Dingran Wang

Homeless children - a group that unnoticed by the public. Most of them live in crowded, dark conditions without the attention of family and friends. Such an environment poses a potential threat to children's health, education and safety. Homeless shelter can only provide them with the most basic need for security. In addition to the single function of sleeping, home is a place where there is warmth, love and tolerance. In my design, I want to reach a state where these children feel like being in this place-so that's my design concept Homeless Not Houseless. I intent to create freedom diversity, joy, warmth space for children.

The project site is Batman park which located at the edge of Melbourne CBD, along the Yarra River with beautiful scenery, flat terrain and convenient transportation. It has a very good geographical advantage.

Children's sleep and play are two activities that I pay attention to, and these two activities have a conflict with the space requirements. For example, when sleeping, I hope that children can have their own private space and do not need too much natural light, while playing requires more participation by many people, a sense of unlimited and closer to nature. Therefore, based on different space needs, I divided the architectural form into three parts: dining, accommodation and entertainment.

The retro red brick, the classic arched roof, and the orderly and repetitive architectural language will all show the warmth of the building.