the structure plan 2
2.1 BUILDINGS, DESIGN AND PUBLIC SPACES
Objectives
To ensure that development in MPAC provides a high quality built
form that is adaptable, innovative, sensitively designed, responsive
and reinforces the centres heritage character.
To ensure new development interacts with the public realm providing
a positive experience at the street level for all users.
To ensure that uses that activate the streetscape (i.e. retail
or commercial use) are located at ground/street level.
To plan for all modes of movement, but reinforce pedestrian
movement as priority within the centre.
To improve and create additional movement links between the north
and south areas of the centre.
To acknowledge the wider strategic importance of creating attractive
and iconic buildings at key land mark sites. This does not imply
that they become dominating in their built form but that they are
established as key points of reference becoming unique through
design rather than through dominance, height, bulk and scale.
To ensure that development achieves a compact urban form that
consolidates land use so as not to underutilise land for its intended
purpose and proposed intensity.
To ensure that there are sufficient public places for people to meet,
enjoy and relax in the centre.
To ensure that the scale of new development will not be detrimental
to surrounding residential areas of the Activity Centre.
Strategies
Encourage a mixture of modern and attractive architectural forms
blending with heritage built form.
Restrict development and retail activity which aims to shut off
at the street level and take on an internalised stand alone
approach to urban design and interaction at the street level.
New built form will be designed to integrate with the street.
Build on the laneway experience through activation of niche caf/
restaurant uses and creating a connected and well signed network
and providing dual frontages.
Ensure carpark decking at the lower levels of a development site are
architecturally designed to attractively and innovatively screen parking.
Explore the creation of new public open space within the Activity Centre
Avoid dead zones in the centre that are created by limited
activation of development at the street level, excessive shadowing
and/or wind tunnelling.
Buildings that demonstrate design excellence are
encouraged for the centre.
Building heights as indicated in Figure 4 are preferred, unless an
urban design benefit can be demonstrated.
Maintain public transport services (bus/tram/train), carparking
and vehicle traffic to the periphery roads of the Activity Centre.
Make best use of available space, particularly developing land
at the rear of shops and limiting the amount of area used for
surface carparking.
Ensure that new development is designed in accordance with the
principles of DPCDs Activity Centre Guidelines 2000 and, Guidelines
for higher density residential development and Councils local policy
Develop expanded footpath with active
for Residential development of four or more storeys. frontages and high density residential above
is encouraged in MPAC.
Moonee Ponds Activity Centre Structure Plan 7
 2 the structure plan
Create opportunities for the activation of the back of shops (i.e. cafe
alfresco dining opportunities) within the proposed public open spaces
and lanewayscreating a shared experience.
New development within MPAC will be designed to respect the
interface and amenity of the residential areas on the periphery
of the Activity Centre.
Built Form Guidelines
Generally built form within the centre should aim to achieve a height
of 3 storeys or more where possible, and incorporate a minimum street/
laneway faade of 8 metres inclusive of parapet, awning and shopfront
style faade. This guideline should be integrated with the Indicative
Heights as identified in Figure 4, but generally the aim should be to
achieve 4 storeys or more to the central areas of the MPAC, and 3
storeys or more to the fringe areas of the MPAC.
Built form heights should seek to maximise solar access into internal
floors to the building wherever possible, particularly residential
buildings. For commercial buildings sunlight access should be a
priority within the design.
Built form should respond to the orientation of its site, any adjoining
streets and lanes, and nearby public open spaces through sensitive
setbacks and massing to ensure that daylight and direct sunlight is
maximised to street level public and pedestrian spaces. This will require
varied setbacks and heights at different locations, according to the site
specific orientation and adjoining properties.
Where possible, new development should incorporate active uses to
the roof areas of buildings, either as open space in the sky for building
users and residents, or as part of a green roof sustainability initiative.
This will encourage vertical activation of the Activity Centre spaces
and streets, as well as providing significant additional space with
European style laneways, which have successfully good solar access.
reactivated the Melbourne CBD centre.
8 Moonee Ponds Activity Centre Structure Plan
In conjunction with the initiative to maximise use of buildings roofs,
new built form should carefully articulate roof areas and forms
to integrate coherently with the architecture and character of the
building, the street and the surrounding buildings.
All built form within MPAC should act as frames for the surrounding
public spaces, whether they are streets, lanes, squares, plazas, malls, or
other spaces pedestrians can inhabit at ground level. In order for these
public spaces to feel safe, secure, welcoming, alive, and comfortable the
surrounding built form needs to respond to the public space through
articulation of height and massing (for overshadowing and daylight),
through activated frontages, well located entries and foyers, and
through provision of street level weather cover such as awnings. In
this way the public spaces will feel like a part of the urban fabric of the
centre, and have a direct relationship with both new and old buildings
in the centre.
Where the Activity Centre abuts the existing residential areas at the
centre's edge, proposed new built form should sensitively transition
between the relatively standard residential neighbourhood character of
surrounding suburbs and the more urban grain of the Activity Centre
core. There are a number of key principles that should be incorporated
into each built form response within these areas. Ensure a transition
is made from the significantly greater heights of the MPAC core (10+
storeys) down to the 23 storeys of residential areas.
Ensure setbacks in areas of residential interface are a median of
residential streets and the Activity Centre precincts where possible,
and where varying this, that the built form complements the nearby
residential street visually and physically.
Street frontages and shopfronts should be articulated to complement
the surrounding neighbourhood character, that may be more
residential in nature and scale than the core of the Activity Centre.
 the structure plan 2

Figure 4 Preferred Built Form Plan

HOLMES
ROAD

Legend
Activity Centre Boundary
2 - 3 (Storeys)
3-4
4-6
6-8
Activity Centre Boundary
8 - 10
10 -16
Residential interface
Heritage Overlay
Sites subject to further heritage
assessment
Heights to be determined through a
separate masterplanning exercise
BUILT FORM AND HERITAGE PLAN

Moonee Ponds Activity Centre Structure Plan 9