CREATING WALKABLE COMMUNITIES

FMG Engineering, throughout its 40 years in business, has undertaken a number of urban renewal projects – more specifically, consulting for medium to high density living, café culture walkable communities.

Walkable communities encompass a sustainable living area, close to amenities and services and is created around the idea of minimising traffic with nearby access to transport lines.  

FMG Engineering recently completed this style of project in Barkley Street, Footscray called ‘Banbury Village,’ where the team was engaged by Cedar Woods’ to provide engineering services including housing and civil infrastructure.  

The former Olympic Tyre Factory, previously owned by Sir Frank Beaurepaire (now a well-known and respected name across the tyring industry within Australia) saw the $200 million project commence in 2009, with stages continuing to be rolled out. The village is now home to a selection of houses, apartments and townhouses – meeting varying price points and styles. 

As the previous industrial site housed a number of heritage style buildings, in order to maintain the aesthetic a significant amount of building restoration was required during the lifespan of the project. Two of the sites most prominent art deco buildings were also preserved during the process to showcase the previous history of the site.
The project, due to its size, was broken up into 17 stages with expected completion by end of 2016. FMG Engineering has been involved with the project, being bought in to consult on all 17 stages to deliver solutions and advice on the structural design of Banbury Village. The firm was also on site to provide consultation for three of the stages on the civil side of the project.

When building restoration is undertaken, regardless of if it’s on a small or large scale, you are always bound to encounter a series of considerations that need to be taken into account.

Aside from maintaining certain structures and buildings within the village, FMG Engineering had some issues to resolve including dealing with materials found in the soils, harsh interfaces and the need to meet and uphold community needs and expectations.

FMG Engineering Urban Projects Manager, Angelo Demangos said, the project came with a few considerations that needed to be taken into account.

“Most of the work FMG Engineering undertook was fairly straight forward as it essentially was lightweight framed structures built on concrete footings.”

"The most challenging part was being able to design a footing system that was suitable for the highly sensitive site.”

“We used a software program, which was developed by FMG Engineering, called Code Orientated Raft Design (CORD), to design the footings so that they were able to withstand a large amount of movement. Once the footings were established to meet these requirements, it was all smooth sailing.”

With its close proximity to the new West Footscray rail station, Banbury Village has the ability to provide a local community feeling while maintaining easy accessibility with a short trip to the CBD.

The vibrant new development brings a range of amenities and services to the doorstep of new residents with cafes, restaurants, markets, parks and more.

Banbury Village with its design and façade integrates seamlessly with its surrounds and to deliver a variety of housing options to meet all market expectations.

Cedar Woods’ Banbury Village won the Best Medium Density Development and a Commendation for Urban Renewal at the UDIA Victorian Awards – with an increase in these medium to high density developments, FMG Engineering continues to remain at the forefront of this work.

The Banbury Village project comes after recent successes as FMG Engineering undertook stage 1 of Bowden Urban Village, an upcoming medium to high density development in Adelaide, South Australia, further highlighting FMG Engineering’s expertise in this area.

Images by Banbury Village