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Vision Magazine
THE STRATEGY HERE IS TO GIVE
THE COMMUNITY OWNERSHIP.
FUNDAMENTALLY, THEY OWN THIS CENTRE.
IT HAS BECOME A REAL SENSE OF PRIDE.
Fady Hachem
Architect
How well does it live up to its name as a flagship
structure for Ecoville?
It delivers substance. That gives it leverage. The local
Ecoville Committee is putting in new infrastructure.
They’re planning a skateboard ramp. There’s a
basketball court attached and dog exercise area.
It will become a real focus.
What are some of its Green qualities?
It has a sustainable edge. There are wind turbines
in the structure. Those generate power that
feeds the park itself. There’s also water capture of
300,000 litres from the street that also feeds the
park. Air-conditioning is provided through cooled
underground tunnels and circulated throughout
the centre on warm days.
How long did it take for the basic design
to materialize?
I locked myself in a room, researched and came
up with a strategy. I did my sketches over
a two-week period.
Open House
Does the built project vary from the
original sketches?
The project has been scaled back. I proposed
a butterfly sanctuary. There were tree-houses and
a number of other customized elements. The client
and council had concern about liability, although
I disagreed as measures can be taken to protect
users, the project inevitably was curtailed to a more
conventional use.
What were your key influences?
In terms of the park itself, I love CERES, a selfsustainable park in Melbourne’s inner-city Brunswick.
It has a great community drive. It has an organic
garden and is really well developed and well run by
the community. I wanted some of that same quality
of community ownership in the west. If we can provide
the same foundations, then we’ve done our job. That
was one of the fundamental inspirations for our park.
We have a community organic garden there now.