By Callum Ludwig
Exploring uses for a number of abandoned sites in the Upper Yarra has been a valuable learning experience for RMIT Architecture students this year while also helping think about the future of the region
As part of RMIT, Yarra Ranges Council and the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA)‘s partnership on the Upper Yarra Local Development Strategy, the university students visited and investigated ideas for some local derelict buildings, with their concepts currently on display in the Arts Centre in Warburton.
RMIT Lecturer on Architecture and Urban Design Claire Scorpo said the council had identified a number of buildings throughout the Upper Yarra Valley that were unused; some of them were in important locations, some of them had heritage value attached to them or some had cultural value.
“The studio gave the students the opportunity to understand a little bit more about these places, the context which these buildings were in and consider ways that you could potentially repurpose the buildings, get better community input into these areas, as well as celebrate the kind of richness of these buildings and perhaps bring back some cultural legacies or cultural information of the area that could be accessed by people in the community, but also other people who might have visited these places too,” she said.
“It was about trying to find ways that by developing these buildings, there could be something richer than just putting a new program into them.”
The folios and cardboard models created by the students will be on display in the Arts Centre until 19 December for the Upper Yarra community to view.
Ms Scorpo said the students considered a number of different factors of sites, including the flora and fauna, any Indigenous cultural history and the current importance of sites, such as forestry-related significance in areas like Powelltown.
“They had a full-day site visit on quite a rainy day, were they spent a lot of hours both on the site that they’ll work on and in the region in general, speaking to community members to try and get a little insight into the place,” she said.
“One in particular, which is a larger model, which is located in Boy’s Camp, Boy’s Camp is just outside of Powelltown and in a clearing in the forest that has an existing building on it that’s abandoned and there’s a bit of a question as to what the history of this actual site was, but there’s a Leadbeater’s Possum population near there and the forestry industry too,”
“This student looked at the idea of an accommodation place for an artist or scientist to research the Leadbeater’s Possum, but also to provide an unmanned information centre for people who are walking on the walking trail that runs through the site, to maybe engage in learning a bit more about the possum and the foresty industry and how that shaped the area.”
Other potential projects explored by the students included Wilmont’s studio, cross-pollinating some existing community buildings in Yarra Junction and the Launching Place General Store.
Ms Scorpo said she thought it was such a valuable opportunity for the students and they really got so much out of it.
“It’s rare in university that you’ve got live projects or that you’re able to speak with stakeholders and community members about something that is important and so they were lucky to have the opportunity to come out, go on a tour of all these buildings with council members, DEECA members and other community members that were involved and then share a presentation and dinner with a group of the community that are involved in the different working groups,” she said. “It’s an invaluable experience for them to see how this kind of work can have an impact in communities and I do think there’s a really great opportunity for universities to partner with councils, especially where I’ve done a few projects that have been regional councils where there’s great opportunities on both sides,”
“Students get these wonderful opportunities to be inside council which is generally a pretty opaque place, especially for students and then council are able to get a whole lot of minds researching about these different areas, using the process of the university to develop ideas and perhaps bring up things that they may not otherwise have the time or the budget to be able to be developed in the detail that they do.”
One of the Upper Yarra LDS working groups is dedicated to the exploration of Repurposing Abandoned Places, with the others being Energy Resilience and Renewable Energy, Eco-Tourism and The Walking Economy, Improving Transport and Access and Artisanal Agriculture and Abattoir.
Director of Communities at Yarra Ranges Council Leanne Hurst said the Upper Yarra Local Development Strategy will help identify and develop ideas that support local growth and bring long-term economic, environmental and social benefits to the Upper Yarra.
“At the moment we have five working groups, led by local community members, who are working on different opportunities that will form part of this strategy, these groups have also been supported by local businesses, government agencies and academia,” she said.
“The next steps for the project are to continue working on business cases, and have the opportunity to tap into available funding from the State Government as well as seeking other investment streams,”
“We anticipate that some of the innovation opportunities will develop into tangible pilot projects over the next two years, and we’re delighted that this project has attracted strong community support.”
For more information on the Upper Yarra LDS, please contact the Project Manager Julian Guess at j.guess@yarraranges.vic.gov.au.
