Coastal pool to be centrepiece of Perth’s Ocean Reef Marina development

The Western Australian Government’s Ocean Reef Marina project in the northern Perth suburb of Joondalup is moving forward with its outer breakwater walls now complete, paving the way for next phase of development.

With the first rock placed in early 2021, the final completion of the breakwaters eventually involved 1.25 million tonnes of rock. The northern breakwater is 670 metres long, while the southern breakwater is1.2 kilometres long.

Being developed as a recreational, boating, residential and tourism waterfront precinct, the development includes a coastal pool for lap swimming and water sports along with a family beach within the protection of the marina.

The development will provide for more than 1,000 residential dwellings in a combination of single residential homes, apartments and mixed-use developments as well as up 12,000 metre² of retail/commercial floor space, plus, the community will get to enjoy more than 5 hectares of community spaces. 

When complete, it will include waterfront cafes and restaurants, a range of boat pens with capacity to cater for superyachts, boat stackers, boat ramps and trailer parking while also including upgraded facilities for local clubs and services with Marina Rescue Whitfords, Joondalup City RSL and Ocean Reef Sea Sports Club.

The development will also be supported by renewable energy produced by an innovative microgrid -one of the first in Australia to be deployed within a mixed-use marina precinct.

The Western Australian Government, through DevelopmentWA, has appointed Ocean Reef Renewable Energy, a subsidiary of Zenith Energy, as the operator of the proposed renewable energy electricity microgrid.

Once operational, customers within the coastal redevelopment are expected to save up to 30% on their annual energy bills.

Ocean Reef Marina will initially generate its low-cost renewable energy from a ground-mounted solar array, which will be supplemented with rooftop solar as the development progresses.

Battery technology will be deployed to store and deliver renewable energy within the precinct and Western Power's network will also be available to meet surplus requirements.

Commenting on the project, Western Australian Lands Minister, John Carey stated that the development “will be home to Perth's first coastal pool and a family beach with a dive trail within the protection of the marina.

"The grid-connected embedded network will deliver clean energy and reduce carbon emissions at the marina, in line with the Government's commitment to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

"This renewable energy project joins other innovative approaches to development and planning at the world-class Ocean Reef Marina, including Perth's first coastal pool and the construction of two-kilometre-long breakwaters."

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Images: The concept for the Ocean Reef Marina (top) and the ocean pool in the development (below). Credit: DevelopmentWA.