Yalukit Willam Nature Reserve Gateway

Bayside City Council is transforming the former Elsternwick golf course in North Brighton, Melbourne, into the Yalukit Willam Nature Reserve – a thriving, publicly accessible wetland that will deliver significant environmental, educational and social benefits. With the aims of improving water quality and supporting Indigenous birdlife and other endemic species, the transformation and rewilding project will feature expansive wetlands. Restoring flowing waterways and diverse flora, including the reintroduction of locally extinct plant species, a key aim to improve the connection between people and nature. A new Visitor Centre located at the entry into the reserve will provide opportunities for the community to better understand and appreciate local ecology, Indigenous cultural values and connection to Traditional Owners past, present and future.

This gateway building is designed by Canvas Projects (now Jasmax) to attract and educate. Fostering a ​‘Caring for Country’ philosophy among visitors to inspire long-term stewardship of the reserve and wider environment, the design seeks to use redevelopment as a tool for ecological restoration and the new building is designed to give back more than it takes from the land. The multi-purpose facility will include a circular café and public amenities pavilion, alongside a larger pavilion containing exhibition, learning and administrative spaces. Bridging these structures is an open-air roof deck, overlooking the reserve.

Jasmax acknowledges the Boon Wurrung and Bunurong People as Traditional Custodians of the Country upon which Yalukit Willam Nature Reserve Gateway is located.