About this model
An indicative 3D model of the draft Preston Market Precinct Development Plan (DP2604666, 4 September 2026), built from the plan's own drawings and figures so people can see what each stage would mean. It is not the developer's design.
The buildings are envelopes, not designs
The plan sets out building footprints and heights, and says its tower envelopes are "indicative" (p. 36); it does not include detailed building designs. Each new building is shown at the footprint and height in the plan's height legend (p. 36: 3 storeys 12.4 m, 8 storeys 28.4 m, 9 storeys 31.6 m, 12 storeys 41.2 m, 13 storeys 44.4 m, 16 storeys 54 m). Faint lines divide each building into its number of storeys. Walls are left plain because the plan shows no facades.
Where the figures come from
- Stages, buildings, market area and homes: the plan's staging plans and tables (pp. 34–36, 117–127). Homes are added up from the stage tables; some totals printed in the plan differ.
- Market car parking during and after each stage: the traffic report (Appendix 4), which assessed a slightly different version of the scheme. The agreement on the market land's title provides for 763 spaces (518 for the market and 245 for general use).
- Heritage sheds and their fate in each stage: the plan's heritage response (pp. 53–62) and staging plans.
- Sun and shadow: the sun's true position over Preston for the chosen date and time.
The setting
Streets, rail, parks, trees and surrounding buildings come from OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), with building footprints from Microsoft's open building footprints (ODbL) where OpenStreetMap has none. Heights of surrounding buildings are estimated. The model is placed using the State's Vicmap property boundaries.
Limits
- Which stage each part of the podium belongs to is approximate.
- The ground is flat; the site actually falls a few metres.
- The elevated rail line's height is approximate.
- Existing heights on the site follow the plan's own survey (p. 16). Walkway roofs are simplified: white membrane canopies and the clear roofs around the central crossing, from aerial imagery.
- Where the Stage 3–4 railway buildings meet the West Block, the plan's drawings overlap by a few metres. The plan marks parts of that shed's outer walls to be removed or opened (p. 54) and adds about 500 m² of new market on its west side (p. 125), but doesn't dimension the junction; the model shows both as drawn.
- The heritage shed outlines are simplified to within about 1 m. They follow the plan's heritage drawing (p. 54), which matches OpenStreetMap's outline of the market to within about 1 m.
- The non-heritage building on the North Block's north side that p. 56 proposes to demolish is placed approximately from that page's undimensioned detail; it falls in the Stage 3 construction zone (p. 126).
Add #stage-1A, #stage-2, #stage-complete and so on to the link to open a stage, or #shot-cramer, #shot-murray to open a view.