Bocce Pavilion

• Completion: May 2003
• Construction: 3.5 months
• Builder: DJO Constructions Dan Olly
• Photography: Yvonne Qumi
• Client: City of Yarra
• Location: Princes Hill

The bocce pavilion was designed mainly to serve a group of post war Italian migrants who meet every Sunday afternoon and play a game of bocce. They wanted a “room” to call their own – a place to display paraphernalia, store equipment and play cards when it rained.

The building takes its lead from the original amenities building – a corrugated metal building with curved roof and louvre windows. The pavilion extends the curved roof towards the bocce rinks and beyond the line of the building becoming a covered area (or “la verandah”) to view the game. The main space of the pavilion has a curved ceiling painted sky blue and generous proportions. This light filled space is “the room” the club members had dreamed of having.

It provides an interesting model that could be easily applied to many situations and locations – it is a low cost building that does not seek to prescribe a particular use and yet fulfills a multitude of needs in the community