tags: affordable, community, recreation

Great images from Pecha Kucha VOL 17 “What is Light?” – taken by one very talented Neo Feliciano!

I was privileged to be part of organising the event with Dave Anderson and Michelle James. I am not sure I will give my day job and become an event manager – but it was great fun and there was a great spirit – not to mention some fantastic work by some incredibly talented people.

The best quote for me was by Steve Wright who said “What is Light? Light is ambience!”.

Check out all the photos here. Paul Beal has also written a brief piece on the Electrolight website.

Antony

tags: community, lighting, media

Imagining the future – being inspired by the possibility of the new – and making strong connections between structure and landscape are two of our guiding principles. We enjoy applying these principles to public and private projects of every size … even to the ‘smallest room in the house’.

This project, for Brimbank City Council, involved the design of an enclosure for an Exeloo automated toilet in new parkland. Our aim, on a limited budget, was to add some design flair to the typically rectangular facility whilst providing for the future installation of solar panels.

The ‘greenfield’ nature of the site allowed us to site the structure appropriately in the landscape and properly relate it to other structures in the park, particularly the shading over nearby picnic tables.

tags: community, park, toilet

They may not be glamorous, but public toilets around Melbourne are in desperate need of sensitive design input.

Over the past 12-18 months Di Mase Architects has been assisting WC Innovations with the development of prototypes for simple, flexible public toilets that can be customised with variations of roof form and decorative treatment to suit particular sites. The aim is for them to expand the range of services they can provide, typically to councils and the like. Priorities have included ease of construction, durability, adaptability, natural light and ventilation and several schematic designs have been developed to support tender submissions by WC Innovations.

tags: community, prefabrication, public, toilet

Di Mase Architects has recently been working with Uniting Church Deepdene to develop a masterplan for their Bourke Road site, having recently amalgamated with a neighbouring parish. We were initially contracted to consult with church council, parishioners, community groups, facilities users, local council and neighbours in a managed workshop process to develop a working architectural brief. We have since been engaged as architects through completion of the project and we’re excited about its potential to breathe new life into the site.

tags: accessibility, community, refurbishment

Our ability to quickly and effectively demonstrate the visual and massing implications of different design directions has enabled Council to decide on the merits of proposed planning policies in an informed way.

tags: community, sustainable, urban

This project for Brimbank City Council was to design an enclosure for an Exeloo automated toilet that allowed the very rectangular facility to relate visually with the more organic shading on nearby picnic tables. Care was taken to site the structure appropriately in the landscape and provision was made for the future installation of solar panels to power the facility.

Check out the project page here

tags: community, park, public, toilet

This project is being undertaken for the City of Yarra. The project is for a new Open Air Pavilion in Curtain Square in North Carlton.

Part of our work was to investigate precedences for this type of structure in and around Melbourne and provide alternatives to Council to consider. The project will also involve extensive community consultation with key stakeholders to produce a result that is supported by the community.

tags: community, park, public, tradition

The building takes its lead from the original amenities building – a corrugated metal building with a curved roof and louvre windows that was built by the local council. 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. Beneath the curved roof is the main space of the pavilion – with a curved ceiling painted sky blue and generous proportions, this light-filled space is the ‘room’ the club members had dreamed of.

The bocce pavilion is a small public community room. Domestic in scale, it resembles a large living room in a house. It is an uncomplicated space and whilst the room is principally for the bocce club it has been used for many activities, including lessons in sitar playing, photography exhibitions and family gatherings. 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. In doing so it fulfils a multitude of needs in the community that could not be imagined at the start of a simple project.

tags: affordable, community, media, recreation, small