City of Melbourne Councillors will consider two important new bodies that will improve architectural and design quality in new developments.
The establishment of a new Melbourne Design Review Panel and Design Excellence Advisory Committee will be considered by Councillors at the Future Melbourne Committee meeting on Tuesday 6 July.
Deputy Lord Mayor Nicholas Reece said the changes would ensure Council works in partnership with industry to deliver good quality urban design and architecture, heritage conservation and adaptation, improved sustainability and greening outcomes.
"We want to support designers and developers to do what they do well. That means working in partnership to improve design quality so private developments add to our city's character and liveability," the Deputy Lord Mayor said.
The Deputy Lord Mayor said good design will be critical to maintain Melbourne's reputation as a highly attractive and liveable city as we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Melbourne has produced some brilliant home-grown local architects and has a distinctive design culture, without the reliance on global "starchitects" we've seen in some other cities," the Deputy Lord Mayor said.
"Eureka Tower, the Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre, Federation Square and the new Parliament House Annexe are all examples of local designers creating amazing buildings that we should celebrate.
"But the painful truth is that Melbourne has suffered from far too many poor developments. Featureless glass boxes that could be in any city in the world. Tall towers that set out to be seen from afar, but offer nothing to the pedestrians walking the streets of the city.
"Too many new towers are nothing more than spreadsheets in the sky, leaving the city poorer because of bad design and low-quality materials, particularly at street level. If we do not take a stand and lift standards then our world famous liveability and appeal are at risk.
"This is about setting in place expectations and processes to shape Melbourne's streets, buildings and skyline for decades to come."
If endorsed, the City of Melbourne will launch a new Design Excellence Advisory Committee and an expert Design Review Panel to elevate design quality in the built environment.
The City of Melbourne's planning team reviewed more than 1100 planning applications in the last financial year.
A new body to be set up is the Design Excellence Advisory Committee (DEAC). The design excellence advisory committee will provide a platform for industry, academia, and community to engage in a range of topics relating to urban planning and design, policy development, and design challenges and opportunities facing Melbourne.
Examples of topics to be investigated include: What strategies and projects does Council need to prioritise to support the Design Excellence Program? What city design changes are needed in response to COVID-19 induced changes to work and mobility patterns? Identification of sites and projects in Melbourne that should be subject of design competitions?
DEAC will also advise Council on the development and implementation of the Design Excellence Program, and explore opportunities to strengthen collaboration across award programs, design events and initiatives.
A second new body, the Melbourne Design Review Panel (MDRP) will be made up of the best and brightest of the architecture and design community. These independent experts will provide independent, multidisciplinary design advice on specific City of Melbourne projects and Development Planning applications.
These MDRP reports will be publicly available and will be part of the materials considered by Councillors when the Council decides whether to support or oppose a development application. The panel would initially commence as 12 month pilot program.
If the recommendation is endorsed by Council, applications will be sought for up to four Community members for the Advisory Committee, and up to eight core architecture, urban design and landscape architecture experts, alongside additional content specialist roles for the Melbourne Design Review Panel.
