GRETA MCMILLAN Artefact

PUBLIC ARCHI TECTURE DESIGN STANDARDS V 0 L 1 2 0 2 1 O

“An ethics of architecture starts by encouraging architects that they need to begin by studying people, not buildings” - Rufus Black

00 CON T EN TS Introduction 00 KPI Legend 00 01 - The City 00 02 - Context 00 03 - Planning 00 04 - Furniture 00 05 - Material 00 References 00

2021

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IN TRODUCTION The public architecture design standards (PADS) will apply to Victoria’s built private and public architecture. The intention is to provide civic endeavour in all architectural projects with design responses driven by the consideration of people in urban contexts. It demonstrates that architects have an obligation beyond the client but to the public and the city.

There is no classification of buildings in the PADS assessment. However, the research concludes that no matter what purpose a building is designed, constructed, or adapted to be used, it must address the public domain1.

The critique of the “award-winning project” revealed that architects are not doing enough to respond to the public domain. Significant to smallscale interventions have been analyzed to assess the impact they have on public interaction. They now form a new exemplar example of how we should design with care in our city.

The standards use observation to understand how the public uses and inhabit space within our city. This analytical observation reveals the potential of simple ideas that may have existed before to profoundly impact our city functions when used collectively by all architects.

No matter how modest a building may be it can always do more within the public domain. The Public Architecture Design Standards intend to do just this – do more, be generous, and look for opportunities beyond the immediate brief to better public benefit and civic outcome.

The Public Architecture Design Standards adopts key performance indicators (KPIs) to assess performance and compliance. The building must include a large to small-scale intervention that addresses each KPI to be deemed an asset to the public domain.

1. (National construction code series 2015, 2015)

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Public Architecture Design Standards

PSYCHOLOGICAL Psychological relates to architecture’s ability to affect the emotional or mental state of the beholder. The authentic value of public architecture is that it is a commonplace where societies’ diversity and heterogeneity coexist harmoniously. Therefore, creating inclusive architecture can potentially impact how secure or valued an individual feels in the city.

EXCHANGE All [public] architecture should provide a platform for social interaction and exchange to occur. Public domain experiences are defined by situations that allow, provoke, or encourage different groups to become involved or borrow urban space for meaningful interaction2.

OPERATION Operation is defined by how successfully space invites activity from the public. It is an assessment of how well space operates to the needs of society. When areas of our city are activated, they become more welcoming and inclusive and a place of human occupation.

PRESERVAT ION Preservation understands the value of what already exists and consciously adding or editing rather than subtracting. Dealing with the existing fabric becomes fundamental to how cities grow and evolve. Protecting the memory of what was once there adds to the layered history of our city, building a rich cultural foundation.

LOOSE Loose design prescribes a sense of flexibility and adaptability to space. Embedding this in the design process ensures a building will not become obsolete. The architecture should be structured without being prescriptive so that the beholder can create their own experience within the space.

ECONOMIC An economy of means refers to making do with a small amount. It is about creating clever design solutions that are resourceful in the way they are constructed and function.

This is realised through the adaption of the existing urban fabric or how an architectural element is used.

2. (Bertram, 2017)

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“ ‘Public space’ space that is not private and freely accessible to everyone.... ‘public domain’ space that is private or public in which an exchange between different social groups is possible and occurs”

- Marten Hajer + Arnold Reijndorp

01 T H E CI T Y The City defines a new language of architecture that constitutes a larger territory. New buildings should be designed to form a part of the city fabric instead of being a statement in themself. It intends to create a broader conversation across the public sphere.

1.1 A Continuum

1.2 Controlled Density 1.3

Conversation with Existing Public Amenity

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1.1 - A Continuum

Objective To create a continuum of public buildings that exist in our City to create a new whole.

Standard The built form of the development must to one or more of the following.

• •

•

Take cues from prominent public building and icons in the State Take cues from public buildings within the areas, - such as hospitals, police stations, libraries, train stations Demonstrate a material response that defines the broader idea of Melbourne (See page 63, 5.2 Contextual Materials)

Forcourt - Take cues from Public building within the states;

Melbourne Museum, Royal Exhibition Centre, Melbourne Gateway

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Public Architecture Design Standards

1.3 - Conversation with Existing Public Amenity

Objective To create new types of infrastructure that converse with the old and the familiar.

