Concept design to disguise Melbourne's sky rail

A concept design has been developed to disguise the sky rail overpasses being built along Melbourne’s busiest train corridor.

The design features a light-weight reflective membrane that can be used during construction or retro-fitted to existing structures.

Sean Hogan, a senior development manager with development firm ISPT, said the mirror-like material would reflect surrounding landscaping at ground level, hiding the concrete structure while reflecting and drawing the eye to the landscaped areas below.

“Many of the areas where the sky rail is being constructed are established residential zones where local businesses, homes and public areas will be impacted," he said.

"My concept aims to improve the public amenity in a cost-effective and relatively swift manner, to significantly reduce the visual impact of the concrete structures. 

"The Government should take on the responsibility to create a more appropriate visual outcome, especially around built-up residential areas where view lines will be grossly impacted.

“I wanted to explore how we could create spaces under and around the viaducts where people feel comfortable and want to linger.

There is the potential to create some real amenity by leveraging off the landscape and making the concrete structures almost invisible to local residents and passers-by.

"The act of eradicating level crossings is a sound one so I am not opposed to the sky rail itself, however I believe that the Government needs to be doing more to ensure these concrete structures will not impact on the amenity of the surrounding areas,” he said.

 “This is still just a concept, so there is plenty of detail to be explored. 

"The primary consideration is creating amenity in areas of high public use and visibility. 

"This could be applied in precincts where landscaping is in place or proposed to be provided. 

"The reflective nature of the cladding could then increase the effect of this greenery. 

"It was never envisaged to cover the entire length of the sky train structures but to be applied in the more sensitive areas.”