First Steps Count: A Place Where Children and Community Thrive

After 15 years of dedication, co-design, and community visioning, the First Steps Count Child and Community Centre officially opened in Taree in March 2024. This remarkable project grew from a simple yet powerful idea: that every child deserves the best possible start in life — and that the community is key to making that happen.

Led by local champion Rosemary Sinclair AO, the project emerged in response to fragmented services and the desire to create a welcoming, integrated hub for children and families. What followed was a long-term collaboration between architects, elders, service providers, builders, and the community, grounded in cultural respect and ecological responsibility.

Designed using biophilic and integrated design principles, the Centre brings nature into every aspect of the experience. It houses early childhood and family services, community spaces, gardens, and artworks that reflect the culture and identity of Taree, Biripi Country.

More than a building, First Steps Count is a place of healing, learning, and belonging — where the architecture itself supports wellbeing, connection and joy.

Challenge

In 2008, Rosemary Sinclair AO brought together a group of people who were concerned that, despite the strong community in Taree, many families were struggling to achieve the life they wanted for their children. Taree is the 22nd most disadvantaged Local Government Area in New South Wales and despite government and other agencies set up to support families, they were still in what has been described as a “fragmented service system” (FRRR, 2023).

Rosemary Sinclair’s group was interested in working with the children and families of Taree to realise their potential. In the past, Taree families had not been consulted on what they needed, or how their needs could be best delivered. Using a Co-Design approach, the small group carried out genuine consultation with local families.

In 2009, PIDCOCK was approached through Architects Without Frontiers to help develop the ideas into the design for a building. The first sketch design, based on the brief and a site visit to the town, was developed. This enabled the group to seek funding to turn the design into a Development Application for council, with the hope of funds for the building in the future.

Solution

The success of the First Steps Count Centre lies in its deeply collaborative and place-based approach, combining co-design to shape the services and integrated design to realise the building. From the outset, community voices, Indigenous knowledge, and professional expertise were woven together to deliver a Centre that truly reflects and serves its people and place.

The design concept was to create a space that is nurturing, open, bright and airy — a place that is welcoming, playful, and culturally inclusive. The building form is compact and low in scale, opening to the public gardens and bushland to the north. A central spine runs the length of the building, with children’s play areas to the north that flow into the landscape, each with their own covered courtyards. Administrative and amenity spaces are placed to the south, where careful articulation ensures daylight penetrates deeply. The stepped form respects the surrounding neighbourhood, connecting gently with the adjoining Snugglepot Day Care Centre and nearby primary school, while making the most of existing access and parking.

The project began with Caroline Pidcock, who transitioned from architect to Sustainability Guide, embedding regenerative principles and guiding the team through the Living Building Challenge (LBC). (While the LBC guided the projetct, ultimately certification was not sought.) Architectural design and documentation were led by Russell and Carolyn McFarland of Austin McFarland Architects, whose commitment to sustainability helped translate vision into form. David Duncan from LOCI developed the integrated landscape design, ensuring the natural environment was both preserved and celebrated.

Crucial cultural input was provided by artist Joedie Lawler, Elders Aunty Isabell Bungie and Aunty Denise Russell, and the Aboriginal Community Consultation Group, who helped ensure that Biripi culture and knowledge guided the project and were reflected in its everyday function.

Builder Walter Duber, with Gisela Duber of Duber Constructions, was engaged early and became a vital sustainability champion. His leadership helped realise many Living Building Challenge goals, from low-impact materials to community engagement and on-site innovation.

The core team also included:

• Damian Hadley, Cantilever – structural engineering

• CJ Arms – civil and hydraulic engineering

• Blue Green Engineering – electrical and mechanical services

• Dr Jamie MacKee, Dr Josephine Vaughan, and Sarah Richardson from the University of Newcastle – research into healthy, sustainable building materials

To unify all contributors, Caroline Pidcock led a Biophilic Design Workshop in 2018, bringing together service providers, council staff, Indigenous leaders, builders, and community members. Participants were invited to explore how to bring a sense of nature, wellbeing and cultural identity into every layer of the project — from materials and light, to spaces for gathering, storytelling and healing.

The result is a place where architecture, community, ecology, and culture come together — a living demonstration of what’s possible when we design with care, creativity, and connection to Country.

Key biophilic design strategies and their intended outcomes

Once the financing for Stage 1 was finally secured, a Biophilic Design Workshop was held with all the clients, community and council stakeholders, consultants, potential builders and researchers. The aim was to connect each other and help everyone focus on the potential of the building and how biophilia could help realise this. From this workshop the following strategies were identified as important to be explored:

1        Develop Community Ownership and Foster Connection

·       Engage the community in shaping the building’s identity and ongoing programs.

• Integrate cultural elements into the construction process.

• Design a space that celebrates and supports local cultural activities.

• Provide private and communal areas for local use.

• Create a building that instils local pride.

• Maintain and enhance existing community-built connections.

• Strengthen these connections between the building, landscape, and neighbouring facilities like the primary school.

• Establish a bushtucker garden with seedlings grown at the local school.

• Design dedicated spaces for storytelling, cultural artefacts, and family histories.

• Display community photos showcasing children, elders, and key events.

• Incorporate a yarning circle.

2       Strengthen the Relationship Between Land and People

• Integrate the building seamlessly with the natural landscape.

• Embed cultural meaning into both physical and non-physical design elements.

• Use local and salvaged materials in construction.

• Design fluid indoor-outdoor transitions.

• Celebrate local waterways through interactive water features.

• Include a rain-responsive water element in the building.

