Victoria Square Pocket Parks
Victoria Square serves as a classic town square, supporting the local neighbourhood, Royal Perth Hospital, St Mary’s Cathedral at its heart and various local businesses.
Steeped in history and stunning heritage architecture, the square is bustling with locals, workers and visitors from all walks of life. Whilst the space featured a few patches of grass, the four corners of the square lacked quality green infrastructure and places to sit or rest. This space represented a gap in our open space network and an urban heat island hot spot.
The project’s design proposed four pocket parks in the corners of the square. All featuring new seating, planting and some pops of playful public art. This includes 32 new seats, 15 new trees, 970m2 of native planting plus habitat logs and insect hotels for boosting urban biodiversity.
For fun, the hospital entry features a sculptural arbour structure by ‘Urban Canopee’. And a pair of social bird cage swings near Mercedes college draw on the school’s rich heritage and the global ‘Make Space for Girls’ initiative to activate the edges with people and colour.
The design was developed in collaboration with Mercedes College and consultation with St Mary’s Cathedral and Royal Perth Hospital with particular focus on safety, health and ecology. This project was delivered alongside the Urban Forest Infill Program which together, planted and replaced a total of 42 trees in the square.
This project is now complete.
Artist impression of the Canopee Corner and Restorative Corner
Concept plan
Project outcomes
| Seating | Planting | Art and play |
|---|---|---|
| Seating32 new seating opportunities | Planting22 new trees | Art and playSocial swings |
| Seating9 different seating typologies | Planting25 new plant species | Art and playSculptural planter |
| Seating4 new seating areas | Planting970 sqm of new shrubs and ground covers | Art and playVinyl wrap to utilities box |
| Seating | PlantingHabitat logs and insect hotels | Art and play |
Completed project photos
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Area 1: Canopee Corner
WA first trial of the innovative and sculptural structure ’Urban Canopee’, providing seating, shade, biodiversity and beauty where a tree was not possible due to underground utilities. -
Area 2: Calm Corner
New seating and public artwork on the traffic box to create a gathering and healing space for visitors. -
Area 4: Restorative Quarter
New ’social swings’ and seating opportunities provide an inclusive public space for girls near Mercedes College nestled amongst new trees and native planting and wildflowers. -
New insect hotels, logs and boulders provide habitat for our smallest critters, improving urban biodiversity and providing a more natural traffic barrier. Western Australia is home to over 800 species of native bees, most of whom are stingless or non-aggressive and pollinate our wonderful wildflowers.