The Hales Estate, Forrestfield

PLAN E participated in the site planning to preserve significant stands of mature trees in parks, both endemic specimens and trees planted by early settlers, ensuring a strong connection to the hills bush setting. The estate name is inspired by Charles Hale, who settled in the area in 1902 and planted crops and orchards amongst the bush. This contrast of foothills bush landscape against crops and orchards has influenced the materials and themes for the estate.

The tree-lined Crumpet Creek traverses the site and provides the focus for the primary park featuring a bespoke playground and picnic facility with spill-out lawn areas. A linear park at the estate entry incorporates an avenue of retained trees that framed the entry to the original homestead, preserving this element of cultural heritage.

A sculpture designed by PLAN E marks the entry to the estate. It is inspired by the estate logo, two deciduous trees referencing the early orchards of the area. The sculpture comprises a series of vertical steel totems positioned so that when viewed from a particular vantage point align to resemble the estate logo, however when viewed from other positions they are a series of individual sculptural totems, creating a dynamic interplay of forms and colours. The autumnal colours ensure the totems are visible amongst the existing avenue of mature eucalypts.