This technologically advanced, sustainably-focused new Civic and Administration Centre is located in the rural setting of Nhill, Victoria, Australia.
The precinct re-uses the existing 1960’s building and encapsulates it within its new contemporary built form. The building was inspired by the town’s identity as a hub of wheat production with steel storage silos and agricultural sheds dotting the landscape. The new centre’s form and restrained material palette of timber, steel and glass gives subtle references to the local agricultural context; utilising the craftsmanship of the folded metal inherent in the silos in the form of locally sourced steel and zinc finishes along the building’s exterior.
The project is the development of Hindmarsh Shire Council’s new corporate offices and Civic Centre, accommodating 70 staff with expansion capability for up to 100. Although double the size of the building it replaces, the facility uses 60 per cent less electricity. The facility incorporates activity based workplace design and provides a level of environmental comfort and finish which enables employees to work in a climate of professionalism more than equal to that found in a capital city.
With ESD principles at the core of the building’s design intent, k20 Architecture utilised a number of innovations to deliver an outcome that would not only minimise embodied energy and energy loadings within the building, but also reduce carbon output for the life of the project and provide an enhanced internal environment for its inhabitants.
