Dominic Gaetani is a senior associate from DKO Architecture, who as a Tasmanian-born architect, left the sleepy Apple Isle more than 10 years ago to pursue his dream of shaping Melbourne’s skyline. 

One of those is the old Prison Pentridge in Coburg, an Australian landmark established in 1851, that has housed some of Australia’s most notorious criminals including Ned Kelly, Squizzy Taylor, Mark ‘Chopper’ Read and Julian Knight. It was closed in 1997.

DKO Architecture recently won a design competition for its initial masterplan and design strategy for the southern portion of the historic Pentridge Village precinct in Coburg in Melbourne’s north.  

Appointed by developer Salvo following a multi-stage pitch process, DKO has outlined a preliminary vision to revitalise the 19,000m2 site into a $1.2 billion mixed use redevelopment featuring a highly activated public realm, community spaces and integrated retail amenity that reflect the rich history of the site and Coburg character, along with reimagined multi-residential spaces.

In this exclusive interview, Gaetani outlines how he overcame the unique challenges in master planning such an iconic site, and what cultural legacies he believes this project will leave the city of Melbourne.

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