Some of the people who helped build the Cobargo Bushfire Resilience Centre. Photo: Supplied.
The flexible layout and versatile spaces of the new Cobargo Bushfire Resilience Centre (Resilience Cobargo) lends itself to many uses.
With exhibition spaces and a state-of-the-art theatrette, Resilience Cobargo will be a mixed-use cultural venue.
It features a cafe, a retail space for a curated selection of items made by local artisans, and a commemorative garden area with a vertical wall garden and misting system.
The building itself models how to build new homes, or retrofit existing ones, to be more resilient to natural disasters.
The project was principally funded by the Australian and NSW governments’ Bushfire Local Economic Recovery Fund. Additional funding came from the Cobargo Community Bushfire Recovery Fund and private donations, including the substantial donation of land that kickstarted the project.
Project lead Rhonda Ayliffe said construction cost $4.8 million.
There was particular attention to the theatrette’s high-tech audio-visual equipment, and the building’s finishes. These include spotted gum plywood, ironbark frame, fire mesh, corrugated and perforated copper, and shou sugi ban timber, a distinctive charred timber treatment.
The Cobargo Bushfire Resilience Centre. Photo: Rhonda Ayliffe.
The striking black timber and copper-clad building, designed by TAKT Studio for Architecture, is awaiting an occupation certificate. This is being held up by the driveway it shares with the adjacent Village Square building, part of the Cobargo CBD Rebuild project that is not yet finished.
The theatrette will be used to screen the feature-length documentary The Day She Stole the Sun, as well short films created by Crewcible Studio as part of the Badja Forest Road Oral History Project.
Ms Ayliffe said they were keen for people to bring their own ideas on how the space could be used.
“We would love the theatrette to be a place where local filmmakers can show their work or for film buffs to get together and share their passion,” she said. “The theatrette can also be used for small conferences or to stream performances, adding to its versatility.”
Plus, it is fully accessible by wheelchairs, making it next-level inclusive.
An incredible 98 per cent of the work was done by Cobargo builder Jason Miles and local tradespeople.
“Everything you see here was built by local hands and involved local businesses including all the really high-tech things,” Ms Ayliffe said. “It truly reflects the depth of what we have here and that things can be done locally.”
The central spine of the Cobargo Bushfire Resilience Centre. Photo: Marion Williams.
“It was fantastic that the project had a large number of female tradespeople working on it every day,” she said. “The building’s amazing corrugated copper curves were installed by young tradeswomen.”
With the project manager from Public Works Advisory being female, as well as the primary architect from TAKT and Ms Ayliffe as project lead, the leadership team was primarily female.
The building has solar power and is designed for future integration to a microgrid. It has a fire shutter that comes down to protect the window on the western side, a bushfire sprinkler system plumbed into the onsite water tanks, double-glazed Enviro Glass, pipes made from copper rather than PVC, and its own water storage.
“We have enough water stored under our building to save ourselves and all our neighbours,” Ms Ayliffe said. “During the Black Summer bushfires, the town water failed. We have learnt from that. We hope our onsite water supply gives our main street greater protection in the next fire event.”
Community-owned and run, Resilience Cobargo is a registered charity.
Ms Ayliffe said they were now ready for the community to come on board and help shape the future.
“Our small team has delivered a distinctive building with some nifty possibilities, but Resilience Cobargo will be and do what the community decides,” Ms Ayliffe said. “I’m excited to see what that is.”
