GovHub opens in Ballarat as Victoria moves to decentralise public sector workforce

Hundreds of public servants, previously based in Melbourne, have already started moving into Ballarat’s $100 million GovHub building.

It’s a proud time for a lot of people, but none more so than the partnership of John Wardle Architects and KNJV (Kane Nicholson Joint Venture) – the brains and brawn (read Architect and Construction firm) behind this truly epic operation.

A project of this size is rare in Ballarat, or anywhere in regional Australia, and with the GovHub construction’s employing over 400,000 man-hours on site, with 80% of the workforce based regionally and living within 100km of the project, it’s amazing how big an impact one building can have on a city. 

KNJV were particularly focussed on engaging “as many local contractors as (they) could” and are proud of identifying “a number of strategies to help smaller companies engage with the project,” as Richard Nicholson (Director, Nicholson Construction) puts it…

“One successful strategy was to break the trade packages down into smaller pieces and the nature of a multi-storey building provided a good opportunity to do this. One successful package where this worked was the plastering.

“We employed three (plastering businesses); one from Melbourne and two smaller firms from Ballarat, each taking on different levels within the building.  This helped increase the local involvement, ensured a level of experience and skills transfer on larger projects locally, and ensured we were able to implement some social procurement strategies to help disadvantaged Victorians.”

Mick Page (Construction Manager, KNJV) is proud to have been “a part of… something of this scale,” as he so succinctly puts it, “Normally you wouldn’t have this opportunity in a regional town, part of the reason I moved back home from interstate (was) to deliver this project with Nicholson Construction’s joint venture.”

And the effect this building has had is not contained to just within its four walls.  Mick continues, “Businesses directly opened up for construction and are staying.”  During construction, coffee shops, takeaway lunch offerings and bakeries directly targeted construction workers and have now stayed open to support the growth in the precinct.

GovHub Architect, Luke Jarvis, was focussed on local impact from the beginning (way back in 2017 – remember those halcyon days?), ensuring the design was “…sensitive to its context and recognised the important cultural and community significance of the existing Civic Hall and Library within the city of Ballarat.” 

“Standing on the fourth floor of the GovHub, looking back over the city of Ballarat reveals a rich layer of brick and masonry that is not immediately evident at street level. The old brick warehouses connected to the brick laneways show a connection to Ballarat’s early industry and prosperity that has transformed the city into the exciting regional centre that it is today.”

Hand in hand with the concentration on the local aspects of the project, was a heavy focus on the environmental impact and sustainability factors, “One of the unique elements of this building is the timber superstructure,” Luke continues.

“Less energy is used in the production of timber in comparison to steel or concrete, making timber a more sustainable building material. Timber is also a carbon sink, absorbing and storing carbon from the atmosphere.”

And as proud as the contributors are of having had the chance to make a permanent impact on Ballarat’s skyline (as Mick puts it, “You can see it from everywhere in Ballarat!”) – they are even more proud of being a part of a building that has truly been built for Ballarat’s future.  “It certainly has changed the skyline,” agrees Richard, “and I’m very proud to have been associated with the project, more so in the fact that it is 5-star GreenStar and Nabers building and the fact that is a large mass timber structure. 

“It is certainly time that Ballarat has a large structure like that, Ballarat is growing, ready for business, ready to take on larger developments, good for the future of Ballarat.”

But Richard’s favourite thing about the GovHub building?  “That its finished!  It’s an awesome building, it’s terrific, the quality of the facilities inside is fantastic… it just has a wonderful feel inside. A great sense of space.”

The team agree that Ballarat’s lifestyle offering these days can rival any major regional area, and as Mick puts it, “Everything is within reach, a quick trip and you can be at the beach, Melbourne, the river, the Grampians. Nothing is too far away.”

And while it has historically been a challenge that we haven’t had the same level of higher paying professional jobs you can get in Melbourne, GovHub will be a huge part of the push in the right direction.

Once fully operational, GovHub is set to house workers from Service Victoria, Consumer Affairs, Working with Children Check, the State Revenue Office, Regional Development Victoria, the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, the Department of Education and Training, and VicRoads.

Richard believes this facility will have a huge impact on Ballarat’s CBD, “And already has.  From the moment the project started, shops sold and renovated around it and I witnessed an injection of life in the area that got even when we were building.

“Armstrong Street was already starting to emerge, whether that was driven by Gov Hub or occurring naturally, Gov Hub is going to support that strip without a doubt. And continue to encourage investment.”

Planning permits in at the early stages are already coming in for further developments around the precinct, all the way from Armstrong St to the Bridge Mall.