Yarraville Community Centre

  • Architecture
  • Melbourne
Yarraville Community Centre

An iconic building restored and converted into a treasured community hub

When an unlisted 1885 Victorian Gothic building is deemed unsafe, and the options are to retain or demolish it, it takes a brave, passionate community to save an iconic building and choose significant refurbishment.

The Group
Client: City of Greater Dandenong
Studios: Melbourne, Australia
YARRAVILLE COMMUNITY CENTRE CITY OF MARIBYRNONG

The Yarraville Primary School and the Yarraville Community Centre have occupied the building since 1975. In 2006, when demolition and a new build were suggested, the community voiced its attachment to the crumbling brick and sandstone building and decided to retain it.

Our Melbourne studio team and WMIA engaged in a thorough community consultation process, resulting in a design that reinforced the community’s existing associations with this iconic building.

The Yarraville Community Centre caters to a broad range of programs requiring multi-purpose environments for contemporary community education. The functional aspects of the design brief were resolved in design solutions that balanced the building’s cultural significance.