Victoria's Maribyrnong City Council's Maddern Square Improvement Project was recently awarded the Cement Concrete and Aggregates Australia Public Domain Award (Precincts) from a  field of national projects. The biannual CCAA Public Domain Awards provide national recognition for designers, contractors, developers and asset owners who set new benchmarks in the use of concrete to enhance the public domain.

“We’re thrilled that our hard work on the Maddern Square project continues to be nationally recognised. Last year, it also scored a commendation in the Urban Design Category of the Planning Institute of Australia Awards for Planning Excellence,”  City of Maribyrnong mayor Michael Clarke said in a statement.
“Maddern Square is the first of the major redevelopment projects planned for Central Footscray. The Square sets the scene for what council and the State Government are trying to achieve with larger projects like the Nicholson Street Mall redevelopment and the Footscray Station Precinct redevelopment.”

The CCAA judging panel described the Maddern Square improvement project as: “An inspiring example of how the back of a suburban centre can be transformed into a valuable communal space by skilful design using concrete as the dominant material. At once robust, witty and inviting, an excellent example that elevates its unpretentious setting – unpretentiously".

The project was jointly funded by the Victorian Department of Sustainability and Environment and  the council and  was re-opened in July 2006.