Brimbank City Council, Community and Civic Centre

The Brimbank Community and Civic Centre is a landmark building for the City of Brimbank, signifying growth, revitalisation and a vision for an interconnected community. Located in central Sunshine, the project is a major new community and public building for the west of Melbourne. Our team was selected following a design competition where we put forward a solution that met the diverse needs of Brimbank City Council. Our design maximises community participation, provides quality workplaces for the council and enables growth in both social capital and the local economy. The facility is part of a wider vision to rejuvenate the Sunshine retail strip and create growth in the local economy. The six level building includes a library, council chambers and services, community meeting rooms, exhibition spaces and the Sunshine Customer Service Centre. The building establishes Brimbank as the dynamic heart of Melbourne’s west by demonstrating its commitment to outstanding community services and sustainable design solutions.

Building pride in council services

The new council building has been designed to co-locate staff from various disparate locations and place them in an interconnected and collaborative environment, allowing the staff to engage with the broader community. We placed council services among community spaces to build pride in council staff and strengthen the community’s access to services. The seamless connection of public space and council services is achieved in part by a strong architectural figure that wraps around the community spaces, including the new library located over two levels. The workplace areas at the upper level of the building create a contemporary identity for the council with an integrated and collaborative work environment. Open stairs link the council spaces to shared mixed mode spaces, allowing important social connections to be made. The building layout maximises natural day lighting while the façade helps reduce solar loads. Our design allows for all community and circulation spaces to be naturally ventilated when the weather permits; one of several features contributing to the building’s 5 Star Green Star Rating.

Energising public space

Our design blurs the boundaries of public and private space to create a highly visible and user-friendly facility for the community. We worked closely with the council’s urban designers to enhance the wider project and create an integrated civic heart. The footpaths for example are widened to create something closer to a ‘civic forecourt’ rather than a footpath space. A highly visible ‘end of ride’ bicycle facility also activates the public realm on one of the site frontages. An array of external seats such as picnic tables have also been included to provide breakout areas and spaces for the community and library users. The upgraded and expanded Sunshine library is a key space designed to appeal to the community. Set over two floors, the library features a double height reading room and areas for different user groups such as children, teens and adults. The library and reading spaces are physically and visually part of the street experience, inviting the community to engage.