By Ashleigh Fielding | posted on January 18, 2019
THE defunct woolsheds on the corner of Melville and Festing Streets in central Albany could become a site for self-sustaining houses if a group of university architecture students have anything to do with it.
University of Western Australia students Sarah Brooke, Grace Kocsis and Alex Negri were three of 23 budding architects who visited Albany from Perth this week to re-design unused spaces around town.
Ms Brooke focused on the historic woolshed ruins, Ms Kocsis on a concentrate pad beside Mount Clarence and Mr Negri on a vacant area near the port terminal.
Ms Brooke said her houses would have low environmental impact and that people would be able to adapt her designs to suit themselves.
“I’m looking at how to create a transient community that can be self sufficient,” she said.
“It would be awesome if they could be completely off the grid.
“There would be an opportunity for community gardens too, and potentially using the woolshed structure as a marketplace, maybe once a week.”
Ms Kocsis said she wanted to create a communal space for residents and visitors on Mount Clarence that could be moved to different locations.
“We’re looking at structures that aren’t locked down in a spot, very transparent and fluid,” she said.
“One idea is a seed bank, for collecting plant specimens from the area.
“It will be a place where people can teach and learn through caretaking and collecting the specimens that might not be there in the future.”
Mr Negri said his side of the project would kickstart the others.
“The port facility would be designed to construct the other two projects,” he said.
“The idea is that the dwellings will be constructed here and taken to the wool sheds site in shipping containers.”
He said the port facility was difficult to design, as it relied on the other two projects.
He hoped his design would provide people with knowledge about how industry works.
“I’ve designed the current footpath to wrap around the building and to have the building see-through, so people walking past can see the factory workers at work,” he said.
Architecture lecturer Mark Jecks said the visit marked the first studio unit to be held in Albany.
“If the landowner likes the initiative, they could potentially come to an agreement with the student,” Mr Jecks said of the wool sheds dwelling idea.
He said the final projects would be exhibited at UWA Crawley in coming weeks.
