Circularity presented by RMIT, Polestar and Green Magazine – No Drain, No Gain

“Circularity: Materials + Form” will run from June 27-29th in Fitzroy, Melbourne, showcasing projects from the RMIT Master of Architecture Design Studio and Research Elective

No Drain No Gain from RMIT Architecture on Vimeo.

There is a greater volume of stormwater runoff than there is water consumed in Melbourne. 90% of rain falls on hard surfaces, where neglected drainage systems gather pollutants, making stormwater the number one threat to waterways.

Melbourne’s drains are a patchwork of its colonial past that are subject to increasingly extreme fluctuations. The CBD has only one major stormwater capture and reuse system which is discreet and used for irrigation. What if stormwater and its networks were foregrounded instead? After all, there is an energy to drains and their unpredictable conditions that runs through Melbourne’s underground culture.

As the modernist Collins Street tower is due for renovation, offices are no longer in demand, but cloud storage is. New stormwater infrastructure subverts the archetypal office into a fluctuating atmosphere requiring a unique maintenance and attention from its workers. Typical comforts are compromised but compensated for by a pool and sauna that are pushed beyond the floor plate by a water-cooled data centre dominating the core.

Biofiltration, UV treatment, hydro battery pools, evaporative cooling, carbon extractors and water heating layer into the existing concrete structure. The systems’ a-humanising presence interfacing with overt offerings of luxury and comfort invite a consideration of the involvement and compromise that circularity entails.

WILLIAM WALL & YASMIN WALLACE