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Easey Factory
Collingwood, Melbourne/Naarm
2022


Photo by Pier Carthew



Retrofitting and modernisation of existing buildings will be fundamental to the profession over the next 50 years (and beyond) and is of particular focus for the practice. Despite its challenges, it is vital that, as an industry, we place greater emphasis on repairing and restoring buildings rather than demolishing them.

When dealing with an existing building — our approach is to interrogate the history and map its change over time to uncover and reveal that which has been lost.
Castelvecchio, Verona, facade and staircase in the course of demolition, photographer unknown



A similar factory floor of Whybrows Boot Factory, Collingwood




As an architecture project, there have been many constraints: a very tight budget, dealing with heritage overlays, a mountain of compliance upgrades, an ambitious brief and plenty of inherited issues.








X-ray view of the tower within a tower




To try to reconcile these, we came up with the simple concept of ‘a tower within the tower’ that acts as a utilities core housing meeting rooms, amenities, kitchenette, ‘zoom rooms’, heating and cooling, and building services. It was a way to limit and control the extent of the project while also forming the foundation for Stage 2, that includes a rooftop deck.




Ground floor plan First floor plan




The core acts formally as a way to (loosely) divide each level into three zones, one to the north and to the East and West ends of the core. We established a rule of not dividing the space with walls so the scale of volume could remain part of the spatial experience.




X-ray view of the core and services The scale of the volume can still be felt within the new space


Worm eye view of the ground floor service core Worm eye view of the first floor service core






Simulaa is an architecture practice based in Naarm, dedicated to both built commissions and research projects. The work of the practice is defined by considered analysis and a research-based approach that prioritises a time-based design thinking that recognises architecture’s inherent entanglement with social, economic, aesthetic, political, and environmental concerns. The practice has a particular interest in reconciling architecture’s relationship with technology, energy, waste, and ecology through critical experimentation. As architects and design professionals we must demonstrate the social and economic advantages of new and better ways of thinking about the built environment. It is critical we re-evaluate and reset our priorities on a more empathetic and resilient path. 
Simulaa is an architecture practice based in Naarm, dedicated to both built commissions and research projects. The work of the practice is defined by considered analysis and a research-based approach that prioritises a time-based design thinking that recognises architecture’s inherent entanglement with social, economic, aesthetic, political, and environmental concerns. The practice has a particular interest in reconciling architecture’s relationship with technology, energy, waste, and ecology through critical experimentation. As architects and design professionals we must demonstrate the social and economic advantages of new and better ways of thinking about the built environment. It is critical we re-evaluate and reset our priorities on a more empathetic and resilient path.