The Haymes Paint building is located on the northern fringe of the Ballarat city centre at 109 Creswick Road. The broad context encompasses a diverse mix of medium sized contemporary commercial properties to 19th century domestic housing to larger public buildings. The site of the Haymes building looks directly toward the busy thoroughfare of Creswick Road to the east and the domestic housing area of Claxton Street to the west. The southern section links with the single storey mid-20th century commercial brick building.

The Haymes family business is a local Ballarat institution that has grown globally over a century. The business is intertwined into the fabric of Ballarat just as much as the many landmarks, people and buildings of the city. There are many beacons scattered across the city such as the old post office, town hall, old train station, or the many Church spires. It made sense that the Haymes Paint building should have its own beacon.  Therefore, a central landscaped courtyard with an extrusion above becomes the building’s beacon. The beacon is then highlighted with artificial lighting of different colours to show that the building is about paint. This gives the building its own identity within the city of Ballarat.

In terms of materiality, the building uses concrete metal claddings and burnt timber claddings. Concrete was used to acknowledge the many concrete buildings and surfaces around the immediate area. Similar, the metal and timber claddings are also very present in the nearby area.

In terms of how the building is planned out, the main public open area faces Creswick Road, whilst the amenity and quieter areas face the domestic Claxton Street. The main area is mostly an open area which gives the building flexibility to grow and change through the business’ evolution. The central landscape courtyard allows for more daylight access, internal access to nature and cross ventilation. The building engages its environment via handpicked views. The building can look out to important local context features such as the Creswick Road tree lined area, the city centre to the south, or central landscaped courtyard. The triangular site is quite aggressive, so a way to soften the extreme edges was to introduce curves. These are presented at each change of direction and help soften the extreme acute edge. They also help the internal spaces to be more useable. There is a large central pedestrian and vehicle access up the middle of the site. This is to accommodate carparking and safer customer access.

In terms of sustainability the design aims to incorporate appropriate solar access with north facing glazing and shaded west facing glazing. Thermal mass concrete floors and concrete walls help reduce the heating and cooling loads on the building so that it can be as comfortable as possible without the overuse of mechanical heating/ cooling. Thermally broken double glazed windows were installed which help thermal comfort levels. Solar panels are located on the ceiling to reduce electricity grid usage and the building is openable and closable for natural ventilation which is flexible with the seasonal Ballarat weather conditions.

The outcome is a building that engages its local context, engages the Haymes family as part of the local Ballarat fabric and sustainability.

Location: Ballarat East
Year: 2022
Size: 1000m2

Photos by Alex Reinders
Built by SJ Weir