Korumburra Community Hub

The design process involved extensive stakeholder consultation with multiple user groups and the broader community. Numerous workshops were conducted, applying co-design principles to optimize engagement and refine the proposed facility’s briefing. Throughout the process, ongoing conversations were held with representatives from the Bunarung People of the Kulin Nation.

The project site underwent several relocations due to funding and planning challenges, adding complexity. fjcstudio conducted extensive urban design studies to assist the council in selecting a suitable site. The final location, situated centrally within the township on a hill, offers excellent exposure to the local streetscape and distant rolling farmland hills.

The site’s topography and diverse functional requirements inspired a thoughtful design response across two levels, ensuring sensitivity to its surroundings. fjcstudio carefully integrated the building around mature trees on the site while achieving full compliance with Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) accessibility standards across all levels—an impressive feat given the challenging hilly terrain. The library occupies the upper level, featuring expansive views of the heritage town center and panoramic vistas of farmland and forests.

The conceptual design of the Korumburra Community Hub aims to establish a new community heart for the rapidly expanding regional township and its surroundings. The core objective is to create a welcoming and accessible multi-purpose facility that meets the needs of the evolving local demographics. This includes accommodating new young families relocating to this historic township on the outskirts of Melbourne, while also catering to older residents from surrounding traditional farming communities.

Considerable attention was devoted to designing a series of new public spaces that seamlessly integrate with the area’s heritage streetscape, situated at the foothills of the Strzelecki Ranges. Extensive studies were conducted to ensure the new landscape and building are fully compliant with Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) accessibility standards, despite the challenges posed by the steep site.

Central to the design philosophy was the preservation of existing mature trees on the site and the optimization of both inward and outward views from the building. The built form was carefully sculpted around these trees and views, while adhering to passive design principles. The scale and materials chosen allow the building to harmoniously blend with its natural environment and surroundings.

The Community Hub was conceived with a strong commitment to sustainability, influencing all major design decisions. The placement of the building maximizes access to natural light and views, while the retention of existing trees contributes to environmental performance goals. Features such as solar panels, water-sensitive urban design, rainwater tanks, locally sourced materials, and cross-ventilation further enhance the facility’s sustainable credentials.

The Hub serves as a unifying space for diverse user groups, including the Library, Local Heritage Committee, Mipara House Community and Social Services, and the Council Service Centre. It has quickly become a beloved community asset, revitalizing the heart of the township.

The project represents one of the first libraries in Victoria to offer 24-hour access to the community. Situated in a regional town where many workers have non-standard hours and work shifts, the design incorporates a clever solution with two distinct entries. This design feature allows the library to be secured from other spaces after hours while maintaining a welcoming and inviting atmosphere throughout all hours of operation. The facility accommodates multiple user groups by utilizing highly flexible spaces that meet diverse needs.

Addressing the complexity of catering to multiple users and functions on a site with steep topography required an innovative approach to design. This resulted in two separate entries—one at upper and one at lower levels—ensuring easy access to each part of the facility with clear separation of uses. This approach optimizes views, amenities, acoustics, and identity for each group. The project benefited greatly from the collaboration of a multi-disciplinary team, including 3 Acres Landscape Architects, Hive Structural Engineers, and service consultants. Close cooperation with stakeholders from the South Gippsland Shire and the client team ensured the project was delivered on budget and on schedule.

The design employs domestic materials that blend harmoniously with the site’s unique town position and rural views. A welcoming, open, and contemporary entry portal creates an iconic address and includes outdoor reading spaces. The community hall opens onto a beautifully landscaped area, enhancing the experience for both users and visitors alike.

The design’s success in seamlessly accommodating both young and old users underscores the value of thoughtful design principles.

The project has been widely embraced as an exciting and positive addition to the Korumburra Shire. The extensively utilized facility now serves as the new heart of the town, attracting a diverse demographic of users and visitors alike. The retention of a significant cluster of trees on the site has beautifully integrated the building within its surroundings. The project sets a high standard in design and stands out uniquely within its regional context, with a strong street presence and a polite response when viewed from a distance.

The project embodies a highly sustainable agenda, encompassing both the built form and the surrounding landscape. Features such as biofiltration, solar energy utilization, Indigenous plantings, Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD), recycling initiatives, and the use of locally sourced natural materials contribute significantly to the circular economy.

Clever site planning, flexible use of spaces, and thoughtful consideration of views and circulation systems have created a new community hub that will continue to benefit the community well into the future.

The building was modelled for performance optimisation and thermal comfort to enable fabric and glazing selection to lower site waste, embodied and operational carbon input. This was achieved using complex software modelling to simulate usage patterns, weather patterns and building geometry to inform architectural building fabric detailing, window selection and built form to both minimise operational energy inputs and lower construction costs.

Coupled with demand-controlled active systems within the building, the systems that breathe life to the centre include air-conditioning with integrated free heating and cooling capability, low-glare dimmable lighting and rain water harvesting that are interconnected to technology and sensors that combine simple best-practice to mimic exemplary construction equivalents.

In this manner, the built form aims to limit the future refurbishment requirements whilst maximising life-cycle, carefully considering replaceable equipment that can be exchanged in one future project to more efficient future systems in a singular project, minimising staggered life-cycle replacements, better enabling recycling through project scale and the reducing the associated building waste and cost therein.