Illumanate Competition 17.01.24

AHMM was named the runners-up for the Illumanate Living Building Challenge (LBC) Design Competition run by the Living Future Institute of Australia (LFIA) in partnership with Development Victoria.

Set within the suburb of Sunshine North, Victoria, the former City West Water administrative bloc Melbourne & Metropolitan Board of Works Western Regional Complex is a heritage building in need of a new life. The building is a fine example of the influence of brutalism on the work of architectural firm A.K. Lines, MacFarlane and Marshall and representative of an important phase of growth of Melbourne in the 1970s and 1980s.

This ideas competition for a real building on a real site asked designers to imagine what socially just, culturally rich, and ecologically restorative adaptive reuse looks like within the new mixed-use community of Sunshine North LUMA. AHMM developed a set of clear strategies to achieve each of the LBC performance categories of Place, Water, Health + Happiness, Materials, Equity and Beauty and in the view of the judges:

'The project showcases a considered approach to achieving net-zero carbon impact throughout its lifecycle. It adeptly retains the essence of brutalist architecture through low-impact interventions that not only respect the original design but also provide flexibility for future adaptability and reconfiguration.'