Brimbank Community and Civic Centre

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BACKGROUND Lyons Architecture, where Carey Lyon is a Director, designed the new 12,000m2, 6-level Civic Centre for Brimbank City Council. It is a significant community hub, offering an upgraded Sunshine Library, Council Chambers, meeting rooms, exhibition spaces, Sunshine Customer Service Centre and Council services. Lyons were appointed following an invited design competition, with the proposal to create highly visible and accessible community spaces conceived as a series of ‘urban rooms’. CONTRIBUTION The design draws on the saw-tooth industrial heritage of the site. It provides a distinctive identity, with visual emphasis on community activities within the building. The building encourages public participation and provides a cohesive workplace for the City of Brimbank. It has become a real community asset, engendering great pride in the community. As a landmark building for the City, the project contributes to the revitalisation of the Sunshine town centre. According to Professor Naomi Stead, ‘Lyons has taken high quality, carefully considered and well-resolved architectural design deep into the heart of Melbourne’s western suburbs. Is there a more important task for the contemporary architectural practitioner than to carry their work to where it is most unfamiliar, and most needed?’ This project extends Lyon’s ongoing practice in producing architecture that creates community identity and transforms civic experience. SIGNIFICANCE The building received the Public Architecture Award at the 2017 Australian Institute of Architects Victorian Awards. It is the Silver winner at the 2017 GOV Design Awards, which celebrates best government sector projects. It was shortlisted for the 2016 Victorian Premier’s Awards and the 2017 Library Design Awards by the Australian Library and Information Association. It received critical review by Naomi Stead in Architecture Australia, and media attention in Architect Victoria magazine, Star Weekly, Brimbank Council news and Bookmarc Online.