ClubHouse
Club House
Dominik Holzer
Fitzroy North Sports Club & Community Centre
Brunswick Street Oval Precinct
Studio Description
Sports Clubs form an essential part of Melbourne’s cultural heritage. Their club houses celebrate the ‘Australian way of life’, where people get together to support their teams, enjoy a beer, or a BBQ on a hot summer’s day. Many of these facilities have become community hubs that reach beyond their primary association with sports. Yet a deeper investigation of existing club houses reveals a dissonance between how they were designed back then and the contemporary affordances of a diverse and inclusive society. Previously, the design of club facilities followed rather simplistic rules, guided by the needs of a male clientele and for pre-defined rituals associated with different sporting activities. As demographics change and communities become more multi-facetted and focused on well-being, many of the existing facilities are no longer ‘fit for purpose’.
In this studio, we will first analyse the current context and location specificity of the Brunswick Street Oval facilities in Fitzroy North. We will then reenvisage its Club House towards becoming an inclusive and environmentally sustainable hub, serving as a catalyst for the vibrant local community.
Studio Outcomes
In Studio Club House we will first conduct background research on historical and demographic context and its affordances, to then develop a masterplan for the area north of the existing Brunswick Street Oval and its neighbouring Club House facilities (group work). Considering heritage overlays, students will then individually propose a new Club House and annex building to complement the existing grandstand. This will require a strong engagement with cultural sensitivities of the site, the well-being of its occupants, and a re-programming of the site to embrace the activities desired by a diverse and inclusive community.
As part of the studio’s design development, all students will emphasise the technical and material characteristics of their project with associated opportunities that help shape its morphology, layout, tectonic, and skin. Following the contemporary discourse on environmental sustainability, students will embrace circularity for energy-efficient retrofit and apply building-performance-analysis to optimise their designs and decrease their carbon footprint.
Studio Leader/s
A/Prof Dominik Holzer joined the MsD in 2013 after years working in practice as an architect in the UK and in Australia. His key areas of interest relate to the nexus between design, research and praxis, with a strong emphasis on digital tools and associated processes. Dominik regularly teaches Masters-level studios, and he recently helped oversee the ‘Integrated Design Studios’ that were delivered jointly across Architecture and Engineering at the UoM. His work shows that: as much as software/tools are often foregrounded when considering design technology, individual style, first principles and a conscious engagement with process are equally relevant.
Readings & References
https://www.communitydirectors.com.au/articles/transforming-australian-culture-through-sport
https://www.northfitzroyrotunda.com/_files/ugd/595653_5e139414cf3f427189f6a37f1beb0080.pdf
https://www.emelbourne.net.au/biogs/EM01413b.htm
https://www.fitzroytc.net/club-history-2
https://yoursayyarra.com.au/brunswickstoval/tennis
http://images.heritage.vic.gov.au/attachment/31254
https://mapshare.vic.gov.au/vicplan/
Schedule:
MSD 239
Monday, Wednesday and Friday 3pm-7pm
Need enrolment assistance?
Stop 1 provides enrolment and other support to Bachelor of Design, Bachelor of Environments and Melbourne School of Design students.