Through retention of mature trees, extensive native planting, creative material reuse and integrated water-sensitive design, the landscape demonstrates how transport infrastructure can strengthen neighbourhood character, uplift environmental performance and elevate the daily experience of the people who keep Melbourne moving.

Set above the Maribyrnong River on Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Country, the site has long been defined by movement and new beginnings. From native grasslands to a pyrotechnic factory, an important refuge for migrants as the Midway Hostel, and later to student accommodation, each chapter has shaped the landscape that followed.

Rather than beginning again, the design made existing conditions the raw material. Fifty-seven established Eucalyptus trees were retained as the structural and ecological anchor of the landscape. Every square metre not essential to tram operations was reclaimed for landscape, transforming residual spaces into planting, water-sensitive infrastructure and habitat.

The indigenous planting palette draws on important Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Country species to reinstate layers of local ecological character across the site. An 8-metre landscape buffer between the site’s perimeter and surrounding homes forms a continuous habitat corridor – screening operations while offering neighbouring residents a green, amenity-rich edge to the depot.

Materials are intrinsically connected to the Site. Masonry bricks have been reclaimed from the demolished hostel buildings for reuse in walls and furniture. Spotted gum felled during construction has been salvaged, milled and reused as timber, transforming loss into a material asset. Stormwater basins become visible ecological infrastructure rather than hidden engineering.

In a city where tram depots are typically defined by hardstand and tracks, the project repositions landscape as operational infrastructure, demonstrating that ecological performance, heritage interpretation, neighbourhood amenity and staff wellbeing can coexist with – and strengthen – transport operations.

Leadership was measured not by scale, but by care.

Early in design, the proposed staff car park occupied the critical root zones of the Eucalypt grove, severing pedestrian connection and ecological function. Through considered advocacy for its relocation, the landscape team were able to protect the trees and create a permeable heritage walk through the grove. Interpretive elements crafted from salvaged spotted gum, etched with quotes from Midway Hostel residents, return their stories to staff, visitors and the community, keeping the site’s history present.

The commitment to circular construction was integral, with 2,500 hostel bricks individually assessed and hand laid. Varied coursing into new garden walls and seating created a richness impossible through standard infrastructure finishes while reducing waste and embodied carbon. Salvaged spotted gum became custom benches and tables, completing a material cycle rooted to the site.

Collaboration extended beyond the design team to relationships with Heritage Victoria, local provenance growers, an Indigenous-owned civil and landscape contractor, recycled timber specialists, arborists and future tram operators. Building siting, landscape buffers and urban design were coordinated to minimise impacts on surrounding homes while maximising opportunities for planting and canopy. Tract’s horticulturist remained embedded onsite throughout installation, reducing establishment risk and protecting the project’s long-term ecological investment.

The people who work at Maidstone maintain Melbourne’s tram network through rotating shifts, often unseen by the passengers they serve. Their arrival begins beneath a shaded native canopy before moving through the Eucalypt grove along the heritage path. The forecourt dissolves the threshold between workplace and landscape, where reclaimed brick and salvaged timber create spaces for shared meals, informal conversations, quiet reflection and respite between shifts. The landscape strengthens daily transitions between work and rest while reconnecting people with the site’s layered history.

Fifty-seven retained mature trees, 381 new native trees and 53 plant species native to Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Country establish a layered biodiverse habitat corridor through the site. Densely planted drainage basins slow, filter and detain stormwater as living infrastructure, strengthening habitat and biodiversity whilst providing passive cooling and long-term resilience.

Economic outcomes are equally enduring. Material reuse reduced procurement costs, construction waste and embodied carbon, while delivering a richness of character that will deepen with age. Retaining mature trees immediately delivered shade and cooling that new planting would take decades to achieve. Active horticultural oversight during construction ensured the value of the landscape investment, demonstrating that thoughtful stewardship improves both environmental performance and whole-of-life value.

Every tram returns here.

Not simply to begin another journey, but because every journey needs a place to pause, recover and begin again. At Maidstone, the end of the line has become a landscape of return: to Country, to memory, to ecology and to the people whose work keeps Melbourne moving.

Every departure begins here.