With the demise of many public building types in the contemporary city, e.g. post offices and churches, there is an associated diminution of a built presence of a public realm. Although not accessible to the public, the ambulance station offers the chance to represent the public realm on the street, to remind the public of the communal dimension of city life.
Hampton Park Ambulance Station sits on the corner of a quiet residential street and a heavily trafficked road. The road is characterised by a mix of single family dwellings interspersed with public or commercial buildings often set closer to the road than the houses e.g. Hampton Park Country Fire Authority. On the north side, opposite the site, is the Hampton Park Recreational Reserve.
The ambulance station has two typological components, a tall space for vehicles and a shorter space for residential activities – essentially a house with a super-sized garage. The two components are often expressed as two volumes. In this case, Workshop Architecture chose to create a single volume under a single roof. The station is at its highest on the north side on the road, establishing its presence as an important community building. The roof slopes from west to east bringing the building into scale with the typical houses on the side street.
Design Specifications
Services Provided
Design and Documentation
Architect
Workshop Architecture
People
Project Team:Tony Styant-Browne,James Staughton, Ming Lie Photography: Workshop Architecture
Date completed
2014
Location
Hampton Park, Victoria
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