Orchard Manufacturing Co.

BENT Architecture reimagines what a manufacturing plant can be at Orchard Manufacturing Co. in Rowville, Victoria, a production facility fitted inside an existing warehouse shell and built around the wellbeing of the people who work in it. The brief turned on an apparent contradiction: Orchard Manufacturing holds to a natural ethos, yet few settings feel further from nature than a factory floor.

The response draws on the thinking of artist and activist Friedensreich Hundertwasser and his belief in the vegetative spiral, organic rather than geometric. Colour and texture carry the character of the nearby indigenous reserve into the building, ebbing and flowing across the interior. That logic shapes the selection of finishes and materials, and even produces gently undulating floors.

The result is a vibrant, engaging workplace rather than the sterile, oppressive environment usually associated with production facilities. Across roughly 2,950 m² over two levels, colour, texture and organic form lift the experience for staff and visitors alike. The project completed in 2019.

Architecture by BENT Architecture, with project director Merran Porjazoski and design team Paul Porjazoski, Michael Germano and Lana Blazanin. Structural engineering by Clive Steele Partners. Built by Rossiter Constructions. Photography by Tatjana Plitt.