Glenroy is a suburb in Melbourne, Australia, located within the City of Moreland local government area.
It’s about 12 km north of Melbourne’s Central Business District.
Award-winning architects DesignInc designed the Glenroy Community Hub.
It was completed in 2022 and its centrepiece is a new contemporary library.
The design team framed the Hub as a ‘social connector’.
That was a key strategy to build community resilience while bringing together diverse groups and encouraging community regeneration and inter-generational connection.
The library is co-located with a kindergarten, maternal child health, a community health provider, neighbourhood learning facilities, and space to socialise.
In a first for community buildings in Australia, the Hub is Passive House certified.
And it was built to achieve Living Building Challenge Petal Certification and Zero Energy Certification.
Both certifications rigorously measure environmental performance and demand high comfort standards that support users’ health, happiness, and well-being.
“Through this project, the City of Moreland is showing true leadership in sustainable design,” said Project Leader, DesignInc Principal Kieran Leong.
Through the use of biophilic design, the new hub presents the community with meaningful, restorative, and uplifting connections with nature in a building that inspires the community to come together as they learn, grow, celebrate and heal.
The building’s most striking elements are the glulam timber beams and the intensity of the internal planting.
The beams are made from locally sustainably sourced timber and are first seen outside the building.
They form an arbor facing the Bridget Shortell Reserve.
The arbor creates a transitional space, expressing strong connections with the parkland, and drawing the outdoors into the building.
Once inside, the glulam grid presents a dynamic structural pattern to the library ceiling and ties all the spaces together.
The geometric rhythm has the effect of drawing visitors into the library, creating a pleasing sense of momentum and energy.
Slender columns meet the glulam grid at key intersections and start to hint at a forest canopy.
Curvilinear walls in crisp white brick define the form of the new building.
An elegant detail in the brickwork is seen in star-patterned breeze blocks integrated into the internal air diffusion system.
Seasonal responses inspired the interior palette.
A series of earthy and natural colour schemes were developed for different areas.
Natural textures are embraced in materials like plywood, linoleum, and rubber that offer great durability, sustainability, and acoustic properties.
Extensive clerestory windows and four glazed roof ‘pop-ups’ capture plentiful daylight from multiple orientations.
The sunlight creates a delightful experience as patterns of light and shadows are in constant motion, engaging building users and connecting them with time and season.
On a practical level, the windows provide plenty of daylight so that the massed plantings of internal greenery will flourish and reduce energy consumption.
Glenroy Community Hub provides the City of Moreland community with a welcoming, nature-inspired environment to learn, grow, celebrate and heal.
Project Details
Project Size – 4,533 m2
Project Budget – $30,000,000
Completion Date – 2022
Building Levels – 2
Project Team
Architecture
DesignInc
DesignInc is an award-winning architectural and design practice. Their multidisciplinary teams are united with a shared vision to make a difference in the health and happiness of people’s lives through the quality of the environments they create.
Passive House Consultant and Services Engineering
WSP Group
WSP believes believe that for societies to thrive, we must all hold ourselves accountable for tomorrow.
Structural and Civil Engineering
Taylor Thomson Whitting
TTW are award-winning consulting engineers. For over 60 years they have partnered with architects, developers, builders, and project managers to tackle the most complex projects and engineer their vision.
Project Management
Turner & Townsend
Turner and Townsend provides cost management, project management, and program management services to clients in the real estate, infrastructure, and natural resources sectors, consulting for all levels of governments and private enterprises.
Construction
Building Engineering
Building Engineering is an accredited, award-winning commercial building company with headquarters in West Melbourne Victoria.
www.buildingengineering.com.au
Photography
Dianna Snape
Dianna Snape is an Australian architectural photographer based in Melbourne. She specializes in interiors, landscape, and architectural photography.
Her work features regularly in leading architectural and design magazines, both nationally and internationally.
Dianna is an Honours graduate of Melbourne’s RMIT BA (Photography) Course and has 15+years of experience in the field.
Photo Gallery
Click on a thumbnail image to enlarge it.
Design © 2022 DesignInc. All Rights Reserved.| Images © 2022 Dianna Snape. All Rights Reserved.
The Builtworks Quest
At Builtworks, we’re on a multi-year quest to document, showcase, and spotlight the best of Australia’s built environment.
That’s why we’re creating this comprehensive online archive and educational resource that showcases a diverse and eclectic range of project types and scales.
Together with showcasing older exemplars of enduring merit, we spotlight and celebrate new and recent additions to Australia’s built environment.