Renowned architecture and design practice fjcstudio has been in the news recently. The Darlington Public School project was awarded top honours as the Best of The Best at the 2024 INDE.Awards and also received the accolade of Building of the Year at the 2024 World Architecture Festival. The practice creates inspirational architecture and interiors and is justifiably accorded honours for its work.

fjcstudio is based on the eastern Australian seaboard in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, along with a studio in Oxford, United Kingdom. With a spotlight on the fjc Melbourne studio, there are myriad projects completed and underway that are making an indelible imprint on the built landscape of Melbourne and the regions of Victoria.

With a new studio on the 17^th level of 263 Williams Street, the practice is working in a purpose-built environment that also has spectacular views of Melbourne, and the architects can easily keep tabs on their projects under construction in the city!

The Melbourne office is expanding and, under the leadership of Geoff Croker, there are multiple projects in play at the moment. With fjcstudio acclaimed for its sophisticated and sustainable design solutions for all genres of architecture, the current portfolio of the Melbourne team covers the realms of cultural, community, education, workplace and commercial work.

A reflection of this is a recently completed project, Korumburra Community Hub. As a design for a library and multiple-purpose facility for a growing community in regional Victoria, this building is outstanding.

This striking community building responds beautifully to its location within the heritage township of Korumburra, surrounded by dairy farms and distant views of the Strzelecki Ranges. The sloping site required a clever design that is accessible at an upper and lower level of the building. Great care was taken to maintain substantial mature trees on the site with the built form sculptured around the landscape as well as providing a civic presence to the street.

Sustainability initiatives are many, with solar panels, water-sensitive design, rainwater tanks and cross ventilation and, where possible, materials were locally sourced. The project has become a gathering place for the diverse local community bringing together groups such as the Library, Local Heritage Committee, Mipara House Community, Social Services and the Council Service Centre.

Another project of note is Nunawading Community Hub, where fjcstudio’s approach was to create an open and inviting public building for a broad range of community activities and gatherings, while also addressing specific user group needs.

The architecture is designed to be inviting and transparent, reinforcing the connectivity to the natural assets of the landscaped setting, heritage and residential suburban context.

The project brings together 26 disparate community groups into a single purpose-built facility, while the heritage school building accommodates counselling rooms and large flexible meeting spaces, all with high levels of acoustic treatment and audio-visual equipment.

In progress are two projects that are breaking new ground on the spectrum of design. The first is Bennetts Lane, a mixed-use development in the heart of Melbourne’s CBD. The development is at the cutting edge of commercial design and centres around the concept of an integrated vertical village.

The tight inner-city site is adjacent to Bennett’s Lane which housed one of Melbourne’s original jazz clubs. The project includes extensive outdoor terraces on each floor that afford uninterrupted views of the surrounding city skyline.

The project offers retail, food and beverage, hotel and commercial floor plates. With the built form responding to location, the structure does not overshadow the public realm and establishes the north-facing Bennett’s Lane as a new entertainment destination for Melbourne.

The other project is Lindrum, a redevelopment of the current heritage listed Lindrum Hotel on Flinders Street, Melbourne to be completed in 2026. The Lindrum Hotel project is another important landmark of the Melbourne CBD. Perched above the heritage fabric of iconic Flinders Street, the project comprises a splinter 30-storey commercial tower. The tower is to be seven metres wide and will provide excellent views of the Yarra River, Royal Botanical Gardens Victoria and the MCG. The tower was designed to respond to its site with a base, podium and thin tower form floating above the restored heritage building. This important commission will create and celebrate a city edge gateway to Melbourne.

One last project of note that has made a huge impact on the local community of Narre Warren in Victoria is Bunjil Place, a new form of community and civic building. Internationally recognised as world’s best design practice, it is one of the largest timber structures in the Southern Hemisphere.

To help realise the project, fjcstudio worked together with representatives of the Kulin Nation and the local community and council. The design is informed by the Bunjil Eagle and consists of an 800-seat theatre, black box studio, library, art gallery, meeting spaces and new civic offices for the City of Casey.

As a mere taste of the work from the Melbourne studio of fjcstudio, these five projects all present architecture and design at its best. Each is created for people and place and to support local communities. Fundamental to fjcstudio’s philosophy is consultation and collaboration with First Nations advisors and sustainability initiatives to ensure the very best design outcome.

As Melbourne’s skyline adapts and changes to the needs of the city and the regions provide more amenity for communities, fjcstudio’s Melbourne office is creating buildings that will stand the test of time, speak of creative design and address the needs of those who live and work in the city and regional Victoria – and doing it all with refined and exceptional style.

fjcstudio
fjcstudio.com

Photography
John Gollings, Trevor Mein, fjcstudio

Read more about Darlington Public School here