Studio 08

Refugium

Andrew Martel and Kirsten day

Studio Description

my house is my refuge, an emotional piece of architecture not a cold piece of convenience

Luis Barragan

Refugium is a place of refuge. Refuge is a place providing safety and shelter, or the personal state of being safe and sheltered.

Araluen is a not-for-profit disability services provider that supports adults with intellectual disabilities across Melbourne’s north-east suburbs. Araluen began in the 1940s by a group of frustrated parents. These families started a playgroup for their children in a garage in Kew because there were no better options for people with intellectual disability at the time. By forming their own group, these families created a place where their children could belong, be safe and learn outside their homes.

The challenge of this studio is to design and develop a masterplan that incorporates housing, community activity, nature, and personal relationships that are inclusive and promote safety, shelter, and happiness for neurodiverse people, their families, and their carers.

Studio Outcomes

Brief:

In the 1960’s the Araluen parent group were concerned at a lack of services for their children who had grown into adulthood. They began fundraising and purchased a large multipurpose site in 1970, in what was then rural Lower Plenty. Today Araluen supports more than 330 adults across multiple centres, in home, one to one and in the community. However, Lower Plenty remains its spiritual home. The facilities though are dated and increasingly not fit for purpose. Designed with Steiner principles as a guiding factor there are many unusual spaces that have been repurposed over the last five decades. Many of these spaces have shortcomings. It is planned that the design studio may assist Araluen by developing masterplan options for re-developing 226 Old Eltham Rd. This can include a number of issues including:

• Potential to sub-divide the property
• Building regulations in what is an environmentally sensitive area
• Potential to build disability friendly housing on the site
• Designing a new community centre with therapy space
• Redesigning an administration facility
• Access and transport issues given the shortcomings of Old Eltham Rd

Site:

The site is a 5ha bushland site located at 226 Old Eltham Road, Lower Plenty. The site is owned and occupied by Araluen. The site was purchased in the 1970s as a rural and generous bush block. Current on-site facilities include four main buildings used to deliver day programs, residential care and administration. There are also well established gardens, a tennis court, car parking and sheds.

The site is 23km north east of the city centre and access to the site lacks footpaths, public transport and proximity to community activity centres (such as retail, local industry, leisure and recreation). The closest train station is Rosanna, which is a 15minute bus ride and 11minute walk away. The closest bus stops for all routes are approximately 11 minutes from the site. The site is undulating.

Victorian Student Ideas Competition 2022:

The Australian Institute of Architects’ Student Ideas Prize is a bi-annual design and ideas competition open to all students undertaking an ACCA accredited Bachelor/Masters of Architecture course in Victoria. This year’s competition is set at Araluen’s Old Eltham Road site with a focus on diverse and inclusive medium density housing. Students who take the studio are eligible to submit their work to the competition - the prize is $2,500, a certificate, invitation to the annual awards night and a year membership with the Australian institute of Architects.

Studio Leaders

Andrew and Kirsten are both architecture teachers and researchers in the Faculty. They have run a series of thesis design studios exploring housing design for people who are neurodiverse and how thinking about disability and diversity changes the way in which we conceive of home. A current theme of their research is investigating how the home is increasingly integrated into work, social, health and other spheres of public life while needing to maintain the private attributes of safety, comfort, rest and rejuvenation.

Schedule Mondays and Thursdays 12:00-15:00

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