Exciting Event Update:

The upcoming DEN Tour event will now include a guided tour of Michelle Guglielmo Park. Please refer to the event details below for further information.

The Design Excellence Network for Local Government welcomes you back and invites you to join us for DEN's first event of 2025.

This DEN Tour will showcase the newly completed Balam Balam Place, Brunswick and Michelle Guglielmo Park with a guided tour. Following the tour, join us for the DEN Welcome Back to 2025 Drinks at one of the local pubs on Sydney Road to catch up with your favourite local government peers. Stay tuned for more details to come.

About Balam Balam Place

Balam Balam Place is Merri-bek's flagship project in the heart of Brunswick. Designed by Kennedy Nolan Architects and Openworks Landscape Architecture, encompassing cultural, community and council services, and public open space, the facility is complete (construction finished just weeks ago). Come for a tour from Merri-bek's staff team member who can walk through the site and buildings.

About Michelle Guglielmo Park

Nestled in the commercial and cultural centre of Brunswick in the inner north of Naarm (Melbourne), and anchored by the Town Hall and Christ Church Parish, the Michelle Guglielmo Park provides a place of respite, immersion in nature, and connection to community. Merri-bek City Council seized an opportunity to purchase and convert a former industrial site into a new public space as part of the inner-city Council's ‘Park Close to Home’ strategy, which seeks to provide all members of the community access to an open space within walking distance to their home. The Park has transformed the urban centre of Brunswick by prioritising landscape, people and culture.

Designed by Glas Landscape Architects, the urban park is centred around canopy trees, deep soil planting and water-sensitive urban design. Stone walls and rock seats provide a visible, tactile reminder of the mudstone and bluestone geology that lies beneath Brunswick, reconnecting people physically with the natural environment. The flexible space caters to a diverse range of park users and activities, from day-to-day interactions, to civic and cultural events, celebrations and gatherings. Layered with integrated public artwork, multi-functional furniture and natural elements, this urban park reflects a contemporary approach to public place provision in a dense urban environment.

Space is limited, reserve your ticket now.

(All DEN events are planned by local government staff for local government staff, please use your current local government email at ticket registration to verify your event eligibility.)

Looking forward to seeing you all!