Laverton Community Centre and Neighbourhood House - one year on

A year after the project was completed at the Laverton Community Centre and Neighbourhood House we visited the to see what benefits the project has brought to its local community.


LCCNH is a not for profit and very proactive organization that runs several programs for disadvantaged people in the local area. According to Michael Pernar, CEO at LCCNH, the pro-bono services provided were instrumental in obtaining State Government funding to finance the project. The design proposed included an office space that accommodates 5 workers and a new classroom that meets the current standards. A relatively modest reconfiguration of the interior has resulted in a greatly improved space for staff to continue to deliver key services to the community.

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Celebration at the Fitzroy Learning Network

The Architects for Peace Pro bono team was delighted to be invited to a BBQ held recently at the Fitzroy Learning Network in celebration for the completion of their renovated kitchen and staff room.

The Fitzroy Learning Network (FLN) is a not-for-profit Neighbourhood House, offering a range of services, support and training courses for newly arrived refugees and migrants.

FLN approached Architects for Peace after they received a grant from the Department of Planning and Community Development in 2009 which allowed them to refurbish their facility, of which a new kitchen was their priority. We were happy to assist as we recognised that their old kitchens did require upgrades and the project was for the benefit of the community. Kalli, the A4P pro bono coordinator for the project at the time, then met and discussed the initial brief with staff at FLN and arranged for the advertisement of an Expression of Interest for the provision of pro bono architectural service.

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Bulleen Pre School pro bono project - finally an update!

Some time has passed since we called for expressions of interest to provide pro bono design services for the Bulleen Pre School (BPS) some months ago. A lot has happened behind the scenes since then – and we thought we'd share a bit of the action with you.

As we mentioned back in July, the pre school was hoping to apply for funds from the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development to extend its premises, so as to accommodate more children and improve its service to the local community. Two days before our call for service providers closed, the funding application deadline was announced. Surprise! Instead of the anticipated 6 months to prepare an application (based on the time frame allowed for the previous funding round), there was going to be 6 weeks! Architect Ajith Kuruvilla (Gray Space Architects) had submitted an EOI and, with extensive experience in schools, looked like a perfect match, but we weren't sure how he would take the news about the time frame. To our relief, Ajith was relatively unfazed. It was decided to form a design team, led by Ajith (being a registered architect), with Kamil Muhammad (interior designer and a4p member) and Paul Cooksey (architect) undertaking design and documentation.

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