Old Shire Offices

A glowing shed and a timber box: this extension of the Old Shire Offices in Viewbank combines these two elements to create a simple and flexible facility.

Project Overview
Characteristics
Specifications

Client Brief

A multipurpose hall was needed to extend the public event facilities housed within the historic Old Shire Offices in Viewbank, Melbourne. This historic building, designed by Harold Desbrowe-Annear, needed a sensitive approach; one that respected the historic hall but also opened up to the views south to the Yarra River.

Design Response

The design response was to think of the new addition as two intersected parts: a lightweight semi-translucent structure, that framed the circulation from the existing hall to the new building, and a container for these new uses.

A covered deck area provides a porch between the old and new buildings, allowing them to be access independently, or used together. This is one of three external spaces created by the proposal; a shared deck extends from the multipurpose spaces to look over the sport grounds and riverbanks below, and to the north, a sheltered terrace area is created for more informal use.

The materials used for the project are robust and low maintenance – fibreglass cladding, external plywood sheeting, and wet pour rubber for the external areas – but each gives a particular character to the building and its relationship to the existing hall. The fiberglass provides a cloud-like translucency around the solidity of the timber pavilion, the timber cladding responds to the weatherboards of the existing building but sits apart from it.
Old Shire Offices Characteristics
Key values
- Flexible use, in conjunction with or independent from the historic hall
- Robust low maintenance materials with clear qualities
- Multiple external spaces
- Ability to host several groups at once
- Respectful towards historic hall
Key materials
- Translucent fibreglass Cladding
- External plywood cladding
- Wetpour rubber external surfaces
Old Shire Offices Specifications
Core deliverables
- Child care x 2
- Kindergarten room x 1
- Consultation rooms x 2 and waiting area
- Various internal and external storage areas
- Staff areas and meeting room
- Bathroom and baby change facilities
- Outdoor deck connected to external plaground
Services provided
- 2 x Multipurpose rooms
- Storage
- Kitchen facility
- Toilets
- External covered deck
Architect

Workshop Architecture

People

Project Director: Simon Whibley
Project Team: Simon Whibley, Aaron Robinson, Jessica Heald

Client

Banyule City Council

Date completed

In Development

Location and area

Viewbank, Melbourne

Internal 185 m² External Decks 65 m²

Related projects

Sorrento Visitor Centre

A combination of urban design, sculpture and architecture creating new spaces for the public life of Sorrento.

View project

Pomonal Community Hall

Expressing a moment of change in the town of Pomonal – from the memory of the existing hall to a contemporary place for the community.

View project

NGV Summer Pavilion

A helium filled structure lighter than the air it displaces, tethered with weighted tension cables, resting on the courtyard surface.

View project

Community Care Home

A residential care facility a range of disenfranchised and vulnerable people.

View project

NGV External Lighting

A comprehensive external lighting strategy for NGV in St Kilda Road which integrates several components into the heritage fabric of the iconic existing building.

View project

Hampton Park Ambulance Station

Conceived as a house with a super-sized garage, this building is clad in emergency services livery including the iconic red-cross.

View project

Eaglehawk Bowling Club Canopies

Drawing upon the existing clubroom structure, the screen wall and green canopies curve together as an integrated, civic-scale street edge.

View project

Park Facilities for Masons Falls and Jehosaphat Gully

By combining familiar rural forms with a direct response to the site, we wanted these facilities to feel like they’d always been there.

View project

Camberwell Primary School

For a local primary school running an immersive bilingual program in French and English, this project includes six classrooms above a multi-purpose gymnasium.

View project

Greenhills Primary School, Greensborough

The implementation of a masterplan with new administration building, classroom block, and ‘Cultural Centre’ housing Library, Art, Music, Canteen and ICT spaces.

View project

Monash Sound Shell, Clayton

A place for performance – music, dance, theatre and film - the sound shell acts as a catalyst to enliven the entire surrounding precinct.

View project

North Melbourne Primary School Stage 3

Abandoning traditional classrooms in favour of an ‘activity based team teaching’ model, this project contains two open plan ‘learning neighbourhoods’ across two levels.

View project

North Melbourne Primary School Stage 2

New new multi-purpose hall / gymnasium and after school care facilities along with the remodelling of the west wing of the existing heritage building.

View project

North Melbourne Primary School Stage 1

New classrooms, library and administration facilities along with the remodelling of the east and central wings of the existing heritage building.

View project

Monash Recreation Pavilion, Clayton

Designed to encourage student social interaction this building houses a flexible, multi-purpose space and service areas to support a range of student activities.

View project

Monash Recreation Pavilion, Berwick

Designed to encourage student social interaction this building houses a flexible, multi-purpose space and service areas to support a range of student activities.

View project

Sorrento Couta Boat Sailing Club

Celebrating the history and material iconography of the Mornington Peninsula, this project reflects on the traditions of timber boatbuilding and maritime navigation.

View project