MacDonnell Regional Council Office Building

MacDonnell Regional Council is the municipal council for 13 remote communities near Alice Springs. Councillors are elected Aboriginal community leaders. The new building extension houses council chambers and office accommodation for MDRC’s +70 staff.  It retains the footings, slab, vertical steel of a previous building, more than doubling the usable floor area via a 595m2 second storey. 

The development maximized the use of MacDonnell Regional Council’s constrained site by investigating options for use of the site, resulting in the addition of a second storey onto their existing offices, and developing a prominent, legible and accessible public entry from Bagot Street.

The new upper-level interior spaces have sweeping views to the Todd River and MacDonnell Range. This level is designed to promote a positive staff culture with generous staff facilities and flowing spaces that encourage interaction.

The functional layout includes a zone of meeting spaces with out-of-hours public access, shared with Central Desert Council which occupy the same site. The prominent central stair well features pendant light fittings designed by Tjanpi Desert Weavers and wallpaper designed by APY lands artist Dianne Robinson.

This office development captures the subtle, pretty tones of River Redgum foliage in the adjacent riverbed in a delicate translucent screen on 3 sides of the building.

Each screen is tailored to suit its orientation, with variations to the location and density of perforations on the horizontal, concertina-like folded steel elements. The screens on the north have solid sections for maximising protection, while the screens on the south have maximum perforations.