Riverlee wants to leave a legacy of challenging and interesting projects. One is a redevelopment of a quarry, and another is a precinct in Hobart in collaboration with David Walsh’s MONA.
Of all the tough sells in the world of property development, marketing a precinct built atop a disused landfill and quarry must be up there near the toughest challenges.
But a landfill wasn’t what the Malaysian-Australian Lee family saw when it first discovered the 51-hectare industrial site on Melbourne’s northern fringes. The family saw potential for an integrated mixed-use precinct, featuring a new private hospital, retail and commercial facilities and 2000 new homes.
Development director David Lee told The Fifth Estate in an interview that the renewal of the New Epping site, although challenging from an engineering perspective, spoke to the company’s strength and passion.
“We prefer projects that involve the adaptive reuse of existing buildings. We like to bring a piece of history from the old site into our new developments.
“The best buildings are the ones that have already been built.” And in some ways at Epping, the company is applying the same principle of rehabilitating land in this case.
Riverlee, which began in 1993 after David’s father Clement emigrated from Malaysia to Melbourne, has earned its stripes on adaptive reuse with Belrose North, an architectural restoration of a 1950s red brick factory into office warehouses and hi-tech workspaces near Cheltenham in Melbourne south east.
The developer is now also working on The Hanging Garden, which was originally a temporary cultural activation in partnership with MONA subsidiary Dark Mofo in 2019. The site became a temporary food market for locals during the pandemic, and since 2021 moves have been afoot to make it a permanent hospitality and live music venue. Riverlee is coming to the party with plans for a hotel, commercial, residential and retail properties. When completed, The Hanging Gardens will be an integrated mixed-used precinct in an area spanning almost an entire city block.
Another adaptive reuse project in the Melbourne-based developer’s pipeline is Seafarers, a conversion of the final piece of the city’s original waterfront on the banks of the Yarra. Together with architects Fender Katsalidis, Riverlee is converting the heritage-listed Goods Shed 5 to a hotel and residences property which will be occupied by 1 Hotel &. Homes, which will also service the luxury residences.
New Epping is the largest by footprint and most ambitious from a design and engineering perspective of the company’s projects to date.
Stage 1 of the development includes the 127-bed Northern Private Hospital, which reached structural completion in March and will be operated by Ramsay Healthcare. Adjacent to the hospital will be seven-hectare health, wellness and knowledge precinct.
The precinct already features 151 completed affordable homes and when finished will also include 250 retirement living units, 250 aged care beds, and retail properties as part of a 2000 townhouse and apartment development set amongst 11 hectares of green space, parks, waterways and protected habitat.
Re-engineering nature
Re-purposing landfill sites are commonplace, but they are mostly turned into sporting fields or into other open space type uses, Lee said. Extensive environmental testing and rehabilitation had to be undertaken before the site was deemed usable.
Once landfills are closed the Environment Protection Agency monitors them and sets requirements for leachate and gas emissions from the site as well as water quality. There are separate EPA requirements for building on the landsite.
Environmental consultants Helia EHS general manager Jeremy Newstead said testing of the soil, water in the creek and groundwater took around five years. The waste buried in the ground is capped by a two metre layer of clay soil. Because the landfill site is relatively old, methane gas emissions are at low concentrations and “on the tail end of the gas generation cycle so it is not producing as much as it used to,” Newstead said.
Part of the development involved building boundary gas interception systems, which are vented walls. The gas builds up under the clay soil cap and is vented out via the walls which captures any gas entering the void and aerates it out.
Filtration media is built into the walls and the venting process occurs atop buildings to prevent any odours escaping.
The EPA tests showed no contamination of surface water, and groundwater contamination was a “relatively low level” for a landfill site, Newstead said.
Riverlee has installed a groundwater mechanism with a pumping system which Newstead said is “more of a conservative preventative measure not a remediative measure”.
Prior to being used as a landfill site, New Epping was originally a basalt quarry with a depth of 18 metres. The buildings are constructed on a platform which is supported by piles that stretch down into the basalt, which Lee describes as “thick, solid rock.” The heaviest of the construction is supported by basalt, rather than by the relatively less supportive landfill ground.
“The majority of the site was unaffected, it’s really just the old quarry hole that was affected,” he explained.
Other sustainability features
Later stages of the project will include the remainder of the residential, community amenities including cafes, shops and restaurants, and parklands. Riverlee will regenerate a stretch of Edgar’s Creek and a natural lake and will construct a 3.2 kilometre walking and running loop and nature play areas.
Lee said the builders will aim to protect the area’s wildlife and ecosystems, with a fully functioning wetland in the lake and 200,000 new plants.
Riverlee obtained funding from the Victorian Social Housing Fund for the affordable portion of the site’s residential community and is investing $1.2 billion of its own capital. The affordable housing for essential workers was designed in conjunction with homelessness services provider Haven; Home, Safe to ensure they reflect residents’ needs with low maintenance and low energy usage features.
Architects employed on the project include MGS, Tract, NH Architect and Billard Leece, which specialises in designing for mental health. Other partners include urban planners Roberts Day, City of Whittlesea and Ramsay Health Care.