CIVIC HALL SITE
a community design process
NEWSLETTER
4th EDITION
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CONTENTS PAGE 1 Issue #19 - 11th Mar PAGE 10 Issue #20 PAGE
18th Mar
Issue #21 - 25th Mar
civic hall site journal edition 19- 20- 21 Mar to Apr 2015 www.civichallsite.org cover image Open Door Studio Workshop graphics Cait Conley, Micha Woodhouse edit Michelle James, Ammon Beyerle
p1 ISSUE #19 - Mar 11th Upcoming Workshops - “Getting Hands On” Design Workshops are on next week at the Open Door Studio. As mentioned last week, we are working towards these workshops becoming active working group meetings. Perhaps you are passionate about a particular theme that has come up in past newsletters. Or maybe you have expertise or skills that you’d like to offer to the Community Design Process. You may just want to learn something new about an aspect of this complex project in a hands-on and tangible way. This will be an interactive workshop using multimedia, and we promise you won’t need your walking shoes this time! RSVP for one of two sessions below: Workshop 2a - Tuesday 17 March 2015, 11am-1pm Workshop 2b - Thursday 19 March 2015, 5pm-7pm New Studio Layout We’ve had fun re-arranging the Open Door Studio this week, we even made a map so you can find your way around. This layout lends itself more to the synthesis phase, with spaces that encourage people to sit down and work alone or with us on developing the ten concepts. Come in and test it out.
When looking at past designs for the Civic Hall Site we notice that many proposal include an axis of public open space that bridges between Doveton and Armstrong Streets. We questioned if this access is necessary, given there is an existing sufficient road network and insufficient pedestrian attractions on Doveton Street. Do you walk through the Civic Hall Site on your way to Doveton Street from Armstrong Street? Would you be more likely to if there were no parking cars to dodge? Or does Civic Hall Site need to provide the attraction itself for this access to be viable?
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Currently, the Civic Hall Site frontage onto Market street is cold and blank. It situates the Libraries back of house and an entrance to the car-park. Pedestrians move through spaces like this quickly, as there is little to grab their attention.
Activating the adjacent faces of this axis with areas for temporary market stalls, permanent retail or hospitality, introduces an attraction to the site that gives this, currently, very car dominated space back to the pedestrians. If we bound this area between buildings, we may be able to offer protection for pedestrians from the busy roads and cold winds. It also has great solar access to the North.
INTEGRATING IDEAS This next fortnight we will be focusing on how to integrate ideas. So far, we have already presented you two layers of work 10 use_concepts, and 10 urban form_concepts. Now we are thinking how to design inside out, and synthetically. An architectural design process includes people with varying principles and positions and therefore varies widely from architect to architect. We can think of the paper model scrunching and twisting of Frank Gehry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Gehry) to the emotive sketching of Peter Zumthor (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Zumthor). One precedent practice we admire is Muf (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muf http://www.muf.co.uk) who incorporate art, narrative and events into their urban design projects. The more people you add to this process the more creativity and complexity you get. Some early ways to think about our process are: > These concepts are formed through the layering of different aspects of the project such as urban considerations, program or use, architectural form and sustainability. > Sustainability is a layer that should govern all we do. Yes; there will always be a tension between environmental and social sustainability (maintaining the world around us versus improving our society) – so what sort of economics should we create here in Ballarat? What is feasible? > In the short term (5-10 years), use and economy might determine the levels of public/private investment and retention/demolition/development. > In the long term (50-100 years), urban form and economy might determine the use. > Each of our 10 concepts should have different emphases on urban form, use and economy. Transitioning to the next phase
p6 WinTV News did a feature on this topic last night. Hannah interviewed some visitors in the studio, the City of Ballarat CEO Anthony Schinck, and Ammon from the Core Team. There has been significant discussion in the community, in our partnership group, with Council and in the media about timelines for the Participatory Design Process. Some of the topics of discussion have been around the delayed start of the process; different expectations being or not being met – resources, events, setup and access; and systems at Council that usually mean things get done slowly. Clearly, the CivicHallSite is a difficult project for everyone, and taking big steps on from a patchy past is hard. We are all learning. Many of us are starting to realise this as a process of learning how to do things differently – together. Trust-building requires a careful approach. What we have heard from many people is: “just get on with it” “just knock it down and get it over and done with” “make a decision once and for all” We sense very clearly that there is both hope and limited patience around the project. We are also aware that any time extensions could quickly fall into the summer period of 2015/16 and so suddenly a month delay could turn into four. Originally the first stage was to begin in early November 2014 (before the state election), the second stage in April 2015, and the third in August 2015. The aim was to present 3 concepts to Council in November 2015.
