Architecture

This project combines a new community centre and an educational hub for regional schools in order to explore issues of program intensification, and to expand the Melbourne arts precinct with an education nexus reflective of the city. The project is located in the Alexandra Gardens, across from Hamer Hall and Federation Square and in close proximity to Flinders Street Station. The building forms a gateway to the CBD while redefining connections between city, river, park and art. The project provides a range of facilities supporting around the clock usage by a combination of citizens and visiting students and teachers. Spaces are cross-programmed and organised with mixed use overlapping spaces to accommodate diverse configurations and uses. A three-dimensional weaving of academic, recreation, performance, and dormitory facilities, across a range of private and shared spaces, helps generate multiple layers of usage and valuable interfaces between various occupants creating a vibrant new centre.