Lahznimmo were selected by Northern Beaches Council to enter this shortlisted design competition in September 2019. The project brief was for a new multi-use Community Centre to replace the existing community facilities on the site, in the suburb of Warriewood.
Situated between the Northern Beaches coastline and the mountainous bushland of Ku-ring-gai National Park, Warriewood has its own unique Australian coastal wetland eco-system. 26 hectares of Warriewood Wetland reserve neighbours the Community Centre, with the site sitting in a low lying area, adjacent to sports playing fields. Because of its ready access to water, the site was for 60 year the centre of one of the major market gardening areas in Sydney, notable for its glasshouses, which gave it the name of ‘Crystal Valley’.
The competition design of the new Warriewood Community Centre was conceived to advance and build upon this ecological and cultural heritage, embracing the potential of the place for the Community.
Readily linked to the creekline corridors, the larger wetland reserve and associated playing fields, the primary asset of Warriewood Community Centre is its established landscape aspect. This landscape forms a buffer to busy Pittwater and Jacksons Road, allowing the centre to nestle within the tree canopies and focus its aspect towards the northern playing fields and the creekline corridor
The centre was envisioned as an extension of the landscaped ground plane, with spaces flowing in and around the outdoor areas. Arranging the community spaces around a central courtyard allowed the function spaces to be connected under one shaded and protected circulation zone, allowing for covered breakout and mingling spaces for each community hall.