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Come Closer: A Meeting Pavilion, RMIT

Following the poetics of what a meeting place is. A circle around a fire remembered as a brass table top, a surface gathering the marks of all who sit there.

  • Client Brief

    A collaboration with Bridie Lunney, the project brief asked for the creation of a meeting room. Sited inside the RMIT Design hub, we saw the opportunity to fix a point of intimacy in the free-for-all space of the building.

    Design Response

    Objects brought to the table. The modernist picnic setting: an elegant sculpture of function and economy that brutalises the informality of a park. The temple: the source of the ritual inherent in a gathering. An inheritance received through the colonial picturesque landscape.

    But it is not a tomb, the walls are made of air. A composite panel of 3mm thick steel sheet and R8 insulation batts, perforated to reduce echo. Movable furniture allows for accessibility and screen based presentations. A hand sanded glass oculus filters light.
    Simultaneously an art installation, a site for performance and a beautiful room, this space is in a sense suspended, between things ancient and contemporary, within the creative and functional opportunities of combining art and architectural practice.

  • Come Closer: A Meeting Pavilion Design Characteristics

    Key values

    • Qualities of finishes across all materials
    • Flexible and accessible
    • Simple construction using readily available materials

    Key materials

    • Hand oiled 3mm thick steel sheet
    • R8 rockwool insulation batts
    • Precast concrete
    • Brass tube and sheet
    • Hand sanded glass
    • Recycled leather
  • Come Closer: A Meeting Pavilion Design Specifications

    Core deliverables

    • Meeting enclosure with movable furniture

    Services Provided

    • Concept Design

    Architect

    Workshop Architecture + Bridie Lunney

    People

    Project Director: Simon Whibley,  Bridie Lunney
    Project Team: Simon Whibley, Bridie Lunney, Bahman Andalib, Piran Rietze

    Client

    RMIT University

    Date completed

    May 2015

    Location

    RMIT Design Hub, Melbourne

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