H2o Architects Melbourne-Bendigo Bank Regional Info Repository-01

H2o Architects Melbourne-Bendigo Bank Regional Info Repository-02

H2o Architects Melbourne-Bendigo Bank Regional Info Repository-03

Regional Information Repository

Location Epsom Road, Bendigo VIC
Project Completion 2006
Project Size 780m2
 
Project Description The Regional Information Repository [RIR] constitutes a single story secure storage facility. It is designed and constructed with many innovations and industry benchmarks for security, Occupational Health & Safety, and Facility Management.
 
The RIR is an island building, sited as a free standing box parallel to the adjacent Highway and aligned to relate to the emerging ‘tighter’ urban pattern developing in the area. The architectural expression of the RIR deliberately emphasizes the simple monolithic nature of the function, and develops this tectonic through an elemental based approach to its functional parts.

The RIR is divided into two sections by an internal precast wall; the north portion containing the storage repository, the south consisting of entry accesses, office and ancillary spaces. The structure was designed to accommodate future extension to the north.
 
The visual integrity of the “box” is formed by a protective shell of off-white precast concrete panels. Inset into the skin of the ‘box’ is a graphic assembly of brick snap-tiles, providing a visual contrast to the uniformity of the concrete panel tectonic. The patterning is streamlined/directional; capturing in graphic movement/vectors that correlate to the velocity of the highway traffic, and evocative of transit systems or networks. Inlaid stainless steel plates signify nodal points, an icon that grounds the “box” within the context of a greater system.