Anne

DISPLAYING POSTS BY: Anne (13)

Anne is the Project Manager for World Heritage, World Futures.

 

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

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

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

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

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

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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.

24 January 2011: Time-lapse

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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.

22 December: Time-lapse footage

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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.

10 December: Time-lapse footage

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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.

19 November: Time-lapse footage

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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.

5 November: 3D animation

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Reconstructing the German Kiosk Footings

15 November, 2010 10:54 by Anne

The footings of the "mysterious German Kiosk" were uncovered during phase 1 of this project - archaeological excavation - October / November 2009. In this section of time-lapse photography you can see the kiosk footings being reconstructed from evidence uncovered through archaeology. You will also see other services being installed before work commences on the circular roadway.

1 November: Time-lapse footage

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Time-lapse footage: connecting stormwater to the tank

27 October, 2010 10:27 by Anne

With the tank fully covered and the ground compacted, it's time to connect the stormwater from the roof of the Royal Exhibition Building and Southern Drive to the south side of the tank; and the stormwater from the blades at the front of Melbourne Museum and the groundwater run-off from the Plaza which comes into the tank from the north.  There are also other trenches for water and electricity that zig zag across the site to enable connections for irrigation and lighting for the new garden.

25 October: Time-lapse

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Constructing the tank

24 August, 2010 14:57 by Anne

Over the past few weeks the concrete water tank has been constructed. 

It is 23m x 23m in width and 2.6 meters high. 

The tank will soon be backfilled from the mounds of soil on site and works will commence to reconstruct the garden and circular drive. 

The following is a series of images showing the base of the tank, forming the walls, spraying the shotcrete onto the walls, forming the roof, and finally, pouring concrete onto the roof to form the lid of the tank. 90 tonnes of steel reinforcement have been used in construction of this tank. 

The tank floor has 250 cubic meters of concrete in its base
Image: Anne Diplock
Source: Museum Victoria

Forming the tank walls
Image: Anne Diplock
Source: Museum Victoria

 Spraying the tank walls with shotcrete
Image: Anne Diplock
Source: Museum Victoria

Work commences on forming the roof
Image: Anne Diplock
Source: Museum Victoria
 

 The beams that hold up the roof are 1 meter deep and 750cm wide. There are 4 beams in total, then bondex roofing secured with hardset reinforcement ties.
Image: Anne Diplock
Source: Museum Victoria

Concrete is poured onto the tank roof to form the lid.
Image: Anne Diplock
Source: Museum Victoria
 

The concrete tank is now formed and awaits 2000 cubic meters of fill to cover it over to form the base for the new garden.
Image: Anne Diplock
Source: Museum Victoria

 

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The base of the tank is poured!

16 July, 2010 16:33 by Anne

Today over 35 concrete trucks came on site, one after another, to provide a continuous pour for the base of our water tank.

Pouring Concrete for the Water Tank
Image: Anne Diplock
Source: Museum Victoria

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Digging Continues

30 June, 2010 12:48 by Anne

The hole is now 6 meters deep and work will soon be underway to pour the concrete for the 1.35 million litre water tank.

Water tank excavation
Image: Anne Diplock
Source: Museum Victoria

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Digging commences

11 June, 2010 13:20 by Anne

Digging a 6 metre deep hole for the water tank has commenced. Our contractor, 2Construct, got off to a great start before the rain came which brought a temporary halt to the digging. However, work continued on the relocation of a concrete ventilation shaft to make way for the 1880 circular driveway.

Digging for water tanks
Image: Anne Diplock
Source: Museum Victoria

 Rain halts the digging
Image: Anne Diplock
Source: Museum Victoria

 Moving the Vent for the 1880 driveway
Image: Anne Diplock
Source: Museum Victoria

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Phase 2 commences with some final archaeology

31 May, 2010 15:50 by Anne

Hi ... I'm Anne ... and I am the Project Manager for World Heritage, World Futures. Over the next six months I am going to contribute to this blog with news from behind the hoarding as Phases 2 and 3 unfold. Every week something amazing happens on site and I look forward to sharing this with you.

So … we have started Phase 2 (water harvesting and storage) and it’s great to have activity on site again for this project. 

Before excavation commences for the water tank, archaeologists have peeled back the remaining excavation area to ensure all features of the original 1880 garden are recorded.

Back in October/November 2009, GML/LaTrobe University uncovered two-thirds of the excavation area as Phase 1 of this project. Now that live services in the area have been removed, archaeologists have been able to scrape back the remaining area to finish this off.

The ground is so much softer than last October/November due to some welcome rain and work has been easier for the archaeologists on site. However, rain during a dig can be good and it can be bad ... too much and it all gets thick and sticky and impossible to work in ... too little and it’s dry and hard like rock.

Luckily the remainder of last week was just right and it’s been a great start to Phase 2.

Final archaeology before tank excavation commences
Image: Anne Diplock
Source: Museum Victoria

Night soil in radial lines from the central kiosk area (dark patches cut into yellow clay)
Image: Anne Diplock
Source: Museum Victoria

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About this blog

Between October 2009 and February 2011 the World Heritage, World Futures project will transform the western forecourt of the Royal Exhibition Building from an asphalt car park to a beautiful garden. Keep up to date with the latest news, videos, photographs and stories as the project progresses.  

Blog authors

Charlotte is the Senior Curator, Public Life and Institutions at Museum Victoria. She is the lead curator on this project.

Megan is the Assistant Curator, Western Forecourt Redevelopment Project.

Anne is the Project Manager for World Heritage, World Futures.