Civic centre to provide economic boost
July 11, 2017
The ground breaking design for Banyule City Council places a civic centre on top of an existing building creating a growth focus for the area.
Designed by Peddle Thorp, the new three level offices, will accommodate 320 Council staff relocating from offices at Ivanhoe, Rosanna and Greensborough.
It will be the first time in 20 years, all Council staff will be together.
The new development will provide a major boost for the local economy, with an initial investment of $30.88 million.
The civic offices include extensive community meeting and function rooms, and Council would lease the 2200 metre square second floor, generating income for Council and increasing economic activity in Greensborough.
Peddle Thorp director and architect Martin Hall said the new offices had been designed to be highly environmentally sustainable with features including solar panels, double glazing, LED lighting, motion sensors to control lighting and air conditioning, and recycled rain water for toilets.
“The building has a 50 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared to the design of a business as usual office,” he said.
Mr Hall said the new building would be a completely accessible building, complying with the Disability Discrimination Act.
He said the state-of-the-art WaterMarc aquatic centre, which was also designed by Peddle Thorp, opened in September 2012, and now welcomed more than 800,000 visitors each year, along with Greensborough Walk and streetscape upgrades in Main Street, was the first stage of the Greensborough project.
WaterMarc was specifically designed for civic offices to be built on top of it.
The Council had also developed a parking management plan to manage the impact of the new office and additional parking demands associated with the increase in activity in Greensborough over the long term.
These plans included new parking areas on Council owned sites in Howard Street and Stubley Court, with approximately 83 spaces. Construction of the new civic offices also includes a mezzanine level car park in the WaterMarc basement, with 72 spaces.
