Project: ‘Ercildoune’ Heritage Homestead & Community Centre

Ercildoune (formerly Hayton Park) is located on a remnant of the former farm property near Cranbourne and is one of a small number of surviving late nineteenth century farmhouses in the City of Casey. The property is included in the Heritage Overlay of the Casey Planning Scheme. The house and about 4,800 sq m of land were retained by the City of Casey to use as a community facility and public open space in a recently created residential estate.

Coleman Architects were engaged by the City of Casey to undertake a design and feasibility study for the redevelopment of the former Victorian-era Ercildoune Homestead as a community facility for the residents of the rapidly developing neighbourhood. The design response for the proposed additions drew on the heritage of the property and its link to the former rural environment of the area. Skillion-roofed forms arranged in a loose series of visually separate structures were conceived to maintain an appropriate sense of scale and space and to provide a flexible multi-purpose facility for a variety of community uses.