Living building is a centre for sustainability

However, this former brick quarry, now a shopping centre along with houses and apartments, has followed a different model.

Designed by NH Architecture (who also master planned the site) and partnered with Russell & George on the interiors, the project also includes the green touch by Joost, who created a cafe that resembles a greenhouse and garden on the rooftop.

Driven by the ???Living Building Challenge’, the brief from Frasers Property Australia was a centre that was sustainable.

“We were encouraged to create a biophyllic design, one that stemmed from the natural world,” says architect Byron George, who worked closely with his business partner architect Ryan Russell.

“This included all the senses, such as sound and scent. Form and tactility were also important,” adds Russell.

As well as being biophyllic and generating 110 per cent of its energy use, all concerned were directed to source materials and labour locally.

NH Architecture recycled many of the bricks and Russell & George used recycled timber for the interior of the complex that includes, shops, cafes, a butcher (missing from many shopping strips let alone shopping centres), along with a cinema (designed by Russell & George).

“Frasers wanted us to create a sense of place, as much as delivering a sustainable outcome,” says George.

The centre’s slightly industrial aesthetic can be appreciated on one of the escalators leading to the central lobby that leads to the central market hall.

“We came up with the idea of an industrial ruin,” says George, pointing out the irregular lengths of timber framing one of the escalators.

“It does have that slightly cavernous feel, a sense of disbelief when you first arrive,” he adds.

Made from the Formply offcuts that were used to form some of the in situ concrete walls during construction it could be compared an elaborate contemporary timber chandelier.

Russell & George also created a soundscape within this installation, as well as a cleverly devised lighting system.

“We like to say that you enter through a cave and exit under a star-lit sky,” says Russell.

The main thoroughfares created at ground level (the centre extends over three levels with a rooftop cafe and garden), also goes against the typical commercial grain found in many centres.

Recycled timber, for example, is beautifully expressed with a sculptural timber-clad ceiling that not only brings light into the core, but also frames shop windows.

The market hall is more akin to something that you would find at a country market, with a customised ceiling by Wurundjeri-william artist Mandy Nicholson, who also happens to live in the area.

Printed on canvas, the graphic ceiling was commissioned by Frasers Property Australia.

“We looked back to Roman times, when people would gather.

From the outset, it was important to create a sense of community, as much as delivering a more local feel to shopping,” says Russell.

The washing basins, for example, shared and placed between separate bathrooms, allow customers to come together, not dissimilar to the drawing water from the well centuries ago.

Those who want to enjoy tasting what’s grown on site will also appreciate dining at Joost’s rooftop cafe, framed by the extensive vegetable gardens.

Similar to a green house, the glazed pavilion offers a new take on dining in shopping centres.

“We were given the target of producing a carbon footprint of 110 per cent, with the intention of going well beyond the carbon neutral target,” says George.