The new Centre for Health and Wellbeing is Woods Bagot’s latest energy-efficient building concept, which will also function as an attractive social and working environment. The project incorporates active mass cooling concrete slabs, rainwater harvesting, solar hot water heating panels, six wind turbines and a roof top garden terrace.
The centre is designed to house lecture theatres, classrooms, staff areas, nursing laboratories, a gymnasium, café-bookshop and a rooftop terrace and garden to accommodate 2,000 students and 500 staff. The research and teaching facility display positive development in healthy architecture as it will create new standards in energy-efficient design without compromising the attractiveness of social or faculty workplace environments.
The building section is organised with all academic offices on the northern side of the atrium with access to natural light. Seeking to enhance collaboration and creativity, the workspaces for general teaching and high-level research staff are well-integrated in the southern component of the centre. The eco-conscious spirit of the design also extends to level six, where a landscaped rooftop terrace overlooks picturesque Fitzroy to the North. The roof’s uneven profile pays homage to the Melbourne suburb’s industrial past, while creating a weather-protected facility for staff, students and friends.
The building is well-embedded within its urban context. The project site mediates between the contrasting urban conditions to create a strong visual connection between the centre and its surrounds. The building mass and height construe the qualities inherent in both the brief and the location as staggered volumes accelerate toward the south revealing a changing asymmetric silhouette when viewed from differing street vantage points.
The centre’s architectural presence is further defined by a natural palette of materials including concrete, brick, zinc and glass. The ground and mezzanine floors will be occupied by a cafe bookshop and lecture theatre. The chapel and clinics will face Brunswick Street, a major retail hub in Fitzroy. The building entry will engage with the pedestrian community with access links to other main streets and suburbs located nearby.
Construction on the 6 Star Energy rating development is due to commence shortly with the centre expected to open for the 2013 academic year.
