Global win for Melbourne Water

Mar 22, 2023

Melbourne Water and GrowCreative won Gold in the 2023 GOV Design Awards, held in New York on Tuesday, May 30.

The award sits in the Marketing Print category for the Hobsons Bay Main Sewer Project installation.

This prestigious award recognises Melbourne Water and Grow's innovation and creativity in its communications and engagement with the community.

The Better Futures GOV Design Awards is a global program, accepting international nominations from local, state, and federal government funded projects.

The award reflects the innovative and engaging design of the hoarding around the construction site at Museums Victoria's Scienceworks in Spotswood.

Melbourne Water commissioned the installation , together with delivery partner John Holland, and designed by GrowCreative.

The creative hoarding creates a colourful and engaging communications platform to connect and educate curious minds on how the new sewer pipeline will transfer 30 per cent of Melbourne's wastewater to the Western Treatment Plant.

While supporting Melbourne's growing population and highlighting the pipeline's history and the technology behind the project through a playful and fun journey of discovery.

The critical infrastructure project serves more than 300,000 residents in Melbourne's western suburbs.

The colourful elements of the hoarding were specifically designed to capture the curious minds of the children and families visiting Scienceworks.

The imagery is described as an interactive journey of discovery, bringing the project to life with poo-like characters on holiday.

It also features a hungry Tunnel Boring Machine spouting educational facts about the sewer history and the need for the project.

Scienceworks general manager Jonathan Shearer said the project is being viewed by STEM students everyday.

"Every day we see families engaging with the content and peering excitedly through the viewing windows, looking at a real-life engineering project.," he said.

The Hobson Bay Main Sewer Upgrade will provide an improved sewerage system with capacity for future flows while ensuring local amenity, environment, heritage, and community interests are protected and enhanced during its delivery.

Jennifer Pittorino