The Little Dock That Helped Reignite Victoria's Love for Urban Swimming
Project Albero
In July 2020, we unveiled a covert mission called Project Albero—a floating swim dock anchored just off Banfield Park in the Gorge waterway.
Concept
Project Albero was inspired by beautiful urban cities with working harbours (like Copenhagen and Aarhus) that are lined with people swimming on hot summer days.
It struck us that in Victoria we have all the bones for this lifestyle, but our public realm is disconnected from its potential for harbour recreation.
Approach
In partnership with DAU Studio and Biophilia Collective, we envisioned the floating tree.
Designed to draw citizens to the water through urban planning, we took point A (the shore) and built point B (the dock) and people began to naturally connect and congregate between the two.
Construction
The dock was built under the leadership of Aryze’s Andrew Chapman. Fabrication took place at Point Hope Shipyard, with yard space and crane capacity generously supplied by RALMAX.
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