Social Empowerment through Self-Sustenance

Taking inspiration from historically influential industrial forms such as brick kilns, the food centre establishes a world-facing landmark built, supported and maintained by the community it serves. The ever changing 360 facade of the food storage rotunda is indicative of food supply levels and subsequently the general well-being of the area, all the while is used as a means of combating the oppressive monotony the implicitly confines the communities within.

Despite serving as a beacon for the community, the timber rotunda is supplementary to the growing spaces by supplying storage, equipment and water to the surrounding growing gardens. In conjunction with the timber primer pavilions, a series of permanent fixtures are formed which stitches the community together via a materiality, visual and spatial connection. Permeable qualities are exhibited in all fixtures, thereby emulating warmth and light onto nearby spaces, enabling growers, purveyors and visitors alike to organically populate the reimagined outdoor space.

Subsequently, security is increased due to the inherent passive surveillance strategies it enables, which allows urban regenerative processes to occur. Providing an on-site food generation scheme can a) lower local food prices by increasing food supply, b) foster a communal culture of food generation and c) provide an accessible building with a concentric framework that stitches the community via connection with growing spaces. It is through this overarching strategy that local food insecurity is mitigated. The self-sufficient sustainable system is underpinned by the level of integration within local communities, a concern which is addressed through the recurrent cooperation with education centres in South Redcliffe, thereby actively engaging the community and emphasizing the mutually supportive system.

Growing gardens will be allocated to education centres, specific residential zones as well as the food centres itself to ensure a reliable food supply with donations being a supplementary source. Additionally, the concentric developmental framework also takes outlined future projects into consideration, such as the linear park proposed in 2020 in order to ensure this system perpetually develops beyond the foreseeable timeframe.