The Sir John Monash Centre is a ‘lifted landscape’ – a flat roof planted with the grasses of a Picardy meadow, sitting above a simple box in which stories are told.
Project Name: Sir John Monash Centre
Studio Name: Cox Architecture
Project size: 1400 m2
Completion date: 2018
Building levels: 3
Location: Villers-Bretonneux, France
Photography: Muliple photographers
It is a subtle and understated homage to the ANZAC experience on the Western Front, sitting adjacent to the Australia Memorial in Villers-Bretonneux, France.
The war museum seamlessly integrates into existing geometry of the Australian Memorial designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, opened in 1938. Throughout the planning, it was imperative the intent and spirit of the original memorial wasn’t interfered with, while still delivering a contemporary, Australian design.
Philip Goad from Architecture Australia, ‘The Sir John Monash Centre stands as an exemplar for other nations to follow and from which other museums might learn something about the maintenance of memory.’
