Jury citation
The refurbishment of an existing building, with a robust and pragmatic approach to materials, maintenance and longevity, provides the Waterloo Youth Family Community Centre with an excellent start to sustainable practice. The use of recycled materials and LED lighting, in combination with water harvesting, supports low energy use in construction and life cycle.
Where steel is used, it is understood separately from the main body of the building for simple demounting or relocation. This steel structure provides shading and a substructure for planting that further shades the building while also making vandalism difficult. This strategy is well employed to form the expression and identity of the building.
Internal comfort is passively controlled using natural ventilation, exposed thermal mass and an insulated building envelope shaded by the steel canopy structure and planting. The environmental strategies are integral to the performance, appearance and logic of the building, which itself contributes significantly to the social sustainability of the community and place.
Read the project review by Olivia Hyde for Architecture Australia.
Credits
- Project
- Waterloo Youth Family Community Centre
- Architect
- Collins and Turner
Sydney, NSW, Australia
- Project Team
- Penny Collins, Huw Turner, Lucy Humphrey, Markus Bruenjes, Sam Carroll, Chris Thomas, Narelle Naumcevski, Marcia Morley
- Consultants
-
BCA consultant
Access Australia
Builder ProjectCorp
Certifier Private Certifiers Australia
Environmental consultant Team Catalyst
Hydraulics Whipps Wood Consulting
Landscape architecture and urban design Terragram
Lighting and electrical engineers Steensen Varming
Quantity surveyor Wilde and Woollard
Stormwater Whipps Wood Consulting
Structure Arup
- Site Details
-
Location
Elizabeth Street,
Waterloo,
Sydney,
NSW,
Australia
- Project Details
-
Status
Built
Category Public / cultural
Type Community centres
- Client
-
Client name
Weave
Website weave.org.au
Source
Award
Published online: 7 Nov 2013
Words:
National Architecture Awards Jury 2013
Images:
Richard Glover
Issue
Architecture Australia, November 2013