ST.

KILDA TRIANGLE
project appraisal evaluation
 1
A GENERAL OVERVIEW
 HISTORY
The St Kilda Triangle site is located on what was once swampland. It was known as Euroe Yroke to the Yalukit, Kulin and Boonwurrung
people, its traditional owners.

The 1800s saw St Kilda transform into a bustling seaside settlement. The swamps were gradually reclaimed, and the foreshore was drained
to become a recreational space. In 1906 the St Kilda Council established the Foreshore Trust, and the area was ‘beautified’, with Carlo Catani
re-inventing the area as a Mediterranean-style resort with amusement and entertainment parks, tearooms, a kiosk and Luna Park.

The St Kilda Triangle refers to the triangle shaped parcel of land that sits between the Esplanade and the foreshore. It is bordered byJacka
Boulevard, the Lower Esplanade and the much loved heritage listed Palais Theatre that was built in the 1920s by architect Henry E. White.

Other features include the iconic palm trees along the Esplanade, the grassy slopes between the Upper and Lower esplanades, and the public
toilets to the west of the site. The Triangle site also once included the Palais de Danse which was destroyed by fire in 1968. The Palace
Nightclub was built in its place in 1971; however, it too was destroyed by fire in 2007.
In 2001 the process to develop a St Kilda Foreshore Urban Design Framework (UDF) began. The UDF provided a guide for the development of
the St Kilda foreshore, including the St Kilda Triangle site. The Council adopted the UDF in 2004.

The UDF identified several principles for the future of the Triangle site including increasing public space, ensuring low rise development,
protecting local culture, and ensuring future uses remained consistent with the site’s entertainment history.

Following an Expression of Interest process, Council awarded a tender to the Citta Property Group in 2007, with Babcock & Brown as the
preferred developer. By mid 2007 community opposition to the planned development was mounting. The community felt it was not heard

during the planning process, and differences emerged over the interpretation of the UDF.
city proportions

how big?
how valuable?
how lived?
how unique?
 City of Melbourne
City of Port Phillip
City of Yarra
 City of Port Phillip

Albert Park 3206

Balaclava 3183
Elwood 3184
Brighton Road
Melbourne 3004 (St Kilda Road area, shared with City of Melbourne)
Albert Park Barracks
Middle Park 3206
Port Melbourne 3207 (Shared with City of Melbourne)
Beacon Cove
Fishermans Bend
Garden City
Graham (the name of the closed railway station)
Sandridge, an earlier name for Port Melbourne
Ripponlea 3185
St Kilda 3182
St Kilda South
St Kilda East 3183 (Shared with City of Glen Eira)
St Kilda West 3182
St Kilda Junction
Southbank 3006 (Shared with City of Melbourne)
South Melbourne 3205
City Road
Emerald Hill
Montague (the name of the closed railway station)
South Wharf 3006 (Shared with City of Melbourne)
 AC1
altar as a missing focal point
 THE DEMOGRAPHIC
Out of the city of Melbourne
Population :93,625 (2011 census)
Density 2,586/km2 (6,699/sq mi)
Established: 1842
Area: 36.2 km2 (14.0 sq mi)