Standard The State’s architecture and the street are composed to provide legibility and coherence to the City3. New architectural projects should reflect this notion through: • • •

An observation of how existing public amenity is used Taking cues from existing public furniture to create a new form Consistency of material color and form (See page 63, 5.2 Contextual Materials)

Bathroom - Reference typical Melbourne State Public bathrooms, with added amenity embedded in the public/private the threshold

3. (Bertram, 2017)

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1.2 - Intentional Controlled Density

Objective To use architecture and density to create active community centres that bring people together.

Standard New developments should consider density as a means of bringing people together to a central location. A building should aim for a maximum density under planning controls while taking into consideration: •

• •

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Outlook from dwellings that creates a visual connection to the external environment and their neighbours Adequate daylight into shared spaces and habitable windows Semi-public/ public space for inhabitants

Public Architecture Design Standards

Application

GORE

SMITH

STREET

STREET

S T D AV I D S T R E E T

HODGSON STREET

Smith Street Woolworths Before - Carpark

GORE

SMITH

STREET

STREET

S T D AV I D S T R E E T

HODGSON STREET

Smith Street Woolworths After

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‘The most powerful and ‘authentic’ moments in the metropolis were not the big sights but those specific points where people had taken ownership of parts of the city and ‘used it for their own purposes’ - Nigel Bertram

02 CON T EX T Context is understood through experience, history, and unity. The proposed development must converse with the buildings and context that surrounds it. Observation is vital in building an awareness of how the local and visiting users inhabit an area; the proposal must then reflect these needs.

2.1

Porous Ground Condition

2.2

Zoning Active Areas

2.3

Heritage Response

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2.2 - Porous Ground Condition

Objective To provide a ground plane condition that is easily traversable for the public.

To identify areas of public circulation and wayfinding mechanisms.

Standard New development should provide an easily traversable ground plane through one or more of the following conditions:

SMITH

ST

• New laneways that connect with existing circulation routes • Porous ground condition, where the first floor or part of the first floor is elevated • Change of material or signage to indicate a new passage

DGE CAMBRI

WELLIN

ST ST

DERBY

Before

GTON

ST

LANGRIDGE ST

This intervention improves access and pays homage to the bluestone laneways of Melbourne. The NSA lost through the new circulation is gained by increasing the podium footprint, whilst also creating a more intimate conversation with the heritage.

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Public Architecture Design Standards

After

Application on “Award Winning” Project

Before

After John Wardle, Holme Apartments, Wellington Street, Collingwood

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2.2 - Porous Ground Condition

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5

1

5

4 4 4

4

3

13

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4

3

3

3

3

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1

3

10

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3

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Market Basement and Laneway Plan 1: 1000 1.

Eat and Drink 2.

Deli 3.

Fruit and Veg 4.

Meat and Poultry 5. Seafood 6.

Nursery and Flowers 7.

Hair Body/Sanitary 8.

Home and Living 9.

Pets 10.

News, Books, Stationary 11.

Services and Alterations 12.

Public Bathrooms 13.

Outdoor Dining 14.

Loading Dock 15.

Back of House 16.

Services

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Public Architecture Design Standards

Application

Laneway - Market Closed

Laneway - Market Open

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2.2 - Zoning Active Areas

Objective To identify areas on a site that are or likely to be high activity zone.

To create a street edge condition that invites human interaction and exchange.

Standard New developments should create active areas through: • Locating active areas where there is an increased amount of foot traffic • Creating a tactile pedestrian experience through undulated and layered edge conditions • Providing external amenity that anyone can use

Bike Store

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Public Architecture Design Standards

Application

Daycare

Cafe

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2.3 - Heritage Response

Objective To sensitively respond to the heritage of a site adding to the collective memory of the context.

Standard To mindfully respond to the heritage of a site, one must first: • •

Understand the history and cultural significance of place Understand the history of occupation on a site

Then: • •

•

Create a new use for the site that reflects its current urban context Choose materials that reflect the past and create a new layer (See page 62, 5.1 Layering of History) Subtract as minimal as possible, as architecture is an additive process

Smith Street facade - Past uses are layered on top of one another. The slab responds to the Victorian windows.

