The Ashburton Seniors Community Centre, designed by DS Architects, redeveloped an obsolete building well past its useful life.
This new building offers modern-day services and amenities to support the lifestyles of the hundreds of people that use it each week.
It was apparent that the existing spaces could no longer meet the changing needs of the staff and older adult population in the area.
The effect of this shortcoming was expected to worsen given the predicted growth of the over-60s cohort in the catchment’s population over the forthcoming decades.
DS Architects’ response was to demolish the two-storey, late-1960s building and start over, delivering a new place of learning and creative activity.
The design was inspired by the scale of a town hall in Finland by Finnish designer, Alvar Aalto, in 1949, which blends a monumental exterior with intimate internal spaces.
From the exterior, the centre is modern with striking rooflines and generous spaces arranged on one level around a central courtyard, designed to bring the community together.
The site also embraces peaceful surroundings and leafy reserve aspects with prominent exposure on High Street, Ashburton.
It acts as a visual gateway to a health and fitness park precinct, including the Ashburton Lawn Bowls Club, the Ashburton Pool and Recreation Centre, and the Craig Family Centre.
By comparison, the internal spaces in this new building feel intimate and personal and are experienced on a human scale.
The floor plan offers easy-to-access spaces and seamless navigation for older adults and staff.
The DS Architects’ design team optimised this by adding greater accessibility, extra storage, better environmental performance, and more flexibility for the future.
They realised those design objectives together with providing accommodation for functions including social support services for more than 500 people, a distribution centre for the Meals-On-Wheels service, accommodation for activities such as dancing, art, health and fitness, concerts and board game sessions.
Other associated community services such as hairdressing and podiatry were also accommodated.
Optimising the way people move through the space informed much of the decision making across this project.
This was expressed through frequent meetings with Council and public community engagement meetings with Boroondara Council and Ashburton Support Services (ASS), the organisation that leases the building.
For example, the existing building included a significant cross fall from the front of the site to the rear.
This created entry, access, and compliance issues.
The DS Architects’ design team resolved this issue by creating a clear single entry to the new building.
They designed an integrated carpark with larger bays for easier access, and a generous bus turning bay allowing passengers to exit and enter the building more safely.
Furthermore, DS Architects added elements such as central administration offices that provided better surveillance to the building ‘wings’.
A hall with break out spaces opens to a generous mezzanine level inside the entryway atrium that overlooks an adjacent bowling green and parkland.
And there is a well-located kitchen serving both the hall and courtyard.
By delivering this building, DS Architects created a mix of new multi-functional activity spaces to support the growing needs of local older adults in the modern age.
Their larger ambition is for the centre to successfully transition to a key hub for the wider community.
In doing so, it will not only contribute to the individual benefits of health, happiness, and wellbeing, but also collectively provide the important social, cultural, and recreational drivers required to build thriving communities for all cities.
Project Details
Completion Date – 2020
Building Levels – 2
Project Team
Architecture
DS Architects
DS Architects are an established architectural practice that can trace its roots back to Blomquist + Wark Architects founded in 1976.
The firm works with an expansive range of clients including universities, schools, institutions, developers, private companies, and co-ops that understand the value of design and innovation, and the value of a design team aligned with their vision.
Photography
Michelle Williams
Michelle is an award-winning Melbourne-based freelance photographer specialising in architecture, interior, and lifestyle imagery.
Photo Gallery
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Design © 2022 DS Architects. All Rights Reserved.| Images © 2022 Michelle Williams. All Rights Reserved.
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