mentone beach

location mentone design andrew brophy - urban initiatives

The foreshore reserve at Mentone Beach is in part characterised by the bluestone and concrete capped seawall, typical of the walls built along Port Phillip Bay’s beaches in the 1930s to prevent dune and cliff erosion. At Mentone, stone walls also line the cliff paths and in certain places delicate stone stairways cut through the cliff.

Site plan of a park with exercise terrace, proposed parking, upper and lower reserves, and surrounding greenery along Beach Road.

landscape plan

One such stairway leads down from the former site of the Mentone Life Saving to a small serpentine shaped terrace adjacent to the promenade.

Following the demolition of a gabled roofed timber shelter on the beach, the City of Kingston commissioned Andrew Brophy at Urban Initiatives to design a contemporary shelter with a form that complemented the terrace setting. The resulting spherical structure nestles into the cliff, providing a sheltered spot to gaze out to sea. 

A coastal walkway with a stone and concrete path, a grassy area, and a hillside covered with green bushes and some trees, extending toward the sandy beach and ocean in the distance.
A peaceful beach scene with a sandy shoreline, calm water, a person walking along the beach, and a covered seating area with a round roof on a paved pathway.

site

credit: drew echberg

Beach with people, cliffs, and a small pavilion, with seagulls and an airplane flying in the sky.

former shelter

Four people walking in a park, with a shelter that has a metal bench underneath it, surrounded by grass and shrubbery.

credit: drew echberg

View of a beach with grassy dunes, a wooden deck extending over the sand, and people relaxing near the shoreline with a blue and green tent, with the ocean and a clear sky in the background.

credit: drew echberg