Client: Victorian Women’s Trust
Designer: Siren Design
Delivery Model: Design & Construct
Location: Melbourne, VIC
Duration: 3 months
Project Size: 250 m2
Victorian Women’s Trust relies on donations and grants to deliver ambitious gender equality projects and after 30 years of renting and moving around, they had a dream of building a permanent space for their team to work out of.
Resulting from a strikingly generous donation from one of their main supporters, the VWT team were able to secure a great shop front location in the bustling heart of Clifton Hill – allowing them to emerge from previous back-office locations and establish a visual presence within the local community.
The project began as a cold shell fitout that involved a base building upgrade through the demolishment of adjoining partitions between two tenancies. The project scope included the installation of partitions that made up two offices, a multipurpose room, open workspace area, kitchen and DDA bathroom. As the project began as a cold shell fitout the team also installed new services which included hydraulics, mechanics and electrics to complete the fitout.
During the design process, the team and VWT were looking at value engineering options and the scope was largely to find and reuse donated furniture. The SHAPE team were looking to deliver bespoke joinery items and procure practically brand-new workstations for The Trust. With value management at the forefront of the project scope, SHAPE sourced reused furniture from their previous projects – this included workstations and task chairs. MP room chairs were also donated by Schiavello. The team also installed donated altro products in the DDA bathroom in lieu of tiles.
In partnering with Siren Design, the team were able to bring VWT’s vision to life. The design concept was based around the female body utilising contours, curves, and neutral tones. For the last 6 months, The Trust have been working from temporary offices at National Storage. They now have a space that rewards and inspires the team, an engine house of gender equality research and activism. It is a space VWT feel proud to call home and are thrilled to invite others into.
Learn more about this project’s Journey here: Shaping a home for the Victorian Women’s Trust – SHAPE
We’re thrilled to have a permanent home for Victorian Women’s Trust. Our new space allows us to welcome visitors and inspires our people to work toward our goals. We thank the SHAPE team and Siren Design Group for their dedication and expertise, which made the whole process enjoyable, and all the generous subcontractors that donated materials and their time.
We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the land, sea, and skies. We’re grateful to those who have cared for, nurtured, and protected Country for future generations, and we pay our respects to Elders past, present, and emerging.
