DKO Architecture has been tasked with reimagining Pentridge Precinct in Coburg, including the 1851-built Pentridge Prison that once housed some of Australia’s most notorious criminals.

It comes after the firm won a competition for their initial masterplan and design strategy for the historical area in Melbourne’s north. 

“It does have some rich and interesting history,” says DKO Lead Architect Dominic Gaetani.

“For us there is some really significant heritage-built form within the site that we are very much celebrating and connecting but also rejuvenating,” he says.

DKO’s preliminary design vision was a $1.2 billion mixed used redevelopment with an activated public realm, community spaces, retail tenancies and multi-residential buildings.

Dominic says while parts of the historical site are unused and derelict at the moment they don’t want to necessarily remove or demolish any of that existing heritage fabric. 

“We want to use it as inspiration to what we want to do in relation to our built form,” he says.

“I think as architects and developers it’s really easy to be dismissive of existing buildings and their character and demo them and start again. At DKO we are really big on reuse”.

“We want to use it as inspiration to what we want to do in relation to our built form”.

While the bluestone prison is an exciting piece of history to work with, Dominic says “the connotation of prison can be quite challenging”.

“We are connecting to it, but we want to bring it to a new age and new vision”.

As part of the precinct, they are revamping existing jail yards that were often used for outdoor sports as public open space and basketball courts. Ned Kelly was also buried there for a couple of years so they will be incorporating a Ned Kelly memorial within the site.

He said ideally the mixed-use precinct will be activated for 18 hours a day, from 6am until well into the evening.

“What’s really key to that is how we introduce and use public activation and amenities”.

He says they are looking at including a series of F&B and hospitality offerings as well as a museum, art galleries and commercial buildings that are really well connected to open space and general amenity.

Practicing sustainability is also important to them, such as considering how the facade responds to orientation and the environment and selecting robust and long-lasting materials.

Dominic says DKO was very thorough with their analysis and research, spending up to three months analysing Pentridge as a precinct and as a suburb.

“We spent a lot of time analysing the demographics of Coburg and the northern suburbs to ensure what we are introducing is in line with the market and place”.

“What was really successful about our proposal is how we ensured that our boundaries were very much connected to the streets of Coburg - so opening up, encouraging that community connection, encouraging that community use,” he says.

“We want to make this site feel highly permeable. We don’t want it to feel like an island. We just want it to feel part of the community”. 

If you want to find out more how this development preserves heritage and enhances community spaces listen to the whole episode of the podcast here.