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Figure 1.0 Photography of the Maribyrnong Defence Site

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Who are we //

On The House is a private consultancy run by urban planners and designers based in Melbourne and Geelong. Our team is diverse and driven, with planners and designers from Australia, Asia and Europe. The team is multi-disciplinary with expertise ranging from architecture, urban design, and human geography.

Who is the client //

The Victorian Planning Authority (VPA) has appointed our team to develop a preliminary structure plan for the Maribyrnong Defence Site. The Victorian State Government has instructed the VPA to lead the planning for this site, which will be guided by the recommendations of this report.

Statement of Intent //

The aim of this report is to provide high level planning and design advice for the future development of the Maribyrnong Defence Site (now, The Sybil Craig Quarter). The report is guided by the principles of 20-minute neighbourhoods, inclusive cities, and the recent events of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This draft precinct structure plan will outline the proposed land uses for the site, with a particular focus on housing forms.

Project Vision //

Create a high density, human scale community, where people can live, work and play within 20 minutes by sustainable travel.

Our proposal will provide new housing typologies which are adaptable, affordable, and diverse, with a focus on sustainable infrastructure and the conditions caused by COVID-19.

All in a name //

A name can have a lot of meaning. Site names acknowledge the past and influence the future. We believe the name the ‘Maribyrnong Defence Site’ focuses too directly on the sites military history at a loss to other stories and the sites potential. We believe the Sybil Craig Quarter is a superior name as it acknowledges the sites military history but also its human history, creative history and potential histories.

Why Sybil Craig? //

World War II was an important period, for both the defence site and society as it saw many social norms disrupted. Sybil Craig is important in that she both represents and documented those disruptions. This is because Craig was the third female WWII war artist appointed by the Australian War Memorial (Australian War memorial, n.d.). She is also Australia’s third ever official female war artist. As a female artist in a male industry she was a disruption, as a female on a military base she was a disruption, the subjects of however work were also a disruption. During WWII women became the principle work force in the Maribyrnong Defence factories and were the main subject of Craig's work. For these reasons she is an icon of her time and her work remembers the perception shattering commitment women gave in WWII in the Maribyrnong Defence factories.