The Northcote Aquatic and Recreation Centre (NARC), designed by Warren and Mahoney (WAM), is a state-of-the-art facility in Melbourne that sets a new standard for community leisure centres.
Extensive community consultation, including engagement with Wurundjeri Elders, informed the design to ensure it meets diverse community needs. The centre features inclusive change rooms catering to various requirements, such as accessibility, gender-neutral, family, and school group facilities.
This outstanding project has been recognised at the Sustainability Awards 2024 with a highly commended mention in the Public Buildings category. WAM Principal, Daryl Maguire sits down with Architecture & Design’s Digital Editor Clémence Carayol to discuss this prestigious and well-deserved recognition.
Architecture & Design: Why do you think you were honoured for your entry?
Daryl Maguire: The Northcote Aquatic and Recreation Centre (NARC) is one of those great projects where we had the unique opportunity to bring together a complex mix of ambitions and fully integrate them into a successful, high-quality architectural outcome. The result balances the City of Darebin’s world-leading sustainability ambitions, community health and inclusivity objectives, and First Nations’ narratives.
What did your entry add to the body of knowledge of sustainable design?
Achieving a Six Star Green Star rating for an aquatic centre with a 50m outdoor pool initially seemed daunting, given that a significant portion of the facility’s energy needs to go towards heating it year-round.
However, we left no stone unturned and adopted a holistic approach, focusing on reducing both embodied and operational carbon, minimising water use, and even influencing patron behaviour by encouraging them to shower before entering the pool. This helped reduce energy demand related to water treatment and heating, while also maintaining high standards of water clarity and health.
Has your entry influenced the way you will design buildings in the future?
Having a highly ambitious brief from the outset set the project on a clear path to success, as the entire team was focused on achieving the best possible outcome.
Involving all the right stakeholders as early as possible was one of the key takeaways from the design process, as that leads to better outcomes.
One of the great learnings from the design process was by having all the right stakeholders involved as early as possible. In particular, engaging with First Nations and facility managers from the start of the design process will inevitably always lead to more successful outcomes.
This category is sponsored by SINIAT.
Image: NARC/WAM
