Nunawading Community Hub

Located on Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Country in Nunawading, Victoria, fjcstudio delivered this $28 million community hub for Whitehorse City Council through an engagement process that treated consultation as a foundation of the project. Working closely with Council and more than ten permanent user groups drawn from a total of 26 community groups, fjcstudio undertook extensive data collection with local authorities and client groups, formed working groups, and ran a series of workshops, surveys and interviews. Space and relationship diagrams were prepared, circulated, and used to identify shared spaces and facilities, with findings presented and discussed at Project Control Group level to prioritise planning decisions. Engagement extended from individual user groups through to the broader public, carefully balancing the specific operational requirements of each occupant with the overarching ambition of a single integrated community destination.

The result consolidated 26 previously disparate community groups into one purpose-built facility with targeted spatial planning for specific needs, including the Nunawading Lapidary Club, Whitehorse Arts Association, University of the Third Age, Meals on Wheels, a pottery studio, and a timber-lined basketball stadium. Adaptive reuse of the heritage school building and the existing oval reinforced long-term community ownership. Connecting with Country was embedded through a central artwork by First Nations artist Brian Robinson, with the engagement and art strategy led by Principal Annie Hensley. The project was recognised with the Community Centre Category Jury Winner at the Architizer A+ Awards 2024 and the International Award for Community from the Chicago Athenaeum 2024.

Explore the architecture and interiors of Nunawading Community Hub.