Fitzroy’s Brunswick Street attracts the crowds, but a new proposal seeks to turn one of the “hot, exposed, loud” strip’s iconic side streets into a pedestrian oasis of greenery, seating and brightly painted asphalt.

Palmer Street, which runs through to Nicholson Street in Carlton, is a prime candidate for another “shared” space experiment, says local architecture firm Blur, as part of a push for pedestrian priority on Melbourne’s laneways and narrow residential streets.

“It’s just ripe for something to happen here,” said Blur co-director Ahmed Osman.

Palmer Street has been overlooked in the City of Yarra’s master plans for how to make the suburb more hospitable to pedestrians after the pandemic, according to the architect.

“It’s got a cross-section of so many different things,” Osman said.

In the one street, which is already a no through road with a traffic island splitting it in two, you’ll find a popular mosque, the Brotherhood of St Laurence, social housing, heritage homes, the Ursula Frayne Memorial Chapel and the Academy of Mary Immaculate.

It’s also bookended by the Melbourne Museum and the Royal Exhibition Building in Carlton Gardens and the recognisable public-housing towers and Atherton Gardens.

Osman said he and co-director Khalid Bouden had prayed weekly at the Fitzroy mosque on Palmer Street for years and dreamt up the vision together.

The uncosted proposal suggests reconfiguring 66 residential parking spots at the Nicholson end to widen the footpaths by around 1.5 metres, and removing 16 parking spots at the Brunswick end entirely to allow for a raised, decorated road where pedestrians take priority over cars.

The proposal also includes a raised crossing on Brunswick Street into Palmer to create the “feel” of a walking mall and peppering the street with plants and seating areas.

A render of Blur’s proposal for Palmer Street.Credit:Blur Archicture

The firm’s proposal will be presented to Yarra Council and raised at the first meeting of the year on February 14. While it’s still just a concept, graduate of architecture Georgia Friendo hopes the council will see the merit in the plan and adopt it in some way.

“We’ve noticed a lot of skateboarders and pedestrians use this route already,” said Friendo, who worked on the proposal.

“The footpaths aren’t very safe or accessible so people generally walk on the road anyway, so it’s really just about improving that.”

Similar projects are already being planned in the area by the council, including a new seating space for the corner of Kerr and Brunswick streets and the removal of cars from Otter Street to introduce a park.

Ahmed Osman and Georgia Friendo of Blur Architecture.Credit:Luis Ascui

“Shared zones” such as the Palmer Street proposal are catching on in Melbourne after the City of Melbourne experimented with pedestrianising its ‘Little’ streets over the past three years.

But Thami Croeser, urban planner at the RMIT Centre for Urban Research, said there was “still a huge fear of changing traffic or parking arrangements”.

He said one of best examples he had seen of shared street spaces was Fish Lane in Brisbane, where a former industrial area has been transformed into a trendy restaurant precinct with a raised road and nooks for walkers to sit under ferns.

Closer to home, Rose Street in Fitzroy, where a huge mural has been painted on the street to “kept drivers in check” had also been a hit, Croeser said.

How Palmer Street in Fitzroy currently looks.Credit:Luis Ascui

But he said shared zones needed a number of elements to succeed, most importantly roads raised and paved or painted to create a ‘mall’ type walkway, such as Bourke Street mall.

“Since we were all very little, we were taught to stay off the asphalt,” he said. “The paint and lack of separation between footpath and road shows us the rules are different, and the benches show us we’re welcome.

“Crucially, the greenery makes the environment cool and aesthetically appealing. All up, it’s a big invitation to stick around and relax.”

Croeser said some of the CBD’s ‘Little’ streets, which were meant to function as pedestrian-priority shared zones, had been “dismal failures” because the roads had not been raised so were still dominated by cars and most people walked on the narrow footpath instead.

A render of the Palmer Street proposal, looking from Brunswick Street.Credit:Blur Architecture

“The concept really can be taken further – we are still doing it ‘halfway’, leaving kerbs in place and often not even changing the road surface or adding much landscaping. We could have much more art, much more nature and much more priority for pedestrians.”

Croeser welcomed the Palmer Street proposal and said that while it was ambitious, it was in a practical location.

“Brunswick Street has really low amenity – hot, exposed, loud – so these adjacent spaces can play a big role for the community,” he said.

Croeser, Osman and Friendo all said any changes to the street needed input and feedback from locals.

Blur plans to consult and receive feedback from residential groups and organisations in the street.

A spokeswoman for the City of Yarra said the council could not comment on any proposal before it had been reviewed by councillors and officers.

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