SDA
Architecture | Project Management | Consultation
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Bloomfield Street Affordable Housing

Akeyulerre Healing Centre is run by the Arrernte people and families of central Australia to maintain and promote their rich culture and knowledge, which is integral to the wellbeing of the community. Their highest priority is to educate their young people in all aspects of culture. A secondary aim is to educate non-Arrernte visitors and provide opportunities to engage with Arrernte culture.

 

Cultural practices supported by the centre include bush medicine collection, preparation and distribution; support of Angangkeres (traditional healers), men’s programs, country visits, song, dance, smoking ceremonies and harvesting bush food. The architecture of the project supports these activities in a purpose-built flexible facility that generates identity and pride for Arrernte people and provides the privacy necessary for community and cultural practice, while being a unique destination for tourists and other visitors.

 

The new building houses Akeyulerre’s administration, a lab for commercial production of bush medicines, a shop for products and art, a small sound studio for recording oral cultural material, a cultural material archive room, a large meeting room, and a generous private verandah for outdoor gatherings and activities.

 

The built form responds to the requirements of the Heritage Precinct in form and materiality and addresses the precinct’s central park. The simple forms maximise the limited budget and are dressed with structurally independent curved steel canopies that are decorated with patterns created from Akeyulerre members’ artwork. The impact of the patterns is striking against the blue sky, the shadows enliven the simple building facades and verandahs and brand the building as a place for Arrerntre culture.

 

The arrival courtyard in the centre of the site accommodates a significant mature River Red Gum which is a listed sacred site. The building’s program creates two distinct zones. The first a forward-facing courtyard and formal entry for visitors. The second, accessed by a discrete pathway, is a north-facing private area for member activities connected to the Akeyulerre sacred site. No pathway on site is steeper than 1:20, ensuring accessibility for Akeyulerre members, many of whom have limited mobility, and avoiding the need for handrails and tactile indicators.

 

Indigenous engagement was of paramount importance to the project. Consultations and design workshops with Akeyulerre staff and members started in 2016, project funding was secured in 2019. The construction contractor achieved significant Indigenous employment. The landscaping was contracted to a local training organisation and constructed entirely with Aboriginal employees and trainees. In addition to the art integrated in the verandah canopies, prominent Arrernte artist and elder Mervyn Rubuntja was commissioned to provide artwork for the entry courtyard.

 

SDA provided pro-bono services to support the project at its commencement, and once funded, offered a 10% reduction in fees for the life of the project.

BLOOMFIELD STREET AFFORDABLE HOUSING

ALICE SPRINGS 2021

Alice Springs has a homelessness rate 12 times the national average. This alarming statistic has driven Community Housing Central Australia, working with Susan Dugdale & Associates, to develop multiple housing typologies across a single secure lot to provide safe and affordable housing to those with the highest need.

SDA has worked with CHCA over a 10 year period to provide affordable housing for working First Nations families, persons with disabilities, and those with end-stage chronic disease. Understanding the complex needs of CHCA’s First Nations clientele was paramount to ensuring a high degree of flexibility in accommodation options.

Access to secure, affordable, appropriate and well managed housing has substantial benefits, keeping residents safe on an individual level, and contributing to stronger and safer communities.

A considered mix of housing typologies was developed on a single large suburban site, starting with a combination of one- and two-bedroom units forming duplexes. The one-bedroom units and the two bedroom dwellings meet Platinum (fully accessible for wheelchair users) and Gold Liveable Housing standards respectively. The duplexes are designed to have capacity for a direct internal connection between the one and two bedroom dwellings, so the combined dwelling can accommodate a carer or family supporting a client or family member living with a disability.

The recent completion of 4 units in a 2 storey building on the same site features two ground floor units designed to meet AS4299 (Adaptable Housing) intended to accommodate First Nations end-stage renal patients from remote communities with their families or carers. The secure upper floor units provide transitional housing suitable for women and children from the local women’s shelter.

The demonstrable social benefit of this project is not only the provision of a well-designed, practical, empathetic, and equitable housing, it also extends to the systems and processes of its procurement within the local economy.

For the design and development of the two-storey unit complex SDA were engaged to provide architectural services through contract administration enabling them to work closely with CHCA to develop meaningful local Aboriginal employment during construction. This demonstrable social benefit was implemented in the construction tender phase with a requirement for tenderers to submit an Indigenous Employment proposal for which there was a 20% weighting during Tender Assessment. This was then carefully monitored and tracked during the construction period. Local building company Edifice NT delivered the construction, directly employing local Aboriginal labour that contributed 24% of total hours on the project. Of those employees, 40% had continued employment after completion of construction as a direct result of their involvement in the project: the employment of an additional 5 Aboriginal people.

awards:

2024 ArchitectureAU Shortlist for Social Impact