Mirrabooka Town Square Revamp
Designing, visioning, and place-making in one of Australia’s most multi-cultural communities
City of Stirling
|
Stirling, Western Australia
|
2021–Ongoing
A$1-million upgrade to the Mirrabooka Town Square.
Increased number of shade trees and reduced urban heat island effect.
Reduced waste by using existing materials.
Challenges
- The 2021 Mirrabooka Town Activity Centre Plan (TACP) proposed a $1-million revamp of Mirrabooka Town Square to create a welcoming and vibrant space for the community.
- The current design had limitations with extensive concrete hard surfaces and limited shade, coupled with the nearby bus depot and lack of people presence, which deterred people from visiting the square.
- The plan needed to unite stakeholders to deliver the original Town Square vision, understanding and addressing the concerns of the community and adjacent traders.
Solutions
- Managed the project from the initial phase of facilitating place visioning and design workshops that began in 2021, through to final construction drawings in 2025.
- Engaged with a new coffee trader to service an outdoor Café Terrace to improve night-time activity, and to provide food, drinks, and toilets for public use.
- Improved pedestrian circulation for mobility impaired residents, new spaces for market stalls, and improved pedestrian throughfare that discourages loitering.
- Promoted a “green-to-grey” solution to reduce existing hard surfaces, increase ground cover plantings, retain existing trees, and increase stormwater infiltration.
Highlights
- Increased local community engagement with a new outdoor Café Terrace, improved circulation for market stalls, and more comfortable timber seating.
- Increased “cooling and greening” with more shade trees, introduction of ground covers, and greater diversity of indigenous local planting species.
- Increased vibrancy with the addition of high-quality local materials, such as Red Pilbara stone features, public artworks, and decorative night-time lighting design.
- Reduced waste with reuse of existing materials.
Project Numbers
- 9 additional shade trees
- 11 existing trees retained
- 220 m2 of new landscape groundcover plantings
- 280 m2 hard concrete surfaces removed
