Overview
Entrant:
Red Stag Timberlab
Category:
06. International Project Award
Photography:
Supplied by Transurban/State of Victoria
Key team members:
Architectural Design – WOOD MARSH
Structural Design & Architectural Concept Development – CREATE
DfMA Design + Manufacture & Supply – Red Stag Timberlab
Design & Construct Head Contractor – CPBJH JV
Client – Transurban/State of Victoria
The West Gate Tunnel Project is one of Melbourne’s most significant pieces of transport infrastructure, providing a vital new connection between the city’s western suburbs and the port precinct while relieving congestion on the iconic West Gate Bridge.
As part of this major urban gateway, three monumental timber “net” structures announce the tunnel portals beneath the Maribyrnong River, creating a powerful architectural statement that blends cultural narrative, structural innovation, and sustainable material use.
Architectural design by Wood Marsh Architecture, the structures reinterpret traditional Indigenous fishing nets as sculptural timber lattices spanning the motorway at tunnel entrances & exits. Through a complex arrangement of glulam arches and triangulated infill members, the structures form vast diagrid networks that frame the tunnel portals while visually connecting with the adjacent ventilation towers. Across the three gateway portals, more than 700 individual timber Glulam elements combine to create these impressive structures, with the largest reaching approximately 40 metres in height and spanning six lanes of traffic.
Beyond their sculptural presence, the nets perform an important functional role. Acting as transitional light filters, the latticed geometry softens the abrupt shift from daylight into the tunnel environment, reducing glare and improving visual comfort for motorists. At night, integrated lighting transforms the structures into luminous markers, announcing the city gateway and reinforcing their identity as civic infrastructure.
Red Stag TimberLab (RSTL), New Zealand, was engaged under a design and supply scope by CPBJH JV to transform the architectural concept into a buildable mass-timber solution. Working collaboratively with design partner CREATE Architects & Engineers, the team undertook the detailed structural design, digital modelling, and fabrication planning required to realise the complex geometry. CREATE’s role centred on specialist timber engineering, refining the architectural concept into a structurally efficient system that deliver stability through three-dimensional diaphragm and arching action. Parametric modelling was used to effectively optimise geometry, connection systems, and fabrication tolerances while addressing environmental loads, wind effects, and complex interfaces with surrounding tunnel infrastructure. Advanced wind modelling & analysis was completed in collaboration with MEL consultants by wind tunnel testing 1:200 scale models of all 3 structures.
Glulam timber was chosen for its low embodied carbon and renewable sourcing to align with the project’s broader environmental initiatives. The members were designed for durability, dimensional stability, and efficient transport to Australia, where they were delivered as prefabricated components ready for rapid assembly. All timber used was FSC certified, NZ grown Radiata Pine.
The West Gate Tunnel net structures demonstrate the extraordinary potential of mass timber beyond traditional building typologies. Combining architecture, structural ingenuity, and sustainable material innovation. The resulting forms stand not only as a gateway to the city, but as a landmark example of how timber can shape the identity and experience of contemporary infrastructure.