – from the ground-up.

  An Australian-first proprietary transport engineering solution would enable the city to unlock 12.6 hectares of developable land that has been overlooked, cutting through the heart of our sporting precinct. A lease model to secure air rights above the rail corridor would enable the funding of a major transport upgrade that has been overdue for decades.

  What planning approvals are needed?

  This is not a development application. G Line is a strategic catalyst that invites the citizens of Melbourne and its stakeholders across the public and private sectors to deeply engage in a nuanced and mature conversation about the future of this precinct.

  There is no denying this is a highly unique and complex project. It spans both public and private land, crosses two local government areas, and seeks to do things differently – for the better.

  This will require a sustained collaboration and commitment to excellence that would enable our planning system to embrace a once-in-a-generation opportunity to capture everything that our city aspires to be.

  It asks us to imagine: how incredible would it be if we came together to make this happen?

  Underpinned by a rigorous and thoroughly tested masterplan that embeds a series of core principles and functions designed to serve the city and its people, G Line will require unique planning controls and a layered approvals process that can effectively manage and deliver the outcomes proposed in the Masterplan, ensuring these ambitions can be effectively realised over time.

  How much is locked in versus still aspirational?

  Due to the nature of the technical engineering solution at the core of the project, there are some elements which need to be ‘locked in’ to make the project possible.

  A significant and rigorous process of modelling and testing has been undertaken to ensure the project can generate sufficient above-podium investment to fund the transport infrastructure.

  The masterplan sets a benchmark for the aspirations, principles and requirements that developers will need to meet if they wish to be part of bringing the vision to life.

  Landscape and open space, sustainability, spaces for people, community amenities and public benefit are all fundamental to what G Line seeks to achieve.

  The masterplan invites the brightest ideas to envisage what could be possible in a precinct that celebrates the best of what Melbourne is, and can be.

  What happens next?

  Despite years in the making, the launch of G Line is just the beginning. From here, the project team will continue to engage in ongoing discussions with key landowners, authorities, and stakeholders to affirm support for the overall design strategy and delivery model, and enable the planning process to progress.