Victoria
Murran is an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Business, Retail and Arts Hub located on Wadawurrung Country in the Geelong CBD, Victoria. Led by not-for-profit organisation Ngarrimili, Murran includes a retail store, art gallery, café, coworking areas, meeting and conference rooms, and provides the First Nations and wider community with business and entrepreneurship opportunities, career pathways, culture and learning.
Murran, meaning Eucalyptus in Wadawurrung language, represents a welcome gift, cleansing and healing. The shop fit out was designed by Dawn Architecture in close consultation with an all female First Nations advisory group, with the architectural response providing spaces for gathering, connection, culture, and collaboration. Materials and colours reference the Australian landscape.
Key contributors include Ngarrimili, the First Nations advisory group, design consultant Chris Connell Design, and the builder Laney Constructions. The project was funded by the Victorian State Government, with the build completed on time and budget in December 2023.
Murran fulfils our requirements and exceeds our expectations as a world class Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander business, retail and arts hub on Wadawurrung Country.
The hub reflects the local people and culture respectfully, after consultation with the Traditional Owners, and is a welcoming, functioning environment in conversation with Wadawurrung culture.
The hub provides for a multitude of productive functions in a beautiful space for Ngarrimili’s ever expanding services. Each space creating a new experience for visitors, whilst remaining true to Ngarrimili’s core vision of Blak Excellence.
First Nations advisory group, Design Consultant (advisory group assembled for the project)
Chris Connell Design, Design Consultant
Calco Timbers (Colac) P/L, Structural Engineer
Stonehenge Consulting, Access Consultant
Prorate Energy, ESD Consultant
Jaques Joinery, Joinery
Ocean Grind, Coffee Consultant and Trainer
Dawn Architecture / Amati Design & Construct, Furniture design and construction
Baiyama Art, Artist
BSA Building Surveyors, Building Surveyor
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.
