Award of Merit:

SITE Architecture Studio for Rockingham Youth Centre

Site Architecture Studio are a Perth-based architectural practice with broad experience designing for public, local and educational communities across metropolitan and remote Western Australia. As our name identifies, we are sensitive to the response to ‘site’, honing a considered relationship between building and place. Each project seeks to develop understanding of the unique culture, climate and topography of the region to allow a carefully considered response to local conditions. We are passionate about designing civic and education architecture of enduring cultural significance, that reflects and is embraced by the local community. 

SITE’s core practice values of Understanding, Diversity and Innovation reflect our commitment to acceptance and acknowledgment of all cultures. SITE welcomes and celebrates cultural diversity within our practice and we instil an office culture of acceptance and respect. SITE actively seek to engage with Traditional Land Owners and the local communities (residential, social, school) on our projects including opportunities for inclusion and involvement of indigenous/local artists and design advisory committees. We value the First Nations cultures and heritage, and the shared Australian identity they create. SITE strive to reflect local indigenous culture and history in our architecture through creating places which reflect local communities enhanced by the culture and stories of First Nations people, to create a shared response to place and commitment to ongoing conversations around our history and place. 

As a dynamic studio practice, SITE’s team of dedicated and like-minded individuals bring unique skills, thinking and personal experience to each project, with expertise and qualifications across Architecture, Interiors, Landscape and Urban Design. Numerous staff hold multi-disciplinary qualifications and ongoing professional and personal development is encouraged, and demonstrated through the number of staff who have achieved additional qualifications during their time at the practice, with support and assistance provided by the practice to sustain and reinforce our commitment to ongoing growth and development. 

Senior staff continually support the profession through ongoing involvement in the advancement and mentoring of future practitioners through our involvement with Notre-Dame Practicum Programme, providing placement to develop professional and practical skills through engagement and mentorship. Site leadership members regularly contribute to the profession through involvement in the Architects Board as Registration examiners, as jury members for the WA architecture awards and involvement with Learning Environments Australasia (as participants, volunteers and conference chairs) all of which demonstrates SITE’s commitment to the development and recognition of good design and the quality of the profession through active engagement and discourse.

About the Project

Our initial process focuses on developing an understanding of the needs of the community. To assist in defining a shared project vision, SITE facilitated design workshops to identify core needs of the youth and staff user groups. Common themes from both staff and youth emerged, including protection, comfort and a relaxed yet quietly sophisticated natural materiality. All users identified a strong desire for the new facility to connect to the outside space and imbue a sense of warmth and nature, with an underlying robust/industrial tactility. 

The existing building was of substandard construction and lacked street presence. The structure was basic, services non-compliant and insulation non-existent, which meant considerable budget had to be allocated to the base-build upgrade, before the design. These constraints became opportunities for creative reinvention, to establish an underlying approach to the refurbishment of the interiors, reflected externally, creating a unifying architectural language that allowed small but meaningful insertions to have significant impact on the overall regenerative design response. 

Built onto all boundaries, a key approach was a considered opening-up of the facades to allow natural light into the heart and create visual transparency, connecting internal spaces within the surrounding streetscape to visually connect the inside to out. 

The spatial response was informed through the need to accommodate the diverse youth services, focusing on the creation of dedicated but flexible space and maximising connectivity. Entry is into a casual internal courtyard, softly landscaped to ease and reassure. Reception is deliberately located deep within the space to provide passive surveillance, carefully designed to be welcoming and lessen the stressful impact of a ‘formal’ counter on arrival. The space is broken into overlapping active and passive zones allowing differing activities and groups to run simultaneously. 

Materiality, composition and colour were selected to reinforce a youth focused identity and connection to the landscape. Robust materials and detailing blur the lines between internal and external space to create a sophisticated composition, complementing with a refined joinery and palette. External artwork, building elements and internal glazing film was designed in collaboration with the Community Reference-Group, reflecting a connection to place, culture and environment. 

The project reconnects a vacant City site with the community as a hub for youth services, reflecting diversity, inclusivity and providing a safe place to ‘be’. The outcomes demonstrate our strong collaborative process in which the users can identify and take ownership of a facility that not only incorporates, but celebrates their contribution.

Category: Place

Designers and Project Team:
Architectural Team: SITE Architecture Studio
Project Leader: Paul Edwards
Project Architect and Interior Designer: Naomi McCabe
Team members: Grace Kocsis and Aaron Bills

Project Team:
Builder: LKS Constructions
Superintendent: Successful Projects
Structural Engineer: Cenit Group
Electrical Engineer: ETC
Hydraulic Engineer: CHD
Mechanical Engineer: SMWC
Acoustic Engineer: Gabriel’s
Quantity Surveyor: Atlus Group
Building Surveyor: JMG & TESG
Access: Equal Access
ESD Consultant: Suho
Security: CCD-Alliance
Photography: Dion Robeson