Formal treatment of lake fronting Government Centre

The lake in this slide is the same shape as the previous slide, to be created by following the natural contours of the land, with the exception of the Central Basin.

Here, the Central Basin is an unusual shape and quite different to the semi-circle feature that was proposed by Walter Burley Griffin.

The shoreline where the Central Basin intersects with the Government Centre is not a straight line, as per Walter Burley Griffin's plan; instead, the two upper-most corners of what is now known as the Parliamentary Triangle are submerged.

By more closely following the natural contours in this area, Walter Scott Griffiths hoped to minimise the amount of excavation and infill needed to construct the lake, whilst still creating a Central Basin that had a formal rather than irregular shape.

Burley Griffin's design for the lake, from his Preliminary Plan, is shown by dotted lines on this map.