The Royal Melbourne Golf Club redevelopment integrates new built form within one of Australia’s most significant remnant heathland landscapes, carefully balancing infrastructure with ecological sensitivity. The project introduces a concealed basement carpark and arrival precinct, overlaid with a layered landscape that reinstates the visual and ecological character of the course. Garden beds are constructed both on-grade and over structure, including deep soil zones and engineered planter systems atop the basement, enabling substantial tree and shrub planting while maintaining structural performance.  

Planting draws directly from the club’s iconic heathland environment, utilising a rich palette of indigenous species, including Banksia, Acacia, Leptospermum and Lomandra, to reflect the sandy coastal ecology. The composition emphasises textural diversity, heathland flowering species, and seasonal variation while reinforcing the habitat value for local fauna.  

Land management strategies are embedded within the design, including soil reuse, subsoil amelioration, mulching and drip irrigation to support establishment in free-draining soils. Long-term maintenance aligns with heathland management practices, promoting resilience through selective thinning and weed control.

Building interfaces are softened through densely planted edges, rolling putting green and mounded garden beds that seamlessly connect architecture to course. The result is a highly integrated landscape that preserves Royal Melbourne’s globally significant heathland identity while accommodating contemporary infrastructure.