• Utilize solar power for sustainability.

• Plant native and bushtucker species to support biodiversity.

• Establish food-sharing initiatives or growers' markets.

• Design a sensory garden highlighting fragrant plants.

• Encourage local wildlife through thoughtful landscaping.

• Grow plants for traditional crafting materials like weaving and tool-making.

• Create a seasonal calendar garden.

• Design a butterfly garden to attract pollinators.

• Use natural wayfinding elements like message sticks instead of fences.

3      Create a Robust, Welcoming, and Accessible Space

• Use familiar, inviting materials, colours, and patterns.

• Ensure ample lighting at levels suited for both adults and children.

• Design for future growth, allowing the building to evolve over time.

• Select materials that age gracefully and require minimal upkeep.

• Let the building tell its own story and indicate maintenance needs.

• Ensure accessibility for people of all ages, abilities, and cultures.

• Create a soft, welcoming entry point that accommodates diverse user needs.

• Design multi-functional, adaptable spaces.

• Develop a living building guide through storytelling.

4.      Foster a Healing Environment That Feels Safe and Secure

• Design open, non-isolated spaces for safety and comfort.

• Use clear, multilingual signage with symbols for easy navigation.

• Provide areas with good visibility and a sense of security.

• Create peaceful, calming spaces for reflection and healing.

• Establish zones where people can “leave it at the door” to focus on growth and reconciliation.

• Encourage curiosity and engagement through design.

• Ensure all visitors feel acknowledged and welcomed.

• Integrate appropriate occupational health and safety measures.

5.    Embed Community Stories Through Art, Materials, and Sensory Design

• Weave stories throughout the building and landscape.

• Feature a community-designed mural reflecting local identity.

• Celebrate storytelling through art, music, and language.

• Install a multi-sensory wall with touch-interactive elements.

• Incorporate Indigenous animal symbols and soundscapes.

• Provide space for diverse artistic expression across various media.

• Embed artwork, and textured surfaces into pathways and floors.

How key strategies were achieved

The First Steps Count Child and Community Centre was a collaborative effort involving Austin McFarland Architects, PIDCOCK Sustainability Guide, Duber Constructions, Cantilever Constructions, Loci Collective, Arts Director Ali Haigh, and University of Newcastle researchers. Through an integrated design approach, every opportunity to explore and celebrate biophilic principles was embraced.

The building’s layout fosters seamless indoor-outdoor connections, with a secondary entry enhancing accessibility and encouraging casual engagement. The thoughtfully designed landscape caters to diverse experiences, stimulating all senses with sound play areas, fragrant pathways, and varied textures. Trees cleared for construction and for the APZ were repurposed for structural and landscape elements, ensuring a deeply relevant, sustainable approach. Locally sourced materials, including bricks from a nearby brickworks, locally developed recycled aggregate concrete and salvaged timber, were incorporated, with some timber reclaimed from the 2021 floods, adding layers of community history.

Community involvement was central, with residents contributing to workshops that led to wall murals and artists creating meaningful artworks throughout the space. To further ground the Centre in its surroundings, the builder integrated specially selected aggregate in the ramp, symbolizing the river that flows through the town.

Stage 2 was completed in early 2024, and the Centre officially opened on March 5th. At the ceremony, long-time project champion Rosemary Sinclair reflected, "It is just so much better than any of us expected, and with the architects and the builders putting so much of themselves into it and all those little finishing touches that came from their creativity... it's just beautiful…It caters to the needs of children and families like no other place can."

• Simple and intuitive methods for operating the building.

• Collaborative team approach.

• Considerate building approaches.

• Location of facility near local facilities.

• Food composting facilities.

• Convenient location of storage space for recycling.

• Building designed to be adaptable and accessible.

• Convenient storage for bicycles to encourage use.

• Good thermal performance of building.

• Good natural light and ventilation.

• Good views to the outside.

• Low dust floors throughout.

• Attention to planning and detailing to manage acoustics.

• Low VOC paints.

• Low VOC boards for joinery.

• Good thermal performance to result in minimal heating and cooling.

• Appropriate levels of insulation and thermal mass.

• Ability to zone areas of the building.

• Ceiling fans to all rooms.

• Well designed natural ventilation throughout building.

• Good natural light throughout building.

• Low energy lighting using fluorescents and LEDS.

• Energy efficient appliances used throughout.

• Solar hot water heating.

• Energy efficient systems selected for cooking.

• Photovoltaics for energy generation.

• Building wired for smart switching so unused appliances and lights can be easily turned off.

• High performance water saving fixtures and appliances.

• Low water garden.

• Appropriate water tank storage, connected to toilets and landscape.

• Building and garden designed to reduce stormwater runoff.

• Materials to be selected with thought given to reducing their impacts over their life.

• Building to be designed with modular and standard sizes in mind to reduce waste.

• Building to be designed with deconstruction in mind.

• Building to be designed to easily adapt to changing uses.

• Certified timber from sustainably managed forests for framed windows and doors.

• Certified timber and/or recycled timber for new floor boards and decking.

• Size of project purposefully kept to the the most efficient size possible.

• Built-on area kept to a minimum.

• Land used for building improved by project.

• Garden design to enhance local ecosystems and encourage local flora and fauna.

• Garden design inherent to building design.

• Inclusion of food plants and chickens to help provide for occupants learning and use.

• Connection of all areas to garden to assist in better care.

• External lighting designed to be appropriate for the site without extending beyond.

Team

Katherine Madden.
Matt Cochrane.
Caroline Pidcock.