ASRC Refugee Resource Hub

2021

Dandenong, VIC ∙ Boonwurrung Country

“Bates Smart and Garner Davis Architects have been brought on as pro bono partners to design the new hub … bringing together multiple service organisations under one roof, including legal advice, English classes and education programs, a food bank as well as daily community meals, employment support, casework, housing support and access to a health clinic … The design team envision the centre as acting ‘much like a local neighbourhood village.’”

Linda Cheng and Josh Harris, “Architects lend helping hand for new asylum seeker centre,” ArchitectureAU, 2020, bit.ly/3pwJZHK.

This project, in collaboration with Bates Smart, involved refurbishment and interior organisation. The most important changes addressed program, circulation and light. Overall, we rationalised the building’s floor plans, reworked its entry, optimised daylight ingress, supervised joinery detailing, and removed ceiling structure to increase volume in key spaces like the food bank.

The project won Australian Design Review’s 2023 IDEA award for Community Services, as well as an Australian Good Design Award in the ‘Architectural Design’ category. Users and the client have received it warmly. We are told it feels safe, functional, light-filled and welcoming.