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Public Architecture Design Standards

Application on “Award Winning” Project

Before

After Fieldwork, Cremone Street, Richmond

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‘First life, then spaces, then buildings - the other way around never works’ - Jan Gehl

03 PL ANNIN G Planning relates to how a building can be carefully planned without a specific program in mind. We can extend the life span through loose planning as its use can evolve and adapt over time, making it a valuable asset to the public domain.

3.1

Flexible Space

3.2

Exposing Circulation

3.3

Future Growth

3.4

Daylight into Shared Spaces

3.5

No “forgotten” Interfaces

3.6

Passive Observation / Exchange

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3.1 - Flexible Space

Objective To encourage multiple interpretations and different uses by different individuals over time.

Standard The designed space should provide a degree of flexibility to accommodate and encourage difference or purpose4. Implemented through: • A base structure that has dimensions that generous spans and useable dimensions • Utilities located close to the core to free up “prime real estate.”

• Adaptable furniture or small scale interventions that serve a dual function

(see page 40, 4.1- Opportunity to Sit)

Gallery 4. (Sennet, 2008)

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Public Architecture Design Standards

Application

Office

Home

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3.1 - Flexible Space

FIT O UT

NOO KS/E LE MENTS

AMENITY

CIRCU LATION

STRU C TU RE/C ORE

BUILDING A

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Public Architecture Design Standards

BUILDING B

Application BUILDING C

BUILDING D

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3.1 - Flexible Space

Office Inhabitation

School Inhabitation

Apartment Inhabitation

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Public Architecture Design Standards

Application

Office Plan 1: 400

School Plan 1: 400

Apartment Plan 1: 400

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3.2 - Exposing Circulation

Objective To create a visual connection between private and public.

Standard Circulation cores can be exposed through one or many of the following ways: • • • • •

A negative void within the building footprint External corridors or passageways Porous material cladding to reveal circulation beyond External circulation suspended from the main building Outdoor pathways

Fieldwork Plan Before 1: 400

Fieldwork Plan After 1: 400

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Public Architecture Design Standards

Application on “Award Winning” Project

Before

After Fieldwork, Cremone Street, Richmond

2021

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3.3 - Future Growth

Objective To allow capacity for the buildings or elements to be added to development as the community’s needs evolve Standard Architecture should be viewed as an additive process where we are constantly adding to the existing fabric. For this notion to be valid, we must design with durability and the anticipation of future growth through: • • •

Modular elements that can be rearranged added, or subtracted too Appropriate setback from future development site on or off title Construction processes that allow further development

Pre-cast Concrete Elements FAR frohn&Rojas, Wohnregal Apartments and Ateliers, Berlin Germany

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Public Architecture Design Standards

3.4 - Daylight into Shared Spaces

Objective To provide adequate daylight at multiple times of the day for both occupants and visitors of the site.

Standard Areas that are considered Semi-public on Site should: •

•

If the site is larger than 1500 metres squared, semi-public spaces should be located on multiple levels.

Have porous overhead elements (leg. walkways, eaves, awnings) to allow sunlight through

Porous Walkway

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3.5 - No “forgotten” Interfaces

Objective To ensure each elevation and interface of the building is designed with an equal amount of care, particularly the back entrance or BOH facilities.

To see value in each functional element of a building.

Standard Typical “BOH” facilities can feel more public through: •

•

Balancing the intersection of pedestrians and vehicles so they can co-exist in one moment.

Embedding waste removal infrastructure into the architecture

Back of House Entrance

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Public Architecture Design Standards

3.6 - Passive Observation / Exchange

Objective To allow passive observation and exchange to occur across multiple levels, encouraging a greater sense of community.

Standard The design and layout of buildings should maximise the opportunity for passive observation and exchange to occur through: •

• •

Exposed circulation on a multitude of levels, with standard core arrangements and breezeways (see page 30, 3.2 Exposing Circulation) User controlled privacy mechanisms (see page 54, 4.7 Privacy Screen) Semi-public space or multiple levels.

Connected Buildings

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3.6 - Passive Observation / Exchange

Office Inhabitation

Daycare Inhabitation

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Public Architecture Design Standards

Application

Office Plan 1: 400

Daycare Plan 1: 400

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‘Citizens create meaningful public space by expressing their attitudes, asserting their claims and using it for their own purposes.’

