Image Credit : Trevor Mein / Mein Photo
Project Overview
Avondale Heights in Moonee Ponds is a typical Australian ‘place’. We felt strongly that the cultural aspirations of these residents as reflected in their housing choices and styles had been largely ignored. The Avondale Heights Library and Learning Centre embraces this place, concentrates and reflects it to achieve an expressive local identity.
Moonee Ponds was famously satirized by Australian comic Barry Humphries. Later, artists like Howard Arkley changed perceptions of Australian suburbia in a series of bold, luridly depicted and highly charged paintings. The design was inspired by a response to Humphries’ satire and Arkley’s suburban iconography.
Project Commissioner
Skills Victoria, Department of Education and Early Childhood Development
Project Creator
Team
H2o architects
Tim Hurburgh, Mark O'Dwyer, Natasha Wheatland, Mathias Ott, Vanja Joffer, Soizic Bernier, Julie Buckton, Anne-Claire Deville, Adriana Stelmach
Felicetti - Structural Engineer
Fryda Dorne & Associates - Services Engineer
Rush Wright Associates - Landscape Consultant
Sadgrove Design – Graphic Designer
PJ Tibbals - Civil Engineer
Coffey Projects - Project Manager
Ireland Brown Constructions – Head Contractor
Project Brief
This prominent corner site in Avondale Heights is opposite a McDonalds and adjacent to the local shopping strip and car repair garages. It is amid a quintessential Australian suburb. Following a decade of modest local development, the Victorian Government proposed a new community resource combining an existing former school gymnasium with a new library and learning centre. This presented the opportunity for a significant, easily found and adventurous building reflecting community cultural aspirations.
The three principal building elements – existing gym, learning spaces and library – are functional and architecturally prosaic. The budget dictated a simple formal response with two essentially utilitarian volumes – one high (windowless and unadorned on the site’s most prominent corner) and one low. Initial explorations of colour and over scaled graphics also reference Pop art and previous H2o work.
The Victorian Government established the brief for a community learning centre. It was to be responsive to residents and interrelated to their social, leisure, information and learning needs. The project was delivered by Skills Victoria, Department of Innovation Industry and Regional Development.
Design themes were introduced to stakeholders early and through continuous collaboration the design evolved in a collaborative manner and has been enthusiastically received by Library staff and clientele alike.
Project Innovation / Need
After years of local rallying for funding towards an absent community meeting facility, the Victorian Government proposed a new community resource combining an existing former school gymnasium with a new library and learning centre. This presented the design opportunity for a significant, easily found and adventurous building reflecting community cultural aspirations.
The simple architectural approach of creating utilitarian high and low volumes that allowed for flexibility in terms of negotiating the budget constraints, also allowed for a required flexibility to negotiate the ‘loose fit’ accommodation brief from the government client. The most significant requirement was the adaptation of the building halfway through construction from a multipurpose hall to Library. This ‘loose fit’ adaptability was facilitated by the character of the top lit virtually windowless large volume multipurpose hall which lent itself to the adaptation with interior refit only. The balance of user needs for open access learning spaces, computer lab, staff areas and public spaces were adapted from the originally briefed areas.
The innovative ‘trompe l’oeil’ portrait wall expresses the notion of what the interior might be, in essence creating a mythical version of the contained space for the passer-by. The eclectic palette of ‘found’ materials of the ‘trompe l’oeil’ references the built details of the locale – layers of colour, patterning, tiling and timber. The façade geometries are realised internally as abstract openings, further playing on the fragmented relationship of outside/inside.
Design Challenge
In addition to the challenges of cost and context previously mentioned, the project required innovative approaches in relation to the challenges presented by the site.
The layout of the buildings and landscape around the existing gymnasium were carefully established with pedestrian connections to the local shopping area in mind, while negotiating the need for vehicle access.
During the excavation phase of construction large boulders were found. Instead of costly removal, the boulders were incorporated as a teenager’s ‘hang out’ and as a complimenting foreground arrangement to the main south wall.
Sustainability
The building is designed to be a practical and affordable low energy facility, with minimised use of energy by reducing heating and cooling loads and where possible, passive heating, cooling and ventilation are used instead of mechanical systems. To this extent features of the sustainable design are water collection, solar hot water system and sensitive material selection. The south facing saw toothed roof of the Library volume provides high level natural daylight and ventilation which is tied to an easy-to-use Building Automation System (BAS). The BAS also controls the low energy artificial light fittings to eliminate wasted usage.
Architecture - Commercial - Constructed
This award recognises the design process and product of planning, designing and constructing form, space and ambience that reflect functional, technical, social, and aesthetic considerations. Consideration given for material selection, technology, light and shadow. The project must be constructed.
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