World Heritage, World Futures blog

Reconstructing the 1880 garden

22 February, 2011 12:29 by Anne

Over the past 4 weeks the reconstructed 1880 garden has been revealing itself day by day. 

Irrigation, plants, turf, plinths, urns, cast iron gate posts and lamps, have appeared while final wiring and plumbing takes place to get the underground water tank into operation.  Soon historic fountains will be filled and operational, and the newly planted gardens, irrigated from tank water.  The 1,350,000 litre water tank is currently full and overflowing from the higher than average January rainfall.

Western Forecourt Garden from South West corner
Image: Anne Diplock
Source: Museum Victoria

Detail of North garden bed looking towards Rathdowne Street
Image: Anne Diplock
Source: Museum Victoria

Heritage items: cast iron lamps, ceramic urns
Image: Anne Diplock
Source: Museum Victoria

Historic Cast Iron Gate Posts
Image: Anne Diplock
Source: Museum Victoria

Historic lamps begin to be installed - keep your eyes out for decorative detail to come
Image: Anne Diplock
Source: Museum Victoria

Reconstruction of the 19th Century Garden

24 January, 2011 14:23 by Anne

Work progresses on the formation of the garden beds and planting will soon commence. You can see in this time-lapse photography, a central platform in the inner circle garden bed. This is the reconstructed footings of the mysterious German Kiosk that was discovered during the archaeological dig in October/November 2009. To date no evidence beyond the footings has been found to inform the reconstruction the German Kiosk. The central element of this formal garden remains the unfinished story still to be told.

Progress despite the weather

30 December, 2010 11:50 by Anne

In this Time-lapse footage you can see the final preparation of the road base, the course level of asphalt being laid, and formation of the inner and outer circle gutters. With the gutters installed work commences on the inner circle garden beds which have formed steel edging.  Follow this link to the 3D visualisations of the garden design.

Due to double the average rainfall in October and November, works on site have been delayed so planting has been put back to late January.  The construction company 2Construct are taking a well earned break over Christmas & New Year and will be back on site in mid January to finish the landscaping and install the decorative heritage lamps.

Reconstruction of the 1880 circular drive

10 December, 2010 16:24 by Anne

In-between days and days of rain, work continues to reconstruct the 1880 circular drive.  Final services are installed underground on the north side of the site while work to prepare the road base commences on the south side.  Preparation of the road base is slow going with all this rain.

The circular roadway works commence

19 November, 2010 17:05 by Anne

This week, the time-lapse footage shows preparation for reconstructing the 1880 circular driveway, uncovered during the archaeological excavation in October / November 2009. Remnants of the original roadway were uncovered under many layers of asphalt dating from 1880 to 1980, providing accurate positioning for reconstruction and details for gutter formation.  Over the next few weeks garden formation will become clear.

View Water Harvesting at the REB in 3D

15 November, 2010 10:55 by Anne

This animation in 3D shows the water harvesting process at the Royal Exhibition Building. The animation commences with a rainy day and shows the path of the rain drops from the roof of the building to the drain pipes. The drops of rain are followed along the stormwater pipes, through the gross pollutant trap to the 1,350,000 litre underground water tank. Follow the journey of the rain and see what happens when the sun comes out.

Refer back to the blogs by Megan, 12 March (3D Visualisations) and 12 July (The water harvest process in 3D), and you can follow the connections of this 3D animation project by year 11 work experience students and Advanced 3D Modelling.