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ACCESS TO HALL Another controversial topic is slowly being resolved. The days of longingly peering through the viewing windows into the Main Hall may soon be over. This week the Council has assured us that a fix for the occupancy permit in the foyer is in sight, and from the next phase we will have good access to the Hall to support the process, test events and provide tours. More details to come soon. Rugs from Roger A big thank you to Roger for donating us a large rug for the Open Door Studio! - and Rod for steam cleaning it. With rugs from Ian, this has improved the acoustics two-fold and it feels much cosier. Remember the Open Door Studio is for everyone, if you want to book the space for a meeting or event, please contact us. CIVIC SPRUCING Thank you to Judith for dropping in photos of the Clean up Australia Day at Civic Hall. Who would of thought the site was that filthy, what a great job to everyone who chipped in!
VOLUNTEER UPDATE If you ticked the ‘I want to volunteer’ box when signing up you would know we recently sent an email out to all interested in volunteering for the Civic Hall Site appealing for help. We are still looking for volunteers for a variety of tasks and roles and have started preparations in our own team.We still have a volunteer meeting tomorrow evening, Thursday 12th 6-7pm. And will hold another meetings next week Tuesday 17th 10-11am for anyone interested. TELL YOUR FRIENDS TO SIGN UP! The most important part of this participatory process is having as many participants as possible! We want to drop a ‘newsletter signup bomb’ and we would love your help. If you would like to support the process and make sure it is as successful as possible, please pass on the good news and get at least 10 of your friends to sign up at civichallsite.org. Hope to see you soon at the Open Door Studio, maybe you can be our 600th visitor...
p10 ISSUE #20 - Mar 18th NEWSLETTER 20!!! Welcome to your weekly newsletter for all things happening at the Civic Hall Site. Mairin has hit the ground running this week with Civic Hall Site events planning, kicking it off with a great workshop held yesterday morning. We are all getting very excited as Mairin’s enthusiasm fills the foyer, including curtains and picnics – a quote “I view every single day we open the foyer as an event!” As Autumn is steadily washing in, the core team realises that is time for a little change. You might sense a shift in tone: “Bunker down” – we need to get things done leading to the end of April and the transition to the next stage in 6 weeks! If you visit the studio you will see us deep in work, trying to focus, we might not always be available to talk but there’s heaps for you to see and do. “Getting hands on” – we need to encourage people to step forward, take ownership of the process, form working groups, develop responsibility, spend time designing and figuring out the project in a constructive way – it’s yours for the taking. Workshop So Far As described on Facebook by our comms manager Ailsa, we had an inspiring workshop yesterday with nine different well thought out and worked-through ‘draft’ concepts put forth for how the overall site could be better utilised in a whole design concept. All were multi-faceted and enabled multiple purposes for the whole site. As it happened, all nine submissions retained and utilised the existing Civic Hall for maximum impact, and used the surrounds creatively and productively. It was such a golden opportunity to put forward visions for the future of the whole site, including ideas for the existing Hall and Library complex, as well as adjacent streets and lane-ways. WThinking big and beyond the constraints of what’s been before – incorporating old and new. ‘Transformational’ was one of the comments made by a participant at the end of the workshop. Join us this Thursday at 5pm (or as soon thereafter as your work allows) and get involved. Everyone is welcome. This is an extraordinary opportunity to make your wish for the future, and claim a stake in what we can create together! Come along and think big - Think ‘world class’ prospects - That’s what we need. Dream big!
PARTNERSHIP GROUP AND “OUTREACH” Last Tuesday we had our 6th fortnightly partnership group meeting, located in the Open Door Studio. The main two topics we discussed were ways to enhance outreach of the project – our connection to participants outside of the Open Door Studio, and the emerging 10 urban form concepts as shared two newsletters ago. We also tried to touch on some of the outstanding preparations to support setup of the full participatory process. As facilitators of this group it has been challenging work trying to bring all members to step into the future whilst respecting everyone’s present experience of the past. This group has quite a lot to work through especially in the lead up to transitioning to the next phase of the project, setting expectations, adjusting resources and starting to build bridges. In many ways this group is a microcosm of the best and worst of the project. If you speak to one of the partnership group members in the next month, please encourage them to keep up the hard work!
