A New Normal Perth: Muss[c]el Beach

Associate Michael Memeo presented with Monique Woodward at the “Designing Cities Symposium: A New Normal’’ at Fremantle Design Week 2024. This discussion had leading WA architects present pilot projects that could potentially be realised, showing what’s possible as we transition Perth towards a carbon positive future.

REALMstudios and @wowowaarch developed Muss[c]el Beach – Derbal Yerrigan, a transformative project aimed at revitalising the underutilised foreshore adjacent to the Swan Brewery on the Swan River in Perth. Despite its prime location between the Perth CBD and the western suburbs, this area remains inaccessible and ecologically barren, edged by a hard seawall with inactive waters. The project seeks to unlock the potential of this stranded asset by creating a vibrant, ecologically rich, and publicly accessible foreshore that fosters community engagement and environmental stewardship.

The initiative involves reintroducing subaquatic mussel reefs to improve water quality and biodiversity, and integrating living foreshore elements like seagrass, saltmarsh, and riparian zones with the existing seawall. This includes providing pedestrian, cycling, and micromobility access along the river foreshore, and introducing micro and temporary “architectures of the beach” to attract local businesses and activate the area both day and night.