Works underway for $1.7 billion Melbourne Arts Precinct transformation, MCG-sized garden

Melbourne Arts Precinct is getting a major facelift, set to feature one of the most complex designs of any public garden in the world. See the pictures.

The new Melbourne Arts Precinct will feature an extravagant garden, to be called Laak Boorndap. Picture: Supplied.

An MCG-sized urban garden is set to be the centrepiece of transformation works at the Melbourne Arts Precinct.

The 18,000 square metre garden, named Laak Boorndap by Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung elder, Aunty Gail Smith, will run from St Kilda Rd to Southbank Boulevard and connect The Fox: NGV Contemporary, NGV International, Arts Centre Melbourne, and Hamer Hall.

The state government is investing $1.7bn in the transformation. Picture: Supplied.

Laak Boorndap is pronounced Lark — Born — Darp and means “Heaven’s Beauty”.

“I gave it the name Laak Boorndap because … it means a beautiful place for all people to visit and recognise our country and ancestors,” Smith said. “It’s not just a place name. It brings sky country, the heavens and everyone back together on sacred ground.

She urged non-Indigenous people to “be brave” in their pronunciation of the new space.

“Regardless of what mob you are, all language is complicated,” she said. “Just be brave and say it the way you pronounce your own language. Say it with pride.”

The new garden has been named Laak Boorndap. Picture: Supplied.

The transformation will feature an 18,000 square metre garden. Picture: Supplied.

Victoria’s Creative Industries Minister, Colin Brooks, revealed the plans and designs for Laak Boorndap at an announcement event at the Arts Centre Melbourne on Monday.

“Laak Boorndap … will be a game changer for the way Victorians see Melbourne,” he said. “It will give Victorians a sense of pride and energise them about this globally-significant art precinct.”

The first look at the project, which will feature one of the most complex designs of any public garden in the world. Picture: NewsWire/Ian Currie

Builders are faced with the task of changing this concrete jungle into ‘heaven’s beauty’. Picture: NewsWire/Ian Currie

Works for the urban garden, said to be “roughly the size of the MCG,” will start in 2026.

The garden, open 24-hours-a-day to the public, is a collaboration between Melbourne and New York designers companies, world-renowned horticulturalists and plant experts.

The Victorian Government is investing $1.7 billion to transform the arts precinct.

Melbourne Arts Precinct is getting a major facelift. Picture: NewsWire/Ian Currie

On Monday, Mr Brooks, the chief executive of the Melbourne Arts Precinct Corporation, Katrina Sedgwick, and NGV director Tony Ellwood, visited construction works at the State Theatre, and conducted a birds-eye view of the Laak Boorndap site.

Victorian Labor Minister for Creative Industries Colin Brooks reveals the infrastructure project. Picture: NewsWire/Ian Currie

Mr Brooks said works at the arts precinct are “on time and on budget.”

He added: “The team is doing a power of work to make sure it’s moving forward, and on budget. You can see the progress when you look out the back of the Arts Centre. You’ll soon see the Fox Contemporary coming out of the ground.”

Originally published as Works underway for $1.7 billion Melbourne Arts Precinct transformation, MCG-sized garden