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BALLARAT SNAP! How well do you know Ballarat? Where is this, or that? Which match and which don’t? Think your local knowledge is up to the challenge? Test your wits with our custom made Ballarat Snap! We don’t want to give too much away but we think it’s a playful way to encourage players to think about the whole site in detail– rather than getting overwhelmed by the bigger picture. This great idea was bought to you by our star volunteer Riccardo Ciriani! Rico will be leaving us soon back to Europe but you can visit us at the Open Door Studio for a game of Ballarat Snap and many more engaging activities.
p13 10 COMPLEX CONCEPTS - LAYER AND LAYERS This past week we have been exploring further what the 10 concepts might mean and how they will integrate all that we learnt and developed so far. We are starting to see that one of our core contributions to this process, is to -inclusively- embrace and develop complexity. It is a big site and we do (already) know a lot. Complexity theory http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complexity_theory is connected to ideas of ecology, resilience, sustainability, inclusion, diversity, economy, urbanity and community. We realise that there are many layers to the project that will speak to and accommodate different people, goals, and desires. You could say that the more layered (and complex) the concepts we produce, the greater chance of success the project has now, and into the future. The site will work better if it works on multiple levels and in multiple ways. As you may have seen in our previous two layers of 10 concepts, (10 x uses, and then 10 x urban form), there are many possible overlaps, compliments and contradictions. So, many of our 10 concepts will include different combinations of the same components. Any two concepts may have a lot in common or be variations of the same theme. It would be a waste of everyone’s time to present 10 concepts that are each mutually exclusive from each other. This means almost all of the 10 concepts will have an extended library, community use spaces, commercial spaces and more green areas, and most will have a front plaza on Mair St, – and, in response to what we have heard, make a feature of at least the foyer and main hall. We believe the divisive conversation of simply “demolition” or “retention” or “adaptation” is fading into the past.
ECONOMIST ARRIVING SOON Last week we started conversations with a few economists about supporting our team with financial and operational modelling and broader strategy advice. More to come. We are working towards providing concept economic models for each of our 10 concepts in April. If you would like to be involved please contact us directly. There will be the opportunity for community members to come along to our regular discussions, listen and participate. DATE FOR TRANSITION EXHIBITION – 10 CONCEPTS AND 2 ARTISTS’ WORK Please book your calendars in advance! We are confirming that an exhibition of the 10 concepts and artists’ work will open in the evening on the 24th of April, in the Main Hall, followed by open doors over the weekend. More details (and invites) to come. Please (keep) spreading the word...
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ISSUE #21 - Mar 25th Welcome to your weekly newsletter for all things happening at the Civic Hall Site. It’s our 21st this week! Time to celebrate with some honest hard work and much concept development. So if you’ll excuse us, this is going to be a quick newsletter as we are nose to the grindstone.
CORE TEAM UPDATES OFFICE OF THE VICTORIAN GOVERNMENT ARCHITECT Last Friday Michelle & Ammon traveled to Melbourne for a first meeting with the Office of the Victorian Government Architect in the Old Treasury Building. We discussed bringing the 10 concepts for Civic Hall Site to a Design Review Panel of independent multidisciplinary experts for peer review and constructive feedback. Our first panel review will be in May, followed by another review later in the year. The team from OVGA will visit Ballarat for a tour of the Civic Hall Site before providing a detailed briefing to each of the Panel members. On each review day, up to twelve A1 boards of drawings will be presented by our design team to the Panel for verbal feedback, which will then be followed up with written feedback.
ASSEMBLED AND WORKING INTERDEPENDENTLY This week we had our first full core team meeting. There were 8 people around the table working through our next round of priorities in the following areas: Admin; Communications; Newsletter; Partners; Site; Events; Artists; Outreach; Economy; and Design. It is a complex process and we are all finding our roles, responsibilities, and shared strategies for the year ahead. If you get involved in the process over the next month you will be likely to meet more of our team – all working interdependently. We each have different personalities and ways of approaching things. One of the most encouraging aspects this week was to for us to see early distribution of participation, noticing different people taking on the many roles to get things done, with less dependency on the coordinators. We are starting to spread the networks. Exciting times! SITE WORKS – A MAJOR UPDATE This week saw a subtle yet significant step in our participation process. Council officers have been slowly working for a number of months on options for improving the state of the Civic Hall buildings to allow regular tours and/or events as part of the process. This work followed much debate about the concept of “activation” and a clear recommendation from the partnership group for costings in late January. The significant step is that Council officers, with the Core team, agreed to offer the decision for how to allocate funds for the next round of building works directly to the Partnership Group. The partners carefully and constructively debated the merits of the proposal, shared the challenges of weighing expectations, risk, cost, reward together, and have a nuanced way forward. Over the next month leading up to the transition event April 24, 25, 26, building works will be commissioned to clean up and prepare the building for regular tours, and improve occupancy of the foyer. Furthermore, a more significant scope of works will be prepared closely with the Core team to put to tender more significant works and prepare the building for diverse regular events as part of the process.
