CHROFI was invited to provide a proposal for the ‘Parramatta Mission – The Gathering Place’ in an Architectural Design Excellence Competition. Our proposal has been inspired by three key considerations: Parramatta Mission itself, the site context and creating a meaningful connection to Country. In the midst of a growing CBD, we propose a welcoming and inclusive sanctuary of hope, a natural habitat of human scale that brings healing and joy to the vulnerable and the community at large.

Parramatta Mission, as part of the Uniting Church in Australia, provides services to vulnerable and disadvantaged people who often live on the fringes of society or are in need of temporary support until they get back on their feet. Services include mental health support, accommodation and meals. Although Parramatta Mission’s services have been provided since the 1970s, its history can be traced back on the current site to 1821 when the first Wesleyan Methodist Chapel provided community support services. The Wesleyan ethos was outreach, community and inclusiveness, and its ‘open door’ policy accepted everyone. It is this longstanding history on this site and the ethos of support and inclusivity that has inspired our design approach. The site context is another key inspiration for the design response.

Located in the midst of a growing CBD of corporate high-rise towers, the Leigh Memorial Church and the site are set to be the only places within the locality of two to three storey height. This presents challenges of scale, overshadowing and access to daylight and sky that our proposal seeks to turn into opportunities. Another core inspiration for our design response is creating a meaningful connection to Country. This is and always will be Aboriginal land. Any intervention needs to respect and design for and with Country. The site is important to the Aboriginal community providing a direct link to their ancestors and opportunity for education on Aboriginal history and values.

We have partnered with Joanne Kinniburgh and Shannon Foster of Bangawarra and worked together to create a design response where Country is integrated throughout.Whilst the Parramatta CBD continues to grow with it’s tall, monumental, corporate high rises of glass and concrete towering over Leigh Memorial Church and the site, Parramatta Mission have chosen to remain in their historic location and to continue to provide their invaluable services in the center of Parramatta where they are most accessible to the vulnerable. Our design response seeks to celebrate this decision by providing human scaled, warm, inviting relief from the corporate surroundings, a retreat that respects the church and welcomes everyone. Our proposal provides contrast in scale, form and materiality to the high-rise towers of the CBD, and at the same time, is complementary to the church. The roof form references the pitched roof of the church yet is uniquely shaped to increase views of the church roof and provide sheltered and protected ground plane edges. The building’s form seeks to be read as a pair with the church, whilst being a contemporary representation of inclusivity by allowing for both transparency and privacy that can be controlled by the users.With the nearest large open green spaces around 600m away, we propose a green oasis amongst the dense urban environment, a design that brings Country into the site with its healing and restorative properties. Through Country, we envision a natural human habitat that brings peace and healing to the vulnerable, the disadvantaged and the marginalised. Country is the uniting force that we all share. Country provides, protects and heals. Our proposal has a direct connection with nature through the use of natural materials, a conservatory of native planting where food can also be grown, and a connection with the sky via a glazed roof. This is an urban oasis that can be seen from the outside to create curiosity and invite people in, and whose healing properties can be experienced once inside. The natural materials are also in harmony with the stone and brick materiality of the church.

The indigenous harmony with Country means using everything that Country provides with very little waste. This approach has been adopted in the design response through innovation and environmentally and socially sustainable design principles. Timber is proposed as the primary structure, with its unbeatable sustainability credentials. It is the only renewable construction material, is a carbon store for the duration of its life, is grown in regenerative plantations, and leaves zero waste in its production. Timber as a natural material is known for its positive effects on well-being, bringing warmth and a connection to nature, as well as referencing traditional church construction. In practical terms, timber offers opportunities for faster construction times due to prefabrication and simple on-site assembly. The proposal also uses fewer resources through a reduction in air conditioned spaces by providing a balance of mixed mode air-conditioned spaces, as well as a naturally ventilated and shaded conservatory space on the upper floors that can be used for a variety of purposes such as a place to retreat, a place to hold meetings and a chapel.

The natural non-conditioned conservatory also allows the seasons to be experienced as they would be in nature yet in a more controlled and protected way. Stripped as much as possible of unnecessary materials including internal wall and ceiling linings, the design uses only what it needs, is unpretentious, honest and raw in its expression and thus aligned with the aspiration of inclusivity and accessibility. On the ground floor, the heart of the proposal is the communal space and kitchen, that can be both internal and completely open to the east towards the church wall to become an indoor/outdoor soup kitchen, community hall, or multi-purpose space. This heart is where people get to connect through the sharing of food and company on a site where feasts have historically been held.

The ground plane provides multiple entries varying from visible to discrete, so that people of all walks of life can feel comfortable to visit and seek support or attend classes and services. To give confidence that our team can provide a safe pair of hands in the delivery of the technical aspects of the design, we have collaborated with, and incorporated the advice from, structural engineers that are experts in timber structures to complement our own team’s extensive experience in this construction type, a BCA consultant and fire engineer, and an expert ESD consultant. Our design brings together the three key inspirations of Parramatta Mission, the site context and connecting with Country and seeks to bring healing, joy and delight as the social and spiritual gateway to Parramatta.CHROFI + Bangawarra + Atelier Ten

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