VicRoads Deer Park Bypass
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client Vic Roads
status Complete 2009
location Western Highway, Caroline Springs to Sunshine West, Victoria
traditional land owners Wurundjeri People
photography John Gollings
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The 9.3km Deer Park Bypass is a four lane freeway which connects the Western Highway at Caroline Springs to the Western Ring Road at Sunshine West. The Bypass, now known as the M8 Western Freeway is located on the sparse flat volcanic plains of western Melbourne. This is a rapidly changing landscape of new residential and industrial estates which is transforming the ever expanding fringe of Melbourne. A fundamental aim of the design has been to create a distinct visual identity for the Bypass that integrates freeway architecture into the local landscape – a marking of the land. Noise walls have been designed as sculptural elements of ambiguous scale embedded into the landform. The walls have strong shadowed reptilian forms which stretch along road edge. Concrete retaining walls and bridge abutments have been designed as vertical folded planes of strong colour to mark the manmade landscape. The effect is striking as flashes of orange colour highlight the various bridge and wall locations as part of the unfolding road journey.
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2010 Australian Steel Institute
Steel Clad Structures Building Design Award
Creative Innovations Steel Design Award
2010 Australian Institute of Architects
Urban Design Award
Colorbond Award for Steel Architecture