woodland
Defined by blackwood timber – a timber that is indigenous to this Country – and the colours of flora, the Woodland celebrates the material identity of place by bringing this timber back to the Country it should be on.
Timber is used throughout this space to evoke a sense of movement as one passes through a woodland. The detailing evokes a sense of verticality and movement. Each vertical is clustered and angled to create the perception of a changing sense of density and openness depending on where it is viewed from, while the clusters of verticals draw from the varied diameters of trees.
Photos: Tom Blachford
The Woodland contains the Knowledge Room, Fellows area, video conferencing room, hallway, kitchen and amenities.
The Knowledge Room is a multi-purpose space that can be set up as a large meeting room or re-arranged as a workshop space for the fellowship program. A separable table, designed and fabricated by hardyhardy using blackwood timber from an Indigenous-owned milling company, is the centrepiece of the room.
Other key features in the room include:
A 9m long blackwood banquette seat that uses kangaroo leather in the piping.
Kangaroo grass seeds embedded in the paint on the west wall.
A collection of Indigenous plants.
A crocodile lamp supplied by Manapan, designed by Suzie Stanford and made from Darwin Stringybark. “The light emitted from these lamps reminds me of the local Indigenous community sitting around the campfires, celebrating the fire, with all its burning embers,” says Suzie.
Within the hallway and the video conferencing room are two wall sconces supplied by Koskela that have been handwoven by artists of Milingimbi Art and Culture. They are crafted using traditional materials such as pandanus, raffia and bush string.
The kitchen features a custom-built suspended weaving grass drying rack. The process of weaving, from growing the plant to cultivating, drying, and creating a cultural object, tool or material, has been designed into this project.
Most of the furniture in the Woodland is Australian made and/or supplied/procured through an Indigenous supplier. The task furniture in the Fellows workspace was procured through Winya.
Listen to Sarah Lynn Rees, Senior Associate and Indigenous Advisory Architecture Design team lead at JCB, and Natalie Iannello, Associate at JCB, discussing some of the design thinking and elements within the Hub.
Audio excerpt from the Deadly Djurumin Yarns series (used with permission), with Sarah (left) and Natalie (right) pictured above. View the full talk in the Deadly Djurumin series - free for Mob to access by emailing parlour@parlour.org.au).