Tribeca greening

Tribeca accommodates a retail precinct, offices and a small supermarket, and therefore attracts many users. The population growth of Melbourne’s CBD has placed pressure on public usage of the common property plaza, with large volumes of pedestrians using the connecting hot concrete alleyway between Albert Street and Victoria Street as a thoroughfare. The set of buildings incorporates significant public and private paved space which originally had little greening.

As part of this greening project, lush mature trees now line a narrow paved laneway, and a plaza area is adorned with curving garden beds planted with a range of Australian native subtropical plants.

The innovative landscape design of this greening project would provide significant environmental and community benefits.

Environmental 

• Integration of Australian native sub-tropical plants were chosen because they will thrive with a warming climate and provide cooling benefits through evapotranspiration, and the broad-leaved plants will help to clean the air more efficiently. 
• Indigenous wildflower species were planted into the base of planter boxes and garden beds to support local biodiversity. 
• A total of 25 new trees (Tristaniopsis laurina ‘Luscious’ and Brachychiton populneus x acerifolius 'Jerilderie red') have been planted which will have a significant contribution to increasing canopy cover and providing cooling in the plaza and laneway. Custom new lightweight concrete planter boxes with increased soil volume capacity (compared to original planter boxes) have been created and installed for new tree plantings to maximise tree canopy and growth.
• A new water-efficient irrigation system has been installed with automatic irrigation controls in place. 

Community 

• The multi-functional greened spaces provide social benefits, amenity, access and enjoyment for many people including residents, workers, visitors and tourists. 
• Enhanced greening along the public walkway that connects Albert Street and Victoria Street will provide amenity for large volumes of public pedestrian traffic. 
• Social life is encouraged by the garden beds nestling next to the dining areas.