More than 70 different organizations from the building, construction and architecture industries came together last night with the sole purpose of helping the bushfire communities.
Chaired by Tony Arnel, building commissioner and life fellow of the Australian Institute of Architects (AIA), the Built Environment Bushfire Support Round Table has the purpose of coordinating a strategic response to the many offers of help put forward by peak bodies.
The industries promised three Rs the bushfire appeal: relief, recover and rebuild.
“Relief is about making sure that when people go back to the sites of their homes it is safe,” Tony Arnel told Architecture & Design.
Many of the 1,800 houses that have been lost are forty-to-fifty years old and were built using asbestos. Dealing with this in a very careful way is a “very significant” part of the relief effort, Arnel said.
Recovery is all about providing temporary structures, Arnel said. Not all people will want to rebuild, the Canberra bushfires told us that around 40 per cent of people actually do rebuild, but those who do will need housing in the interim. “We’ve had a conversation just this morning with a local council where they’ve got 100 liveeable units ready to go onto different sites,” Arnel said. “And they’re temporary structures and they need special accommodation in terms of regulation and how they get hooked up to services.”
Down the track is the rebuild phase, where the whole issue about new design and new standards and sustainability comes into play. “Talking with the AIA yesterday, it’s looking at a whole range of ideas to take advantage of the help offered by many architects. But we’re not at that stage yet,” Arnel said.
“The building commission in Victoria is currently the front line. We’re currently providing advice for people who want to help in the building space,” Arnel said. “But the built environment is just one element of the total package.”
