Recently the Bike Shed Site Group was approached by a group of architectural students from Melbourne University, who were looking for a location and funding support for a third year design studio project. The Bike Shed agreed to fund the project, and support the students in their design endeavours. The project brief was to [...]
"Gardens are not made by singing 'oh how beautiful!' and sitting in the shade." - Rudyard Kipling CERES has always been receptive to new artwork and the latest is a depiction of a Sacred Kingfisher and a Butterfly. An outline has been carved in the hard basalt boulders at the back of the old cafe [...]
Recent site works highlights As we mentioned in the blog in December, a new pump system for the old café toilets has been installed and the increased pressure has allowed CERES to install the latest design, most water efficient toilets in Australia. The new pump is connected to the 50,000L underground tank in front of [...]
We know you are all waiting with bated breath for the new Café to arrive – as are we! Following a late discovery of a sewer easement, which required some re-jigging of the Café design and placement, we are pleased to present the most up-to-date plan for your perusal. For the first part of this [...]
Permaculture has been referred to as "Australia's most significant intellectual export" and considering how far across the globe it has spread, this claim may have some basis. Permaculture is a process for designing sustainable communities and is derived from permanent agriculture and permanent culture. Permaculture is a combination of traditional wisdom, modern science and [...]
Two years ago we installed a cutting-edge, very low-flush (2 litre/3 litre) toilet system in the toilet block next to the café... Rainwater collected from the buildings on Lee Street and near the café is stored in an underground tank and is used to flush these toilets. When the tank is empty we need to [...]
November report by Site Manager Nick Curmi It has been a big month around site... Some of the many projects our team have completed include: Main entrance carpark upgrade including the asphalt surfacing, railway sleeper wheel stops and line marking including traffic control at the entry. The installation of the Nursery concrete loading bay in [...]
Lyndon Fenlon from the Urban Honey Co wrote an email the other day and it just blew me away (that's Lyndon in the middle delivering hives to the Rialto on his beekeeper's bike) . He announced that he was closing the Urban Honey Co he'd founded and was heading out to start anew in East [...]
The sealing of the carpark was the completion of a project planned with the building of Van Raay 2 (staff offices, meeting rooms and Merri) and with an earlier water grant. The idea is that rainwater - called stormwater once it hits the ground - be collected, filtered by biofiltration, stored and used for irrigation [...]
On behalf of the CERES Board I am very pleased to advise that we have reappointed Cinnamon to the role of CEO for a further three years commencing 26 January 2015. This was an easy choice. Over the past two and a half years she has done an excellent job. She has provided leadership to [...]