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LAND FORM Ballarat’s unique land form is not so great for the cycling enthusiasts yet fantastic for architecture. The Civic Hall Site’s drop toward the North-East corner allows larger development to occur toward the North-East with reduced overshadowing to the South. The 3-metre fall from Doveton to Armstrong Streets gives the option to level the site at Doveton St and layer activities along Armstrong St. This stepdown frontage could accommodate retail shop fronts below and roof garden area above – continuing the same level from Doveton St. We have created an accurate topographical model and you can see these ideas in our 10 concept work if you visit the Open Door Studio soon.
GOING UP? The ‘Making Ballarat Central - CBD Strategy’, published in 2010, earmarks the Civic Hall Site for some lofty development. Suggesting the site could accommodate 4-storey buildings on its surrounds, 6-storeys toward the centre of the site and a 10-storey landmark building – the strategy has a bigger plan in mind for the Mair Street corridor, including accommodating more traffic and more 6-storey-plus development. Consulting previous designs for the Civic Hall Site, many proposals incorporate 6-storeys-plus development. Most of our conversations in the Open Door Studio to date have focused placing height around the fly tower, or pushing major development to the North-East corner of the site to encourage pedestrian activation of Mair and Armstrong Streets.
CONCEPT MOCK UP Here is a sneak preview of the presentation options for the final 10 concepts – note: this is just a ‘concept-in-progress’ for example. We will have a common layout template yet alter each slightly in order to best represent the design. Each page will include a large axonometic image, small perspectives, diagrams, precedents, a financial model and some supporting text.
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EVENTS Activating the Civic Hall Site Here is a little introduction from our Event Planner Mairin:
My brief as the Event Planner is to ‘activate the site’. Rather than a specific event, I see this as an evolving series of activities to re-energise the site and gather a momentum of engagement that is sustainable in the long-term. Most of these activities are inspired by the results of the Participatory Design Process and hopefully will test the validity of those ideas by putting them into practice on the site. Some of the ideas I am working on are: music, greening activities, pop-up retail opportunities, screenings, meetings and art happenings.
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WHAT’S ON This week we began our Lunchtime Live Music series. Organised by the wonderful Christine Tammer, this series will see Christine plus other artists provide a little ambience to the Civic Hall Site on Tuesdays & Thursdays 12pm-2pm. On Tuesday Pauline O’Shaunessy Dowling of POD Design, one of our resident artists, braved the impending winter weather in a pop-up Outdoor Art Studio. Part of Pauline’s process is to interact with the community and the Outdoor Art Studio invites other artists and community members to engage in the art-making. We will hopefully stage this space a couple of times in the coming weeks, evolving it with the pace of Pauline’s art development. Next Thursday, we will have our first film screening. This one will be a conversation between the Artist Brian Eno and the Inventor Danny Hillis, filmed as one of the SALT Seminars from the Long Now Foundation. The conversation is about extreme long-term thinking and how it is being practically applied in the design of their joint project - The 10,000 year Clock. We are lucky to have permission to publicly screen this conversation here at the Civic Hall Site, and it may provide an interesting new frame for discussions around the future of our local project. Times: Thursday 2 April, 5-7pm. RSVP via our website civichallsite.org If you have any ideas or would like to get involved, please feel free to drop into the Open Door Studio to have a chat. Alternatively, you can keep up to date with What’s On through our website Events page or Facebook page which is starting to be updated regularly.
p22 WORKSHOP 2: GETTING HANDS-ON Last week we held two workshops cutting and pasting our way to tangible draft concepts. Using colours to represent uses, we all had a go at creating our own draft concepts – some even dared to go 3-dimensional. Participants explored multiuse on site, programme adjacencies, urban considerations and building placement on site essentially using the coloured paper as 2D building blocks. We all got our hands dirty with the complexity of many layers. Come and visit the Open Door Studio to see what our workshoppers produced or to have a go at collaging your own draft concept – it is insightful.
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OTHER NEWS Volunteers Thank you to a few of you who attended our initial volunteer meetings a fortnight ago. We discussed some of the volunteer tasks that are emerging in this process, such as: helping us with activities in the Open Door Studio, encouraging more members of the community to sign up to the mailing list, delivering and distributing flyers and newsletters, leading or participating in design working groups, hosting information stalls, working bees, site clean-up and event set-up and support. We are still trying to work out induction processes and volunteer agreements that are appropriate to the tasks that are our volunteers would be engaged in. Our hope is that through this community design process we can iteratively develop improved models for community volunteering with Council.
PARTICIPATE Open Door Studio, 300 Mair St @civichallsite @civichallsite /ballaratcivichallsite SIGN UP FOR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER: civichallsite.org