Merrylands Civic Square

A legacy public space for Merrylands

Merrylands Civic Square has fast become the beating heart of the community. Before this legacy project was realised, the neighbourhood did not have a public place to come together. Consultation led design and co-design of key elements with local artists has created a place that is connected with Country and the community.

The project illustrates how designing with Country can be used effectively as a technique to find a ‘common ground’ in diverse communities. Located in one of the most culturally and linguistically diverse LGAs in Australia, the challenge for this project was to celebrate this diversity without being partial to any particular community groups.

At the time of project commencement, we flagged the need for an Indigenous consultant to assist our designing with Country process. Yerrabingin provided insights to the natural geology, native flora and fauna which were important to establish the materials and planting palettes, and also contributed to the design narrative which has been developed further by First Nations artist Adam Laws. He created a series of integrated Indigenous artworks on the metal canopy columns and stone boulders along the urban ‘creekline’ running through Civic Square.