Designs for Australia’s first Pride Center were revealed, and boy is it a sight to see
The Pride Center will be similar to the one in San Francisco and will open in 2020
The look of Australia’s first ever Pride Center has been revealed with winners of a design competition announced on Sunday.
The Victorian Pride Center will be located in the southern city of Melbourne suburb, St Kilda. It is a seaside suburb not far from the central business district. St Kilda also hosts the annual Melbourne Pride March.
Similar to those in San Francisco and New York the center will showcase the LGBTI community. It will showcase art and history as well as bringing together advisory, health and support services.
St Kilda based firm, Grant Amon Architects and Brearley Architects and Urbanists won the Pride Centre design competition.
‘With over 18 submissions received, we wanted the winning design to be a building that our LGBTQI community can be proud of owning, a place of celebration and a safe sanctuary,’ said chair of the Victorian Pride Centre board, Jude Munro.
‘This design is inspirational and more than satisfies these criteria.’ Ms Munro said.
Due to open in 2020 the Pride Centre design competition was judged by an expert panel.
The Pride Center is located in the local City of Port Phillip council who contributed AU$13 million (US$10.5 million).
Mayor Bernadene Voss said she was proud the council’s contribution would help provide a home for the LGBTI community.
‘The project is now truly underway, and Port Phillip Council is delighted the innovative vision of two talented St Kilda architects will take pride of place on this iconic street as a locally loved landmark and visitor drawcard,’ she said.
Iconic location
Whilst the design is modern, the Pride Center will also have an art deco feel complimenting the architecture of other iconic buildings nearby.
The new centre will be located on the same property as the well-known former Monroe’s restaurant. Its location is apt because Australia’s first transgender support group, Seahorse Group, held its first meeting in Monroe’s.
The Victorian Pride Centre will house 10 of the state’s major LGBTI organisations.
They include; radio station JOY 94.9, the Victorian AIDS Council, Minus18, Melbourne Queer Film Festival, Midsumma Festival, LGBTQI Multi Culture and Multi Faith Organisation, telephone support service Switchboard, LGBTI sports collective Team Melbourne and the Australian Lesbian and Gay Archives.
‘We will have security, we want the centre to be a safe place, but it also has to be open and supportive,’ said Jude Munro.
Words by Shannon Power
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Originally published at www.gaystarnews.com on January 29, 2018.
