The Link is an integrated 800m2 new build and fitout for Ginninderry Sales Office. It is the pioneer building for this venture and serves as more than just a shop front for land sales. As Ginninderry’s first retail/community hub, the brief demanded flexible, adaptable spaces welcoming a breadth of community engagement anticipated in the suburb’s initial growth phase.
Contextually, The Link provides customers with a tangible example of what their sustainable new home could be, whilst also relating to the scale and existing rural context of the adjoining Strathnairn Arts precinct. The latter is an important ‘neighbour’ – at the end of its retail life, The Link will be gifted to Strathnairn Arts and take on the role of gallery, artists’ studio and community engagement space. The building incorporates original artwork including a large perforated screen door at the rear of the building by Strathnairn artist Jo Hollier and a large three panel wall installation by Carolyn Fitzpatrick.
The interiors are designed as three functional pods linked by ‘enclosed verandahs’ or reconfigurable gathering spaces – allowing the main spaces to expand, contract or adapt with changing functions. The materials strategy aligns both with developer’s aim for promoting a sustainable community and with the blurring of scale and the notion of adaptability – expansion and contraction, loose fit, blurring of inside and out, and living in step with climate. The facility includes a number of ESD initiatives including, innovative WSUD solution reengineering and using existing farm dam, 30kW PV solar system, black water treatment, rainwater reuse, recycled materials, xeriscape plantings, natural ventilation, LED lighting.
The building received a commendation for Sustainable Architecture from the Australian Institute of Architects.
