The resulting master plan clusters the buildings around a large central plaza, facing the High Street Road. This provides the opportunity for both increased on-site parking during service times, and a large outdoor event space.

As Melbourne’s largest church CityLife Church has a growing congregation and an ever increasing demand for its community services. DKO was commissioned to master plan an expanding campus to accommodate a new foyer for their auditorium building and a new Community centre for the community services organisation, CityLife Community Care. The resulting master plan clusters the buildings around a large central plaza, facing the High Street Road. This provides the opportunity for both increased on-site parking during service times, and a large outdoor event space. For the new auditorium foyer DKO designed a large, highly visible two-level structure with a clear glazed and transparent ground floor that opens views to the street and to the community. This design responds to the brief that sought a building that is equally open and inviting to the public. The building’s first floor volume cantilevers to provide shelter and sun-shading for the ground floor. Large apertures in the form frame key vistas out of the building, while a two-level ‘activity street’ functions as a circulation axis from which all rooms are accessed. A café and visitor lounge areas were located within this circulation space, allowing the activity street to become a vibrant social space where chance meetings are encouraged and new relationships can be fostered.

YEAR

2017

STATUS

Complete

CLIENT

CityLife

LOCATION

Knox City, AUS

SCALE

5,800m2

DISCIPLINE

Public

EXPERTISE

Master Planning
Architecture
Interior Design

Photographer: Tom Roe