Springvale Community Precinct feels good. The successful collaboration between Rush Wright Associates and Lyons opened in 2020, four years after the practices won a limited competition run by the City of Greater Dandenong. Springvale Community Precinct takes the old library, council offices and a smattering of car parks and green spaces and replaces them with a new community hub building and a unified park extending over 2.6 hectares. The budget, partially funded by the sale of the former Springvale depot, was generous, thanks to a client able to recognize the value of good design.
Most photogenically, the building’s west face – to busy Springvale Road – is an undulating ribbon of colour, a clever glazed brick mapping of the flags of very multicultural Springvale. This architectural gesture joyfully extends through the landscape ground plane. Boldly, bravely, a full basketball court presses up against the community hub building – it’s a real part of the civic space rather than being exiled to somewhere away from noise complaints. Adjacent is a standout water feature
