MDG Landscape Architects has designed every street and green space at Orana since 2022, during the community’s earliest planning stages. Now, two of its biggest projects are taking shape – a new neighbourhood park nearing completion at the corner of Mellow Place and Ochre Street, and the 18-hectare Muddy Gates Wetlands progressing after detailed planning.

The partnership between MDG and Balcon runs through every stage of Orana estate and can be seen in the decisions made long before construction begins. Trees are planned before roads are finalised, and residents were asked what features they wanted from their new park. These early choices are what shape everyday life at Orana, creating green streets from the day residents move in and open space built around how the community wants to use them.

Nichole Weinzieher, Principal at MDG, has spent four years working across Orana’s parks and streetscapes, including the new park. Alongside her, MDG Director Simon Smith is leading the design of the wetlands.

Orana’s New Park: A Park Shaped by Residents

For Nichole, the park started with a conversation, not a drawing. Before MDG designed a single feature, residents were asked what they wanted.

“The vision for the park was to put residents’ needs first,” she says. “We put together a questionnaire and collected a long list of what people wanted, then chose the items that mattered most.”

Residents asked for spaces to gather, picnic and barbecue areas. Nichole notes, “soccer goals were very important.”

Those ideas have shaped a park designed to work for different ages and stages. At its centre will be a picnic and barbecue area, alongside a multi-purpose court for basketball, scooters and skateboards. Teenagers get their own seating area, set apart from the younger kids, and a nearby toilet to make it easier for families to stay longer.

Inside the fenced playground, a large custom seat lets parents keep an eye on their children while holding onto the pram. Just beyond it, a nature trail winds through the garden beds, with stepping stones and feature flowers that double as bells for kids to ring along the way.

Around 800 homes will sit within a 400-metre walk of the new park, which will connect directly to Orana’s shared path network near the Pound Road Reserve trail.  For many families, that means being able to walk, ride, or scoot without needing to get in the car.

“We’ll see the community using this park on a day-to-day basis,” Nichole says, “kids travelling there after school, or meeting friends on the weekend to play basketball. It’ll also be a great spot for a picnic or a birthday party.”

Muddy Gates Wetlands: A New Place to Walk, Ride and Explore

While the new park nears completion, the Muddy Gates wetland is progressing at the other end of the Orana estate.

Once finished, the 18-hectare wetland is set to be the largest in Melbourne’s south-east growth corridor.

“It has been a long process,” Simon explains, “working from early concept design through to full documentation for approval by Melbourne Water, and we’re now getting close to starting construction.”

Once complete, the wetlands will be managed by Melbourne Water as part of its wider network of rivers, creeks and drainage across greater Melbourne.

During heavy rain, the wetlands will collect and hold stormwater, releasing water gradually to avoid flooding of local creeks. Along the way, the water will be naturally cleaned by the plants MDG has chosen for the site, so what flows on is cleaner than what came in.

For residents, the wetlands will create a new recreation space close to home. A 1.8-kilometre walking and cycling trail will follow the edge, with seating placed along the way.

“There are places to stop, take in the view, and watch the birdlife,” Simon says.

Around 93,000 aquatic plants will be planted within the wetland, with a further 250,000 across the sloped banks that lead to the water. Each species has been chosen carefully for the site and the habitat it will help create.

“You start to see insect life, birdlife and frogs,” Simon says. “It happens faster than most people expect.”

As planting becomes more established, the landscape will continue to change, bringing more movement, sound and seasonal colour to the trail.

Shaded Streets from Day One: Orana’s Tree-First Design

Ask Nichole what sets Orana apart, and she comes back to trees, or what she calls a “greenery-first” approach, the same thinking that shapes every street across the estate.

“In most projects, landscaping is the final layer added to a design,” she says. “At Orana, it comes first. We map out where every tree will go, then distribute those plans to the engineers, and the rest of the project team works around the trees from there.”

Orana’s street trees are contract grown, meaning Balcon orders and grows them one to two years ahead of each stage. By the time residents move in, they’re already more established than newly sourced planting.

“It makes a real difference to how a street feels in summer,” Nichole says. For residents, that’s shade over the school pick-up, the walk to the shops, or the driveway on a hot day, instead of something they wait years for.

That decision can be felt in the everyday moments that shape life at Orana: a cooler walk to the shops, a greener view from the living room window, and a comfortable route for an early morning jog or a ride to school.

The new park is on track to open around the end of August, with the wetlands set to follow in the years ahead. Together, they add to the wider mix of green space at Orana, alongside the dog park, sports courts and shared paths residents use every day. For residents, that’s more weekends at the park, more evening walks, and more reasons to spend time outdoors without ever leaving the estate.