Latrobe Regional Gallery Renovation

BACKGROUND The Latrobe Regional Gallery project was a major renovation of a significant regional public building in Morwell, Australia. The project contributes broadly to a body of research into modes of design through architectural practice. Within this the project explores two specific issues: Firstly the relationship between civic or public buildings and the urbanism of small towns and regions in Australia. This builds upon a body of work developed by architectural practices such as NMBW, Lyons and others working on the development of public buildings within regional Victorian towns and cities. Secondly, the development and implementation of digital design to manufacture workflows in architectural practice, expanding upon the work of practitioners such as March Studio, Fologram and Gilles Retsin. CONTRIBUTION The work is an architectural design project which took the form of an alteration and addition to an existing public art gallery building. The project was completed through the practice NAAU, led by John Doyle, Ben Milbourne, Laura Mártires and Edmund Carter. The project explores how the strategic alteration of an existing building can contribute to an increased level of interaction and engagement between the exterior space of the street, and interior public spaces of the gallery. The opening up of the gallery was facilitated through a series of custom digital workflows that allowed for the design, fabrication and installation of intricate interior joinery which served the functional requirements of the brief. The project demonstrates how complex digital workflows can be deployed for the delivery of a public building delivered on a limited budget. SIGNIFICANCE The project commission was awarded through a public design competition. The concept design was published by ArchitectureAU, Green Magazine and local news outlets. Following completion, the project was formally reviewed in Architecture Australia. It was shortlisted for 2018 Australian Interior Design Awards public building category.