- Peter Goheen

04 SMALL SCA LE We can allow a more considerable discussion between humans and the built environment through small-scale intervention. Designed moments can make a significant impact on how people interact with the built form. They are the most tactile and experienced elements of a building, so they must be designed carefully.

4.1

Opportunity to Sit

4.2

Exposed Services

4.3

Flexible Partitions

4.4

Bicycle Parking

4.5

Porous Wall

4.6

Shared Facilities

4.7

Privacy Screen

4.8

Green Edge

4.9

Extending the Street

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4.1 - Opportunity to sit

Objective To provide the public with the opportunity to sit at the interface of public and private land.

Standard A development should utilise the edge condition as the moment where people could sit, meet or converse. An opportunity to sit is achieved by: • An undulated edge of the existing façade • An extension of a garden bed that has a boundary edge no less than 250mm • A modification of threshold to give back more to the streetscape • The creation of a dual element that functions as a bench and threshold

Internal shelf Above window loop

Sliding Window

Dual access bench

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Public Architecture Design Standards

Application on “Award Winning” Project

Before

After Fieldwork, Cremone Street, Richmond

2021

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4.1 - Opportunity to sit

Before

After Rob Kennon, North Fitzroy House, Ivan Street, North Fitzroy

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Public Architecture Design Standards

Application on “Award Winning” Project

Before

After John Wardle, Holme Apartments, Wellington Street Collingwood

2021

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4.2 - Exposed Services

Objective To allow for a building to adapt over time as services can easily be reconfigured.

Standard To expose service where possible and it does not affect the architecture output.

Other Home

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Public Architecture Design Standards

4.3 - Flexible Partitions

Objective To provide a degree of flexibility to how space can be arranged and occupied.

Standard Flexible partitions should do one or more of the following: • Be easy to move yet secure when in a decided location.

• Provide an added amenity of how the wall functions – eg. Plugin shelves, desks • Be removed and replaces if necessary

Flexible Gallery Space

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4.2 - Exposed Services

/

4.3 - Flexible Partitions

Apartment Inhabitation

Office Inhabitation

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Public Architecture Design Standards

Application

Apartment Plan 1: 400

Office Plan 1: 400

2021

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4.4 - Bike Park

Objective To provide a communal location where any individual could park their bike while using other amenities.

Standard Development should have multiple locations (other than the standard) where individuals can lock their bikes. This gives individual freedom to occupy the space independently while encouraging a sustainable mode of transport. Bike parks could be incorporated through: • •

Porous fence partitions Loop additions to existing public infrastructure eg. tram posts

Before

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Public Architecture Design Standards

After

Application on “Award Winning” Project

After Rob Kennon, North Fitzroy House, Ivan Street, North Fitzroy

2021

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4.5 - Porous Wall

Objective To create a connection between public and private conditions through a soft threshold.

Standard Porous walls allow for the threshold between public and private to be blurred. They can be achieved through: • • •

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A permeable element or material.

Undulation of how a solid material has been applied An adaptable edge condition that allows for light, air, and visual filtration

Public Architecture Design Standards

Application on “Award Winning” Project

Before

After Rob Kennon, North Fitzroy House, Ivan Street, North Fitzroy

2021

51

4.6 - Shared Facilities

Objective To provide public amenity on a private interface to multiple people can use it.

Standard Development with a street or laneway frontage should provide useable amenity to the public through: •

•

Operable systems that open up to the public yet enable the private occupier to retain control External attachments to the property

Netball or Basketball hoop to be used by laneway inhabitants

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Public Architecture Design Standards

Outdoor curtain for private Occupiers use

Operable Garage that becomes canopy/shelter for residents and neighbours.

Dual access outdoor fire place

Application on “Award Winning” Project

Before

After Rob Kennon, North Fitzroy House, Ivan Street, North Fitzroy

2021

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4.7 - Privacy Screen

Objective To give control back to the occupier on how they want to address privacy and publicness in their dwelling.

Standard Users to have control of their privacy screens through one or more of the following ways: • • •

Operable mechanisms that allow the screen to go up and down Sliding screens Adjustable blinds/screens

Adjustable frosted glass screen

Porous Cream Brick

Height control Mechanism

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Public Architecture Design Standards

Application on “Award Winning” Project

Before

After Freadman White, Milieu Apartments, Napier Street, Fitzroy

2021

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4.7 - Privacy Screen

Gallery Inhabitation

Shared Housing Inhabitation

Apartment Inhabitation

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Public Architecture Design Standards

Application

Gallery Plan 1: 400

Shared Housing Plan

1: 400

Apartment Plan 1: 400

2021

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4.8 - Green Edge

Objective To encourage development that respects the value of the landscape, the environment, and individual’s psychological health.

