Look up, look down, look around and you still might miss all the details built into a Wodonga estate that honour the land's former use.
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White Box Rise, a 1100 lot residential development on 27 hectares, has evolved over more than a dozen years on property that once held an army base.
This heritage is immediately obvious on a map, with Victoria Cross Parade a central thoroughfare and Australian Victoria Cross recipients remembered in all other street names.
But on the ground the links continue, such as the design of paths and paving, the choice of vegetation and equipment installed in playgrounds.
With the estate now only six to 12 months off being completed, those who have overseen its development want to make sure these connections are not forgotten.
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Registered landscape architect Chuck Wark, director of Ground Control Landscape Architecture, has worked on the Abacus Property project since 2005.
Mr Wark said the mature palms planted in the estate were a connection to Wodonga's immigration history, but also "a symbolic link to the fallen in all major military conflicts".
Peace Park on Victoria Cross Parade highlights the bravery of individuals who have earned Australia's highest military honour.
"The structure of these story boards is folded Cor-ten (rusting) steel, with stainless steel story boards etched with often harrowing extracts from the original Victoria Cross citation," he said.
"At both main pedestrian access points, the threshold pavement is coloured crimson and finished with a corduroy patterning reflecting the Victoria Cross ribbon."
The weathering steel is also used in the bollards while all reserve path alignments are designed as straight lines meeting at change of direction points.
"This patterning is modelled on tank movement, where direction of travel can be a series of straight runs followed by a single point of direction change," Mr Wark said.
A gunmetal grey paving triangle in the park on Jacka Street also reflects armoured vehicle movements after encountering tank traps, represented by rubberised softfall play structures.
"The 'sprocket paving' area is a reproduction of the drive sprocket of the Centurion Tank (post-World War II)," the landscape architect said.
In a more modern military touch, park shade sails reference the shape of a sleek, swept-wing fighter aircraft.
White Box Rise land sales and marketing manager Amanda Kotzur said potential buyers often were not aware of all the estate's military links but appreciated the theme once told.
"It's always been very positive, they think it's a lovely tribute," she said.
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