TERRAIN

The community needs a dedicated, welcoming, supportive, and independent multi-purpose social space for playfully understanding and exploring ecological ideas, and igniting the spark in others to love and appreciate our living world - a place for contemplation, slowing down, inspiration, curiosity, exchange, and education. The community needs to experience working prototypes of bio-design and circular design in practical application to move them forward. The community lacks a dedicated co-working environment that supports practitioners working with a particular applied ecological ethic, as a collaborative transdisciplinary workplace underpinned by a set of shared values and mission. The community needs in-person social connection.

TERRAIN was founded in March 2019. This next chapter was philanthropically funded by San Francisco based organisation, The Kalliopeia Foundation in February 2022. Since then, the project took 8 months of planning, and a further 14 months to physical realisation. The fitout took place from August to December 2023, and soft launched on 14th December 2023, and is hosting the official Industry Launch with Melbourne Design Week and Art Book Fair on 29th May 2024. The design journey, and all its challenges, has been extensively documented, with daily journal entries, photography, and digital content - on hold for a future publication.

Social and environmental justice are interdependent. Healthy and strong communities require third spaces like TERRAIN, as anchor and act as a hub for meaningful interactions, which have been on the rapid decline. These places are central to civic unity and cohesion, are a place to meet new people and expand networks. TERRAIN is a place for sustainable refuge and for personal growth through exposure to new ideas and perspectives, as an antidote to climate anxiety in a world with increasing climatic threats to our collective wellbeing.

Featured design elements include: a carefully curated selection of ecological literature; lights grown from mycelium; lime plaster walls; cave texture and volume from recycled plastic beads and construction debris; bright green algae-based bioplastic panel blinds; recycled plastic desks and kitchen; recycled aluminium furnishings; deep blue resin floor; terrarium wall; a self-hosted renewably powered website server featuring an evolving digital installation; and interactive sound design.