Royal Exhibition Building & Carlton Gardens

“An old building provides a connection to the past in a way textbooks can’t.” – unknown

Hansen’s team of experts in Strategic Planning and Urban Design, in collaboration with HLCD, undertook a detailed review of the Royal Exhibition Building and Carlton Gardens World Heritage Environs Area Strategy (2009 Strategy Plan).

On behalf of Heritage Victoria and DELWP (now DTP), we were tasked with reviewing the 2009 Strategy Plan, leading to a series of ‘fine tuning’ recommendations within the updated 2022 Draft Strategy Plan and the associated planning scheme controls. The review undertook specialised built form visual analysis, which identified a series of gaps and issues within existing planning policies and controls. This function to strategically inform and underpin recommendations for updates to the built-form controls and planning policy framework.

The proposed recommendations seek to protect the World Heritage values of the Royal Exhibition Building and Carlton Gardens, through updates to planning controls within the surrounding World Heritage Environs Area, spanning both Melbourne and Yarra municipalities.

Our strategic approach relies on a solid evidence to support these changes and we’re grateful to play a part in preserving Melbourne’s heritage. The recommended updates to the built-form controls and planning policy framework are currently under assessment by State Government.