VISION 46 — BABY GRAND
How close is the completed building to your original
presentation?
The concept design was received very favourably by the
clients and thereafter the design team made many
refinements but no significant changes to the
architectural intent. The Incubator was conceived of as a
pair of pavilions, each with flexible internal layouts that
lend themselves to the future adaptations and functions
of the start-ups inside. A strong driver was the need for
collaboration and interaction between individual start-
ups and with each other, in addition to privacy for each
start-up to operate with confidentiality.
The timber frame really recalls a certain old-fashioned
quality that celebrates assembly.
Timber was selected as the main construction material for
its capacity to be beautifully engineered, swiftly
fabricated and to capture a high quality finish. With the
majority of components prefabricated offsite, rapid
construction was achievable on site and with minimal
disruption to the concurrent university semester. The
resulting building was completed within five months of
construction commencing. We designed the building to
be assembled off the back of a very large truck. All of the
panels were sized such that they could be moved as
modular prefabricated components. That’s the roof
systems, the floor cassettes, wall panels, and glazing.
That was designed for rapid on-site assembly and there’s
a very composed geometry to all of the set out. There
was also the intended design purpose for future dis-
assembly and relocation elsewhere on the campus and
this remains an option for the University.
“I really love the corners of these
buildings because they all open out
to the landscape, and they all respond
in a very sensitive way to the bringing
together of materials, and in this case
it’s glass coming together.”
LUKE JOHNSON, ARCHITECT