Building Harkness Memorial Park: The Design
Senior Project Manager Georgina Thalassinos (L) and Chief Built Environment Officer James Reid (R) discuss design plans for Harkness Memorial Park.
What does it mean to reimagine a cemetery for the 21st century? For Harkness Memorial Park, it means creating a place where remembrance and community life come together.
In the second video of our Building Harkness Memorial Park series, Chief Built Environment Officer James Reid shares how innovative design principles are shaping a vital community asset that honours the past while embracing the future.
An opportunity to transform the public cemetery
“We decided we wanted to reimagine what a cemetery would look like in the 21st century,” explains James Reid.
“And Harkness Memorial Park is all about providing a really sacred space of belonging for everyone from the western suburbs.”
This isn’t about adapting traditional cemetery design – it’s a fundamental rethinking of what these spaces can be. Where some older cemeteries might feel separate from daily life, Harkness Memorial Park is designed as a place where the community will naturally gather, reflect, and connect.
The concept is simple but transformative: a cemetery in a park, rather than a park in a cemetery. This approach creates vital green space for a rapidly growing region while ensuring that memorial spaces feel integrated into public life.
Design for everyone
At the heart of Harkness Memorial Park’s design philosophy is a deep commitment to inclusivity.
“Inclusion has been a key principle in what we’ve done with the design,” says Reid.
“We’ve gone about working with different cultural groups to understand what are their funeral needs, what are their memorial needs. And that’ll be woven into the way our spaces are designed.”
This community-first approach means that Harkness Memorial Park will reflect the rich cultural diversity of Melbourne’s west. Rather than designing spaces and hoping they meet community needs, GMCT has embedded community consultation into the design process from the very beginning.
The result is a memorial park that celebrates Melbourne’s rich diversity of cultures, faiths, and identities – creating spaces where families can find belonging and meaning in their own way.
Caring for Country
One of the most significant aspects of Harkness Memorial Park’s design is its collaboration with the site’s Traditional Owners, the Wurundjeri People of the Kulin Nation.
“One of the ways that we’ve gone about understanding the place and the land, is to work very closely with Traditional Owners,” Reid explains.
“And the theme of Caring for Country has really driven our landscape design.”
This partnership has seen Indigenous knowledge and the spirit of reconciliation embedded into the very fabric of the memorial park.
At first glance, the site may seem like ordinary farmland – but it’s far from ordinary. The guidance of Traditional Owners has revealed a living landscape with deep cultural significance and ecological potential. The outcome of this partnership is a design that respects Country while creating meaningful connections between past, present, and future.
Caring for the environment is a key part of this ethos.
“What we’re going to do is restore Arnolds Creek and plant thousands of trees over the life of the cemetery,” says Reid.
Native plants and soft landscapes will create spaces that feel naturally restorative, welcoming visitors into a setting that celebrates both remembrance and renewal.
Far from just aesthetic choices, the plant species that have been selected are a commitment to healing and regenerating the landscape. In the future, this will lead to a dedicated habitat corridor connecting the Gilgai woodlands to the Werribee River, enhancing biodiversity and supporting local wildlife.
A growing legacy
Harkness Memorial Park is designed to evolve with its growing community.
“We’re starting something from scratch that will grow with the suburb and will become, ultimately, a sense of real pride for the local community,” Reid reflects.
We want to build lasting connections. As families gather to remember loved ones, as children grow up visiting the parklands, as the community comes together in times of remembrance, Harkness Memorial Park will become woven into the story of Melbourne’s west.
“There can’t be a stronger sense of connection than memorialising a loved one at a place like Harkness Memorial Park,” says Reid.
In that connection lies our measure of successful design: spaces that don’t just serve a function but create meaning.
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Harkness Memorial Park is redefining what a cemetery can be. As the Greater Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust’s (GMCT) first greenfield development, this landmark project will serve communities for generations to come.
Through a nine-part video series, titled Building Harkness Memorial Park, we’re taking you behind the scenes of Victoria’s largest new cemetery in the last century. Meet the people shaping this innovative space as we explore the vision, design, and community central to the park’s development.
In Part 3, Caring for Country, we’ll dive deeper into GMCT’s collaboration with Traditional Owners and how we’re celebrating Wurundjeri culture while recognising shared spaces, diverse cultural stories, and connections to place. n text goes here
Keep up to date with the project
The first stage of Harkness Memorial Park is expected to open in early 2027.
Keep up to date with our progress by subscribing for project updates or exploring our development timeline.