Deakin’s School of Architecture and Built Environment is currently holding its annual student exhibition at Federation Square from 5 to 9 November, before moving to the gallery at Deakin’s Geelong Waterfront Campus from 13 to 23 November.

Head of the School of Architecture and Built Environment Professor Anthony Mills says this year’s exhibition curated exceptional work from undergraduate and masters students, including drawings, models and folios.

“The PaperSpace exhibition is a fantastic opportunity to see the exciting work of up and coming architects whose innovative ideas may play a pivotal role in designing our future built environment,” says Mills.

Masters of Architecture student Melisa Santos is behind ‘The Five Faces of Loneliness’ a project exploring how architecture can help combat loneliness.

“Using an existing aged care facility in Melbourne’s north east, this project aims to incorporate intergenerational programs for children and older adults to promote social interaction between the most lonely. This cohousing village would provide short-term care for children in out of home care, and a permanent home for new retirees,” Melisa says.

“I want the type of buildings I design to have a bigger social impact than just looking beautiful. With this project I’ve identified five different triggers of loneliness and incorporated architectural elements and shared spaces to address these and encourage community and fellowship.”

Fellow student, Charith Siriwardana, has designed a redevelopment of Lake Colac, in Victoria’s west, which includes a pool within the lake, a cable wakeboarding park, and redesign of the yacht club with an added function room and restaurant.

“I relocated to Colac for work a year ago, moved right by the lake and fell in love with it,” Charith says.

“It’s a really beautiful natural landscape, but there’s not a lot of architecture or design around the lake to help connect it with locals and visitors. I wanted to explore how architecture could reactivate a regional community because there is a huge opportunity since thousands of people pass Colac on the way to Great Ocean Road, and I’ve already shared my plans with the local mayor.”