4/02/2010

7 February 2010

100 Free Concept Designs Completed for Fire Survivors

Most people wanted a replacement house and few wanted fire bunkers.

Archicentre today said it had completed over one hundred new home concept designs for survivors of the Black Saturday Victorian bushfires aimed at helping speed up the rebuilding process saying that most people wanted a replacement house, similar to the one they had lost, and few wanted fire bunkers.

David Hallett, Victorian State Manager of Archicentre said the service, initiated after the disaster on Saturday 7 February 2009, put architects on the block with families to discuss their design options and provide a new home design, which could now be used for discussions with local councils.

Over 130 bookings were received between July and December 2009.

"The design concepts included a bushfire attack level assessment, designs for individual blocks and the opportunity for the bushfire survivors to have input into the design process of the future home with the design brief reflecting the available budget."

Mr Hallett said that the architects found that developing housing designs for the fire areas after the disaster had several major challenges including:

New and emerging design regulations for fire prone areas eg. Bushfire Attack Level assessments
Residents coping with the trauma of the event whilst working to rebuild
Residents not insured or under insured
Dislocation from the property and having to live elsewhere
Uncertainty in whether to rebuild or move
Loss of local infrastructure, employment and services.
The creating of individual concepts for each block of land to fulfil changing regulatory requirements.

Mr Hallett said that despite all of the challenges the pilot program had been an outstanding success with over 100 concept designs completed. It had shown the potential for the government to put in place a service such as the Archicentre Bushfire Design Service as part of the fire recovery process which could be activated immediately a disaster had occurred.

"Unfortunately circumstances caused by the size of the disaster delayed the introduction of the pilot program, however, with the learning curve of the past twelve months we see this service could also be a valuable and positive adjunct to the insurance industry and all levels of government.

Mr Hallett said the overriding criteria is to have the capacity to assist people with individual designs for their properties and quickly work through issues for those people wanting to rebuild.

"One of the biggest attributes of the service for many people was that the report could be done quickly and provided a way forward for people to feel that they had started their recovery process."

In response to an Archicentre workshop involving architects who took part in the program the following observations were made:  

Very few people wanted fire bunkers.  
Most wanted a standard replacement house.  
Residents in areas like Marysville wanted the "miner's cottage" look.
Remaining trees are being cut down by the thousands contrary to regulations, to reduce BAL ratings.
Many clients are living on site in tin sheds, caravans, and converted school portables or with friends.

Mr Hallett said Architects taking part in the project found the process where people have lost everything is personally demanding on everyone involved and felt such a service gave hope and direction and should be built into the total care for victims through both government and insurance industry programs for those ready to rebuild immediately.

www.archicentre.com.au

Media Enquiries:
David Hallett Victorian State Manager Archicentre (03) 9819 4577 Mobile: 0439 439 115
Ron Smith Corporate Media Communications (03) 9818 5700 Mobile: 0417 329 201