The North Williamstown Station precinct has topped the Victorian Landscape Architecture Awards thanks to its vibrant open space and heritage focussed design.
Constructed as part of the Ferguson Street Level Crossing Removal Project in 2022, the design not only removed a dangerous and congested level crossing via a rail trench, but also delivered a brand-new North Williamstown Station, new cycling paths and pedestrian connections, and thousands of new trees, plants and shrubs.
Importantly, the project’s design ensured the station’s early 20th century heritage building was restored so that it now sits above the lowered platforms inside the rail trench.
The awards’ citation for the project cited the combined historical and cultural stories told as part of the design.
“Incorporating a story of canoe journeys along the Birrarrung with a Heritage Station building, the Jury celebrates this level crossing removal project as distinctly ‘of its place’,” it said.
“The station environment provides opportunities for people to engage with their surroundings regardless of their direct interaction with the transport infrastructure – highly successful infrastructure project that enhances the day-to-day.”
The new station precinct included public artwork, seating, a table tennis table, bike storage facilities and landscaped open spaces.
The artwork features Heavy Harry, an iconic locomotive and the largest ever built in Australia, which was manufactured in 1941 at the railway yards only a short walk away from the Ferguson Street level crossing.
Getting around the station has also been made easier. There is a new signalised pedestrian crossing, and secure storage for 40 bikes in a new bike Parkiteer. A 4m-wide shared use path has also been installed through the precinct, connecting the station with key areas of Williamstown.
More than 40,000 native plants, trees and shrubs have been planted around the station and surrounding areas, including more than 400 mature trees and over 50 different species of plants.
During construction, crews dug out around 50,000 tonnes of soil, clay and tough basalt rock from under Ferguson Street and in the rail corridor – enough to fill 20 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
