PROGRAM_ Commercial
CLIENT_ Buchan Group, Westfield
AREA_ 30,000 SQM
STATUS_ Complete
CONTRACT_ Architecture Ceiling, Interior
CREDITS_ Assoc. G.Lam, C.Huang with Grimshaw
Associate Graham Lam and Chen Huang described sustainability as a key driver in the brief, as well as the need to draw connections to place, both culturally, in terms of the area’s demographic diversity, and physically, in terms of its surrounding environment.
“We tried to find a language that was appropriate to Melbourne’s west … It’s more about character than ostentation. It’s more diverse.” The extension to the existing mall came two new sections, which is best described as the “crescent” and “eco mall,” boast natural materials, exposed structures and ample natural light. Associate Graham lead the team on the interior design for public spaces as well as the architectural ceiling.
Importantly, though, the interior actually feel different, and frankly healthier, thanks in large part to natural ventilation. This flows in through automatically adjusting vertical louvres that sit just below the ceiling plane in the new building’s arcades.
Beyond the natural ventilation and light, though, the Graham and Chen’s most important accomplishments are the views out. Because of the positioning of the glazing, you see shopfronts against a backdrop of sky, much as you would on a traditional high street. This might seem an inconsequential detail, but it is unusual for a sector that usually prefers to keep shoppers oblivious to the passage of time and the world outside.
The most convincing attempt at place making is at the eastern entry, in effect the formal access to the new additions, where you find a public square, of sorts. The square has a trendy-looking cafe facing onto it from the south and a greengrocer to the north, complete with barrels of fruit and veg spilling out into the thoroughfare, market style. It’s a bit of a suntrap and a little center piece garden crowned by a mature ficus tree lends it a vaguely idyllic feel.
It was convincingly alive with people doing all the things people might do in a real town square – shopping, drinking coffee, reading the paper, gossiping. But step through the automatic glass doors, stroll past the contextual blue stone water feature (made, of course, from boulders found on site), and you quickly find yourself adrift in a sea of baking asphalt.