St Kilda is one of the most densely settled urban areas in Australia and a
successful model for apartment living. Recent interest in medium-density
development in the area continues to reinforce this role and has brought in yet
more residents keen to combine the benefits of urban life and a seaside ambience.
Some 10,000 people now live within ten minutes’ walking distance of the St Kilda
Foreshore
 According to the 1996 census, three quarters of the households comprised a single
person or a couple. Only ten percent were households with children—children ac-
count for only seven per cent of the St Kilda population, which is substantially less
than in other Melbourne suburbs.
Over half of the population is aged between 25 and 50 years—this reflects the
rise in upmarket accommodation in St Kilda, which is attractive and attainable to
reasonably affluent, professional, working people.
While the percentage of lower income households is declining, the absolute number
of this demographic has remained fairly stable and still makes up one third of the
households. Three quarters of the dwellings in St Kilda are apartments and over 50
per cent of the total of the dwellings are rented out.
In 1996, 68 per cent of St Kilda residents over 15 years of age belonged to the la-
bour force. 14 per cent were then unemployed, compared to over 18 per cent in 1991.
The proportion of migrants in the St Kilda area is still notable—in 1996, over a
quarter of its population was born overseas and one seventh speaks a language
other than English at home
 2
UNDERSTANDING VALUES
A first glance on the plus and minus of this area
 MIXED USE
+different functions at the borders provide different kind of users
 SURVIVING VOID
+ecological island
- not space for aggressivew investments
 THE FORESHORE
-/+touristic appeal
-/+more economical values for future interventions
+views from/to
+sport appeal of the beach
 PALAIS THEATRE (the monument)
+Presence of intangible heritage
+High profile users
+Social meeting point (local and not)
+Aesthetic value
+Uniqueness of (older) architecture
PALAIS THATRE (the cultural activities)
 STRONG IDENTITY AND SENSE OF BELONGING
+care from the community (in a constructuve way, that means moving on but kee-
ping the identity of the place)
-municipal authorities delay their decisions because of the great partecipation and
influence of the community on the area
 THE CAFE’ CULTURE
+Due also to the immigrant populations influences, the transformation of the city
via its heritage coffee palaces, is a fact, in St. Kilda as well as in the rest of
Melbourne
THE LUNA PARK
 PROXIMITY TO INFRASTRUCTURES
-excluding the triangle from the sorrounding opportunities
+easy connections
 GENIUS LOCI
+visual identity. inspiration for creators/architects/helps sense of development.
The sense of place is really strong and often referred to as ‘St. Kildaness’.
GREEN SPACES AND NATURE
Stakeholder Analysis
In our anlysis, we went forward to understand better
the figure of the stakeholder, see their influence in the
project design, understand in whiche phase of the
programm they would appear or disappear and how
much value they would have.
Therefore, we are going to go through a series of
graphs and tabs that try to simplify and quantities
our hypothesis.
Stakeholder Analysis
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Stakeholder Analysis
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Stakeholder Analysis
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Stakeholder Analysis
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Stakeholder Analysis
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Stakeholder Analysis
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Stakeholder Analysis
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Stakeholder Analysis
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Stakeholder Analysis
9 2 FUNDAMENTALS:

CHOICE OF CLIENT

OBJECTIVES IN FUNCTION OF THE CLIENT

(our chosen client is the community of St. Kilda)
Stakeholder Analysis
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Stakeholder Analysis
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Stakeholder Analysis
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Stakeholder Analysis
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Stakeholder Analysis
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Stakeholder Analysis
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Stakeholder Analysis
16 DAILY SCHEDULE OF ACTIVITIES IN THE ST. KILDA TRIANGLE
Stakeholder Analysis
17
Activity Based Programm
After choosing the St Kilda Community as our client,
we then developed a series of activity taylor made
on the need of the area.
It is clear that the need for a open-air public systems
prevails on every other request: that is translatesd
in our project which becomes a great public square
with a main function:
hosting the weekly market.
Not only, the future configuration of the spaces,
allows a monthly market, as well as other festivals and
cultrural activities.

This is accompanied by a revitalization of the theatre

architecture and its life.

