Victoria
This small regional indigenous project establishes a ‘completely off-grid’ Keeping Place for Gunditjmara cultural material previously stored in the Melbourne Museum. The design references traditional Gunditjmara dwellings located on the Budj Bim lava flow, which occurred 7,000 or so years ago, flowing down through Lake Condah and Darlot Creek.
The project is dominated by a timber-framed and clad, steep dome which sits over a local Kurtonitj stone base. Other sections of the sinuous footprint contain meeting rooms, offices and facilities which support Gunditjmara ‘on-country’ business and land management.
The project provides its own power via a 96kW ground-mounted solar PV array, supplied by Keppel Prince sustainability engineers, from Portland. All rainwater is collected by tanks and all waste water is locally treated and disposed of on-site via an irrigation system.
This is stage one of a two stage design and was partially funded by the Victorian state goverment.
DE-CARBONISATION was a very important component of the project, as Damein Bell, former CEO of the Gunditj Mirring Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation and our commishioning client on behalf of the Board, explains: ‘Our Gunditjmara Ancestors successfully practiced sustainability and adaptation with renewable resources for many thousands of years’.
The building continues this tradition of being off-grid, powered by a 90kW PV solar ground mounted solar array, collecting and re-using all of its own rainwater, locally treating its waste water and is built of materials of very low-embodied energy, predominately structural, cladding and finishing Australian native timbers.
GAETANE ZUFFEREY, Graduate of Architecture
GUY BERRY, Project Architect
MICHAEL PILKINGTON, Design Architect
SUSAN PHILLIPS, Design Architect
TOM HAMPER, Project Architect
CONTEXT IN ASSOCIATION WITH EXTENT HERITAGE ADVISORS, CULTURAL HERITAGE MANAGEMENT PLAN
HEINRICH CONSULTING, Quantity Surveyor
KEPPEL PRINCE, PHOTO VOLTAIC GROUND-MOUNTED SOLAR ARRAY
PM DESIGN, ENGINEERS, Civil Consultant
PM DESIGN, ENGINEERS, Services Consultant
PM DESIGN, ENGINEERS, Structural Engineer
VIESTURS CIELENS DESIGN – (concept/site planning only), Landscape Consultant
The Australian Institute of Architects acknowledges First Nations peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the lands, waters, and skies of the continent now called Australia.
We express our gratitude to their Elders and Knowledge Holders whose wisdom, actions and knowledge have kept culture alive.
We recognise First Nations peoples as the first architects and builders. We appreciate their continuing work on Country from pre-invasion times to contemporary First Nations architects, and respect their rights to continue to care for Country.
