In 1945, the Spooner family acquired around 300 acres of land in Scoresby, now home to Caribbean Park.
In the 1950s, the family established the Caribbean Boat Factory – a successful business to this day – and built Lake Caribbean to test new boats.
The much loved Caribbean Gardens and Market opened in 1976.
The site is one of the largest land holdngs in Melbourne and is a 20 minute drive from the CBD via Eastlink.
In the 1980s, the next generation of the Spooner family began developing a technology and office park that blended into the surrounding environment.
Today, Caribbean Park is recognised as a premium logistics park that has a new benchmark in the industry accommodating many blue chip companies such as Wesfarmers, Target, AGFA, Hallmark, Russell Athletic, Random House, and Thermo Fisher.
Stage 2 of Caribbean Business Park is located within the recently established commercial office precinct at Caribbean Gardens.
Designed and documented by Peter Ryan Architects in collaboration with OCULUS Landscape Architecture and Urban Design, the public realm works link a series of four-storey office buildings, a café, plaza landscaping, and outdoors meeting places into a new commercial office precinct.
Landscaping works also incorporate external spaces associated with the recent additions to the development include a standalone building offering childcare facilities and the provision of gym facilities accessible to both the office tenants and the public.
Buildings and landscaping are located above basement car parking allowing the development to emphasise pedestrian engagement and professional well-being.
As Caribbean Park own, build, and operate the precinct, there is a distinct interest in maintaining the quality of life and environs of the project and surroundings with environmentally sustainable design.
Sustainable design is important to the Spooner family.
That’s why, among other things, there is provision for efficient appliances and lighting and the use of renewable energy sources through solar panels.
And the landscaping design is water-sensitive, minimizing the use of hard surfaces and the collection of rainwater for use in the gardens and overall maintenance. The landscaping also features drought tolerant native species.
To achieve the client’s drive to balance productivity with health and mental well-being, Peter Ryan Architects and Oculus conceived the public realm as a series of interlocking outdoor spaces that offer tenants a variety of environments to suit their mood.
These spaces also provide links between the various street frontages, building entries, and passive and active landscape features.
Each space was assigned a distinct character based on its location within the plaza and the proposed use of the space.
Hard and soft landscaping was then incorporated to differentiate between informal seating areas, formal boulevards, areas for vigorous activity, and spaces for contemplation.
Within the outdoor spaces a network of structures has been deployed to form points of attraction and encourage pedestrian movement across the site.
The centrally located café links two of the main pedestrian axes on the site and forms a hub from which other structures can be accessed.
Larger pavilions are used to attract people to the perimeter of the development by offering outdoor cooking facilities and sheltered space suitable for large meetings or outdoor corporate functions.
Smaller pavilions are located along the edges of reflecting pools to provide a more intimate option for smaller meetings.
Project Details
Project size – 16,500 m2
Site size – 40,000 m2
Completion date – 2017
Building levels – 4
Project Team
Architecture
Peter Ryan Architects
Peter Ryan Architects (PRA) is a Melbourne based practice that specialises in Commercial, Industrial, Education, and Childcare Facilities.
Their work is varied and ranges in scale and program from master-planning and designing entire commercial business precincts to residential built forms and refurbishments.
They integrate architecture, urban design, and interior disciplines and provide master-planning, feasibility, spatial planning, design, documentation and delivery services for our clients.
Landscape Architecture
Oculus Landscape Architecture
OCULUS is a cross disciplinary design studio committed to connecting people with their environment and each other. Their projects contribute to the public life of cities and towns, combining high levels of amenity with ecological sustainability. OCULUS works across all scales, from the design of parks, gardens, streets, mixed-use precincts, and infrastructural landscapes, through to architectural structures and furniture.
Photography
Alex Reinders
Alex Reinders is an editorial and commercial photographer specialising in interiors, architecture, food and portraits. Based in Melbourne, Alex works both in studio and on location. With an aesthetic described as clean, lush and timeless, Alex has shot spaces and people across a diverse range of industries and practices.
Photo Gallery
Click on a thumbnail image to enlarge.
Design © 2020 Peter Ryan Architects. All Rights Reserved. | Images © 2020 Alex Reinders. All Rights Reserved.
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