Brook Lane have a Human-Scaled Approach and are Designed with Local Materials
The new shopping centre sits within the original 1994 Ellenbrook masterplan. The now established ‘Village’ centre serves the growing Ellenbrook community, with the new building complex providing an attractive amenity for the town centre and its northern villages.
The urban integration within this context has been achieved by linking the internal and external areas to the site. This design response is evident in both connectivity and scale using the site level differences to express the landscape and leveraging the orientation of the buildings. The terraced piazza with the forecourt integrates well with the place and allows visitors to intuitively navigate through the site. The Brook Lane project conceptually responds to the Swan Valley with its Swan Estuary waterways. The space encourages visitors’ activities and interaction along the north–south axis, referencing the nearby Swan Valley vineyards, offering coverage to visitors moving between the shops, courtyard and carparks.
The buildings have a human-scaled approach and are designed with local materials. The building adjoining the forecourt features raw concrete arches reminiscent of the Swan Valley’s historical market gardens. Reclaimed bricks, concrete basins and a restrained palette in the ablution facilities are an ambient addition to a centre marked by a modern aesthetic.
The public art component lends a distinctive style at Brook Lane’s northern entrance, with both mural and sculptures by local artists.
Brook Lane is a notable achievement as it has successfully explored an alternative approach to established shopping centre typologies, which often result in an impoverished external urban outcome. Taking local cultural and character cues from the nearby Swan Valley, TRCB have crafted a cohesive and engaging development, which has sought to respond to external interfaces through attractive, activated facades and high-quality landscaping. The open-air mall design recalls an inner-city laneway and provides an improved environment encouraging shoppers to linger, socialise and extend their stay.
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