pioneer museum plaza

14a. PIONEER MUSEUM PLAZA

This small public project is the first built outcome of a much broader urban design project, which seeks possibilities to seed a sustainable future for Jeparit, a small (pop. 300) wheatbelt town in the Wimmera-Mallee region of north-west Victoria.

Due to the extremely limited and fragile economy of these places, the urban plan sought out localised ‘pressure points’ such as the Pioneer Museum where small and achievable interventions could produce a significant effect.

One of the main aims of the longer-term urban strategy is to more strongly connect the town with the Wimmera River environment which enfolds it, even letting the river landscape ‘infiltrate’ public spaces and vacant blocks of the diminishing township.

The Pioneer Museum is a key site for Jeparit: it is one of the few functioning public institutions in the town, has a strong volunteer base and is highly visible as the first town structure from the main highway approach. Its close proximity to the multiple waterways and billabongs of the Wimmera River means the site can also act as an entrance for both locals and visitors to the extensive network of walking trails and bird watching opportunities currently ‘hidden’ behind levee banks of the river.

The existing museum was surrounded by a 3-metre high chainlink security fence. Through considerable negotiation we persuaded the museum volunteers that the collection could be rearranged and security re-thought. By moving the front fence line back to butt-into the sides of the main building, a new public entrance forecourt was created, where the building becomes an active gatehouse (for both museum and town) as well as an exhibit.

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RIVER / TOWN

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The design of the various new elements is derived from arrangements and techniques found in the town and surrounding areas, sometimes amplified for extra effect.

Existing materials and techniques were borrowed, continued and elaborated upon. Design was a process of studying and observing carefully the region and the way things were done there, noting the pragmatic directness of local solutions, understanding what skills existed, and what was not possible.

A palette of simple public elements can form the basis for future related works in the area as the town evolves.

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AMPLIFICATION

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A series of precast concrete furniture elements were designed, and made locally. They are light enough to transport, but heavy enough to able to be simply placed on the ground, without foundations.

Some concrete pieces were specially cast, and some were off-theshelf items. The tables combine standard pipe and base sections with reinforced cast tops. The pipes come in different lengths, allowing different height tables. The pipe legs are stabilised by half-filling with sand and bolting to the precast tops.

We drew a perfect hemisphere for the top of the bollards, but they ended up being cast from an old air-compressor cylinder end, making a somewhat flatter shape which was better for sitting on.

MAKING WEIGHT

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A new shade structure adds to the shade of the ironbark river trees, making a softly-defined space for individuals or groups to gather under, between the existing verandah and the river.

The furniture spills out from this covering, towards the raised floor of the verandah and in relation to the trees.

On the high point of the levee bank, a new platform acts as a marker and reference point, visible from both museum and river. Its circular form makes a small space within the larger environment, and looks in all directions.

MAKING SMALL SPACE

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The fixed budget of $70,000 was strategically spread across the new front fence, improved access, landscaping, lighting, signage, security, repairs and painting to the existing building and public seating.

The new facilities of the plaza serve both the museum and the river precinct – in fact they seek to join the two.

Visitors may stop and choose to enter the museum or just look through the fence and wander down to the river. School groups can hold outside classes or eat lunch after visiting the museum exhibits.

The verandah space of the existing building is lit and allowed to be used as a shaded public resting place, pointing out and making use of its generosity in a sparse and spare environment.

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LIGHTING, SIGNAGE, TREES

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Pioneer Museum Plaza NMBW Architecture Studio +Urban Architecture Laboratory, RMIT 2005 - 2007 Project Team Nigel Bertram Lucinda McLean Marika Neustupny with: Shane Murray Carey Lyon Fiona Harrisson Laura Harper Sarah Trotter First published Landscape Architecture Australia No.120, November 2008 pp.56-58 review: Delia Teschendorff Architect Victoria Awards 2008 issue, pp.52, 66-67 Awards The Regional Prize Australian Institute of Architects (Vic) Awards, 2008 Architecture Award Small Architecture Category Australian Institute of Architects (Vic) Awards, 2008 Photography NMBW

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