Canberra’s City to the Lake project is a major urban planning initiative to establish a framework for development for the area known as City and a broad sweep of lake frontage. The study area stretches from West Basin to Anzac Parade. Lovell Chen has been working on the heritage analysis element of the project with lead consultant Hill Thalis.

We prepared a supporting framework of heritage considerations to inform the urban strategy. A starting point is the agreed principle that the main consideration is the realisation of Walter Burley Griffin’s 1913 plan for Canberra. The heritage analysis also builds on work previously undertaken by government to establish priorities for the development of the area.

Burley Griffin intended that City (Civic) be the heart of ‘local’ Canberra, and planned for a relationship between it and Lake Burley Griffin, which separates the area from the Federal centre. In the event, later priorities and decisions by successive governments led to major changes, such as the construction of Parkes Way which now bisects the area. Burley Griffin’s formal geometry of West Basin was never delivered.

Our contribution to the project includes the provision of an overview of the regulatory context, details of heritage places in and near the study area, a summary history focused on the role of City in Canberra’s planning and an overview of heritage principles for development guidance. Preliminary heritage analysis was completed in August 2012 but the project is ongoing.