To encourage the retention and addition of usable green space.

To create a balance in external and internal spaces.

Standard A green edge or space should follow one or more of the following guidelines: • • •

Be located on the north side of a new development Provide relief to the built environment Be more significant enough to sit in or near

Gore Street back Entrance

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Public Architecture Design Standards

4.9 - Extending the Street

Objective To encourage and invite the collective to use a space.

Standard A development can incorporate the intervention of extending the street by: • • •

Using the same floor tile internal and externally Opening the street through more oversized windows and doors Having a ground condition that directs movement to a particular location

Extended Street Library

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“Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody.”

- Jane Jacobs

05 MAT ERIA L There is a lot of unrealised sentiment embedded in the materials of our buildings. Material selection becomes a way to express an idea through the built form. It involves taking typical building materials and exploring innovative ways to use and adapt them to have a generous outcome.

5.1

Layering of History

5.2

Contextual Materials

5.3

Adaptive Re-use

5.4

Standard Materials

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5.1 - Layering of History

Objective To continuously layer new architecture onto existing fabric to create a new form and uses.

Standard The layering of material must take into consideration one or more of the following: • •

Retaining the imprint or memory of past uses and occupation Not impact the structural integrity or form of the existing infrastructure

Bench - The imprints of what was there before remain in the materials

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Public Architecture Design Standards

5.2 - Contextual Materials

Objective To use materials that reflect the broader context of Melbourne to create a continuum in the City.

To create unity across the City Standard Standard Melbourne materials and form include: • Bluestone • Grey toned steel and concrete • Civic gesture through cantilevered steels roofs • Brunswick green (as a symbol of public infrastructure) * Materials will also be contextual to the site location

Arcade Entrance

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5.3 - Adaptive Re-use

Objective To minimise construction waste and respond to the memory of a site.

Standard Where possible, materials should be Adaptive reuse should firstly be considered holistically to the site and what structures can be retained and repurposed.

Then: Where possible, the materials from buildings that are no longer needed on site should be reused in a creative new way.

Further: New developments should consider the potential of reconfiguring in the future and therefore use standard materials (see page 54, 5.4 Standard Materials) and construction methods so materials can be repurposed.

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Public Architecture Design Standards

Application

Before

After

2021

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5.4 - Standard Materials

Objective To create new architectural types through combining standardise materials.

To use standard materials so structures can dismantle and materials reused in other projects.

To minimise construction waste, time and labor Standard To use standard materials where possible.

Standard Mesh Screen and Window

Standard Metal Sheet and brackets

Standard Window, Metal Sheet and Hinges

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Public Architecture Design Standards

Application

Standard Metal Sheets and Brackets

Standard Mesh and Windows

2021

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‘Architecture is about public space held by buildings’ - Richard Rogers

06 RE F E REN CES

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Academic References

AACA, 2018. The Profession of Architecture in Australia. Industry Profile.

Angelucci, E., 2014. Edge Conditions. Post Graduate Research. Melbourne: RMIT University.

Bertram, N., 2017. Furniture, Sructure, Infrastructure. [Place of publication not identified]: Routledge, pp.67, 68.

Itrurbe, E., 2021. Architecture and the Death of Carbon Modernity.

Koolhaas, R., 2014. Fundamentals. Venezia: Marsilio.

2015. National construction code series 2015. Canberra: ABCB. Sennett, R., 2008. The fall of public man.

Thompson, K., 2019. PP2 Lecture Series.

Victorian Government, 2021. Better Apartment Design Standards. Melbourne.

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Public Architecture Design Standards

Architectural Building References

Freadman White, Milieu Apartments, Napier Street, Fitzroy Rob Kennon, North Fitzroy House, Ivan Street, North Fitzroy John Wardle, Holme Apartments, Wellington Street Collingwood Fieldwork, Cremone Street, Richmond FAR frohn&Rojas, Wohnregal Apartments and Ateliers, Berlin Germany

2021

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GRE TA MCMILL AN SIM ONE KOCH S3663676