GRESSWELL FOREST ADVENTURE HABITAT
Traditional Owners and Ongoing Custodians - Wurundjeri Country
Location – Gresswell Forest, Bundoora, Victoria
Client – Parks Victoria
The Gresswell Forest Wildlife Reserve is part of the 70 hectare Gresswell Nature Conservation Reserve in Bundoora and is one of the most intact examples of remnant Grassy Woodlands in urban Melbourne.
Remnant and restored landscapes such as these present challenges in management within an urban setting, in particular balancing human engagement, participation and experience with the ongoing, potentially negative impacts of human disturbance upon the vegetation, habitat and ecosystems. The design brief from Parks Victoria sought to create a designated yet integrated adventure habitat zone that would provide an allocated space for exploration and play, including community group programs such as Bush Kinder.
The nominated site was located at the periphery of the forest in an area of lower ecological significance, selected in a gesture of care for the broader site through concentrating the more rigorous use here to enable other parts of the forest to regenerate.
The Adventure Habitat was devised as a series of interconnected interventions within the parklands, featuring no formal boundary and retaining the bush forest floor as an authentic connection to the wider precinct. An existing stick cubby created by visiting children and left in the landscape, set the tone and highly interactive intention of play for the zone. Interactive elements, designed and fabricated by design lead Steph Kerr were constructed from steel, including entry gates, a large steel nest structure and a cubby structure for active play, integrated with natural felled timber and local stone, forming steppers for balancing and climbing, stone work benches with basins for potion making and bush kitchen play and a talking circle for more social gathering and outdoor learning.
The Gresswell Forest Adventure Habitat design is part of the natural landscape, sensitively situated within the landscape and celebrating the unique habitat of this special place. It provides a strange presence that intrigues, invites and inspires nature play while at the same time allowing the other (non-human) inhabitants of the wider reserve to flourish.