New Melbourne cemetery reimagines public memorial parks

Architectus, Aurecon, McGregor Coxall and Greenshoot Consulting have unveiled their design for the biggest public cemetery in Melbourne in 100 years.

The team won an international design competition for the project in 2021.

Greater Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust has appointed the consortium to design the first stage of the 128-hectare greenfield site in Melbourne's western fringes, adjacent to Gilgai Woodlands Nature Conservation Reserve at Harkness.

The design has been informed by Wurundjeri culture and champions cultural awareness, knowledge exchange and understanding, the team said in a statement.

Greater Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust also hopes to "reimagine" the public cemetery, transforming it from a "memorial park" to a place of multiple uses: grief and bereavement support, diverse communities' events, exercise and recreation activities, and local habitat and ecology conservation.

"Cemeteries are one of the few places in urban areas that bring so many communities, histories, belief systems and lives together in harmony, to respectfully reflect and meaningfully celebrate what is important to them," said Andrew Eriksen, CEO of Greater Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust (GMCT).

"GMCT's cemetery project at Harkness is firmly rooted in our values of compassion, respect, integrity, and sustainability. It will provide the communities in that region the same social value as all our sites - a place dedicated in perpetuity to remembrance, thoughtfully designed and supported by dedicated staff."

The design team said, "The reimagined cemetery will be a place that repairs Country, connects Country to people to and people to one another. A place that adapts and reflects our changing society."

"The design comprises three axes - ecological, cultural, and community. The Cultural Line presents a dramatic threshold that contrasts and amplifies the vastness of Melbourne's West. The Natural Axis, Arnolds Creek, is a demonstration of the commitment to Caring for Country and a sustainable future. The centrepiece of the cemetery is the Core, which is positioned at the confluence of the three axes and celebrates Country and elevates the beauty of the landscape.

"The reimagined cemetery will embody fundamentals of Circular Economy - Regeneration, Resilience, Sustainability. The new cemetery aspires to be off grid, utilizing on-site sources for energy and water. A site-wide integrated water management plan will be created to capture, cleanse, infiltrate and detain water on site for reuse."