Ashe Morgan Plots Australia’s Biggest Rooftop Park

Australia’s largest elevated park will be part of a development of one of the last significant land parcels in the Waterfront City precinct at Docklands.

The 8000sq m public park will be created on the rooftop of an existing car park for public use as part of a 3ha development at 3-43 Waterfront Way.

Ashe Morgan’s plans for the Waterfront City East precinct won approval from the City of Melbourne Council after a substantial reworking of a previous proposal, which was rejected in 2020.

“At almost 1ha, this will be the largest elevated park in Australia,” Deputy Mayor Nicholas Reece said.

“We know that green space is important to people in the Docklands … this is fantastic news for the people of Docklands.

“I think this will be a good development for Docklands that will stand the test of time.”

Ashe Morgan’s conceptual plan for the 3ha site comprises seven buildings, including two commercial towers up to 90m high, mixed-use buildings, a residential tower and a 1250sq m parcel of land that will be handed over for a civic building.

“The unvarnished truth is that some very poor planning mistakes were made in the early days of the Docklands and they must never be made again,” Reece said.

“Good planning decisions will help Docklands in the future. It’s a very large parcel of land in a prominent place.”

Reece said Ashe Morgan had worked with the council to make significant improvements to the site including the removal of a raised deck on the ground plane and increased shopfront activation from 50 per cent to 80 per cent.

Councillor Rohan Leppert said having public green space on top of a car park was “not brilliant” and would never be recommended by the council, but “we’re doing our best to get these outcomes” within the constraints of the proposal.

“I do hope that the minister does approve the changes to the Waterfront City plans, and that we can ensure that the open space on site is not only open space for some residents, it is open space for everyone,” he said.

“The Docklands is at its best when people can seamlessly integrate throughout the entire area and aren’t just locked out of precincts that are only inward looking.”

The developer went back to the drawing board to make “significant changes to the scale, intensity and layout” of earlier proposed plans for 3-43 Waterfront Way, opposed by the City of Melbourne in 2020.

The Fender Katsalidis-designed Seafarers hotel and residences development at Docklands is progressing with Icon Constructions announced as the builder of the $500-million project.

The development of the Northbank wharf site, controlled by private developer Riverlee, forms a crucial link between the Docklands regeneration on one side of Wurundjeri Way and on the other, the last wedge of commercial space along the Yarra River.