Winner: Sustainable design (building product) of the year 2023. Reef Design Lab has created Erosion Mitigation Units (EMU) in Port Phillip Bay.

Reef Design Lab has created a series of undulating modules designed to reduce wave energy and form a substrate for temperate reef-building marine species in Port Phillip Bay.

The project for the City of Greater Geelong is designed as an offshore breakwater and an easily accessible snorkelling destination for the local community.

Each module was manufactured from reusable formwork and cast in a low-energy concrete mixture with recycled shell.

The organic forms were designed to minimise material use while creating a refuge for fish and ideal surface conditions for colonising mussels and oysters.

Judges comments: "This project offers an alternative to traditional coastal erosion defences that emulates nature and was designed first and foremost to benefit marine life rather than humans. The Erosion Mitigation Units go beyond being a simple building product, helping to construct a healthier ecosystem along our coastlines while also protecting humans from the fallout of storm surges and erosion."

Studio: Reef Design Lab
Project: Erosion Mitigation Units