Sydney Water Malabar Water Resource Recovery Facility

On August 30th, the new entry to the Sydney Water Malabar Water Resource Recovery Facility (WRRF) was opened with a smoking ceremony conducted by the traditional owners of the Place.

This project celebrates the significance of the various plants and animals that are important to the Dharawal people in this area. Collaboration with local Aboriginal groups including IndigiGrow (planting strategy and supply), Gujaga Foundation (Elders’ stories and significance of the place) and the Gamay Rangers (installation of plantings) were all critical to the success of the project in telling a meaningful story. Shane Youngberry, a Dharawal man, is the local artist whose vision of fish and stingrays in nearby Long Bay were then interpreted in the walkway. His artwork was then utilised as a print on the water fountain and applied to areas within the facility administration building.

As lead consultants Taylor Brammer were commissioned by Sydney Water to develop concept design and document the project through to the completed construction.

The project features a stone clad wall as a backdrop to an informal meeting place created with sandstone as a reference to the geology of the Malabar Headland. Welcome to Country is inscribed along the edge of the paving so that when people sit and look towards the bay they are reminded of the importance of this Place. The pathway that then meanders to the Malabar Headland walking track and is inhabited with schools of fish and stingrays at sitting areas. Four significant plant types were identified by local Elders and these are planted at each sitting place and their stores told with interactive signage.

This project is representative of how an appropriate and meaningful outcome is possible when collaborating and including the local community as an integral part of the process from inception to completion.