Finally some services especially neede for the com-

munity (a nursery , a cafè, a restoration point , take
place along the area
 exhibitions
OPEN AIR EXHIBITIONS
-Environmental friendly
-fixed (not movable)
-no risk of damage by people or weather
in harmony with the rest of urban general design
-safe (for children, elderly people, disabled people)
-resisting materials, that can stand dirt-
-low budget maintenance
-well balanced with green system
-24/7 usable
INDOOR EXHIBITIONS
Since it is important to stress the role of the Palais
Theatre, and at the same time to not lose the focus on
the public open air life, we decided that if an exhibi-
tion presents items that cannot be put outdoor, the
space set for them will be the foyer of theatre.
market St. Kilda services to the communtiy
WEEKLY MARKET NURSERY
-it can keep the Sunday morning time slot needs to stay away from the streets,the traffic, and the
-market stalls need to be low impact, environmental most crowded parts,possibly close to the beach and it
friendly, and architectural quality can be the right place for children of the community
-the stalls are fixed andneed to provide basic installa- or of the market workers
tion (running water, electricity, heating) -it needs to be perfectly accessible for children, di-
-once every 10 there would be a 4.5 square meter sabled, elderly people
public toilet -it needs to be protected from pollution and from
-the waste collection would be held every sunday at noise
the end of the market
-1/4 of the market ‘s stalls are destined to the locals CAFÈS
market , that usually supply to -a certain number of cafès have to stay open in the
first need of the market area, to give a place of rest during the market
population (food, clothing etc); days and to keep it lively during non-market days
they can open also another day of the week,
wednesday morning:
they will need room for storage as well as the selling
area, that is left them for a number of years
-another part (2/4) is to be rented by other sellers
from different parts of the city coming on purpose
for the weekly market
-a small percentage will be given to international
sellers that are occasionaly in town; they won’t have
any storage place, just selling area
+proper urban furniture (
MONTHLY MARKET
-once a month there will be a larger market, where
other sellers can occupy the destined open spaces
with their free-standing market stalls ;usual activi-
ties can decide if to close or stay open;these monthly
market can include also non regular seeling activities,
(presentation of activities and products, jewelery
small craftman works, vintage items)
-street food
 Open air public spaces Festivals | other cultural act.
The open air system, is the most significant of the
Area, and it collects (and connects) the different ele-
ments of the project. The walking paths and
bycicle paths are crucial in the design;they also don’t
work as separated entities but try to seam to sew
together the space
ART INSTALLATIONS
as stated before, art installations are going to be a
main feature of public spaces, bu they would rather
define it through an intelligent disposal, rather tha n
totally occupying it all
GREEN AREAS
the green areas along the public system, must be
easy to keep and not invasive. Grassed areas need
to be walkable ; the vegetation will be from the low
maintenance species and only if belonging to the St.
Kilda territory.
SMALL SPORT FIELDS
When not occupied by the market and some of the
green areas can be ocuupied by open air sport activi-
ties. the dimension must not be invasive, so the choi-
ces will be between tennis courts, basketball courts,
volleyball courts; it also will be needed a skteboard
park.
The fields have to provide the minimum services:
as well as minimum problems: that means that they
should work with nearly zero maintenance, and that is
up to the population to keep them in a good status.
The paving will also be weather resistant, ans appro-
priate to host different activities (in case there will
be occasionaly need of extra empty areas for special
events)
FESTIVALS
Heritage Protection
PRESERVATION WORKS ON THE PALAIS THEATRE
The Festival are part of the night life; whilst markets Emproving the view of the theatre on every side of
are destined to the morning-early afternoon of St the square, especially hiding the installations now
Kilda’s life showing on the facade. Prepare the Palais spaces ,
Festivals are if possibly linked to the Palais Theatre furniture, accesses to a possible more heavy use by
and St Kilda activitiesactivities: that means that the the population.
themes can go from music to literature, art, comics,
theatre, street art, performance art, food It is important to offer a parking system for the
Theatre users.
They are going to occupy the area when the weekly
or monthly market are not being held, that means
occupy the open air spaces destined to the usual
market.
Of course, the regular market stalls, can open during
the festival time, if their activity helps the functioning
of the festival life (for example street food stalls).
The activities who can stay open have to be listed .
The same market programm for maintenance and
cleaning is applied
OPEN AIR CINEMA
An area of the Triangle square will be destined to an
open air cinema, during the good season.
The area will be close to the Palais, because it is a
projection of their activity.
The setting has to be very informal, and people must
feel free to come and go as they like.
Project Design:
1the Vision
From our objectives’ suggestions and the considera-
tions done next, we developed a visual solution that
can immediately relate to some of the problem in the
St. Kilda triangle.
This vision, takes the shape of a triangle: this choice
might seem a little too an immediate solution, but
actually, is the most simple and clear relationship in
the space one can find.
Project Design:
the vision
Project Design:
the vision
Project Design:
2Surface Area Study
This step involves dimensioning all the solutions we
found appropriate in the analysis phase (that so far
have only remained objectives).
Since our solution is mainly open spaces we preferred
using this dimensioning system rather than a volume-
tric analysis.
We also needed a very generic concept sketch, to have
a very rough idea of how these surfaces will translate
into space
Project Design:
Basic concept
 Surface Area Study
(market day configuration;
festival configuration)
LEGEND:
covered area market stalls:
total area=1858 sqm, of which

closed stalls =432 sqm

free covered public area=1426 sqm
closed stalls volume=1728 cbm

open area destined to free standing market stalls

total area=1553, of which

free standing stalls=356 sqm

free open air public area=1197

nursery=406 sqm

terraced area=3643

overall area
 Surface Area Study
(non-market day configuration)
LEGEND:
covered area market stalls:
total area=1858 sqm,of which

closed stalls =432 sqm

free covered public area=1426 sqm

open area destined to free standing market stalls

(AVAILABLE FOR OTHER ACTIVITIES)
total area=1553
 Surface Area Study
(elevated public space)
LEGEND:
total open air public space = 3643 sqm, of which

open air cinema=417 sqm

 The Masterplan:
built and semi-built void

Nursery
Cafè
Restoration

Nursery
Cafè
 The Masterplan:
open air spaces
Paved Areas

Trees and Green System

Walkable Green System

Art Installation
 The Masterplan:
the terrace

Terrace

Trees and Green System

Walkable Green System

Art Installation
 The Masterplan:
the terrace

Terrace

Trees and Green System

Walkable Green System

Art Installation
The Masterplan:
section
 The Masterplan:
final configuration
 The Masterplan:
updating the data

Comparison on if and how

the surfaces of the state of fact (A)
changed from the program (B)
 The Masterplan:
axonometric view
 The Masterplan:
view of the terrace