bttb was founded by Corina Baldwin in 1998 and is now one of Australia’s premier boutique event companies. bttb sets out to achieve something different with each event and seeks out the most promising design industry up-and-comers to collaborate with.

bttb are renowned for their forward thinking designs and have worked closely with Joost Bakker on projects at major events such as the Melbourne Cup Carnival.  Joost’s designs and ideas reflect bttb’s own approach to the environment. After visiting Joost’s home in Monbulk, Corina Baldwin and Joost discussed the idea of a temporary space showcasing his sustainable building techniques. From this discussion, Greenhouse was born.

bigger than ten bears
Corina Baldwin, Director
+61 3 9429 9277
cbaldwin@bttb.com.au
www.bttb.com.au

The project is being built offsite by Lexon Constructions and the onsite construction will commence from 13 October 2008. In the meantime inspect the latest renderings of the Greenhouse; designed by Joost and engineered by Tim Gibney of Tim Gibney & Associates, planned for the Amphitheatre at Federation Square.

The Greenhouse
The Amphitheatre at Federation Square
Corner Swanston & Flinders Streets
Melbourne Victoria

View map here

Melways references (2007 edition)
Page 1B, reference P11
Map 593

If you think guerrilla gastronomy is a load of old rubbish – then wait until you see what’s about to be dumped in Melbourne’s Federation Square from 29 October 2008 until 29 January 2009.

The Greenhouse, a self-sustaining event venue will rise from the ground of Federation Square at the end of October and for three months only will dish up degustation fare - in part dug from the garden of its own roof-top space - in a structure designed entirely from detritus. Tiny ‘taste-tubes’ (science laboratory ware is just some of the discard to double as dishes) will be served by vintage-dressed waiters wheeling ‘de-registered’ shopping trolleys around furniture made from found ‘stuff’.

Think local, act local is the imperative of this ‘waste of a space’ project that is the brain-child of one man who, having made a life’s work of trash, will show how simply it turns into treasure….with minimal cost to pocket and no cost to the planet.

Repulsed by the practices of a planet that keeps making stuff without any thought to the impact of creating more stuff, celebrated flower artist and waste wizard Joost (a man whose creativity warrants no more than a single moniker) was pushed by event entrepreneur, Corina Baldwin of ‘bigger than ten bears’, his co-collaborator on some of Melbourne’s most memorable events, to take up the opportunity of a three month tenure at Federation Square.

Extrapolating the experiment of his own home, an extra-ordinary pot-plant veiled structure made from straw bales and furnished entirely from and with other’s waste, Joost decided to take the opportunity to project its possibilities into a more commercial structure in a dense city environment. Conceiving a building made from straw bales - one of the world’s biggest and most problematic waste products - set into a 100% recyclable steel framework (uncoiled and cut on site), he envisaged a ‘Greenhouse’ that whilst serving as a platform for Spring to Summer exhibition that would serve to instruct a city on how simple and straightforward sustainability practice can be if each individual gives a thought to the life-cycle of the things they consume.

Enlisting the material donation and promise of voluntary labour from all manner of like-minded industry and individuals, Joost took his Waste of a Space idea – with its floors of deconstructed shipping crates, feature wall of wild strawberries planted in old plastic palettes, tables fabricated from redundant fire hydrants, chairs of re-structured street signs and shade-cloths woven from tiles discarded by the Melbourne Cricket Club – to officials at Melbourne City Council and expected the bureaucracy to baulk at the precedent.

“Who’s going to rubber-stamp a roof-top garden in Fed Square complete with compositing vats, a burgeoning vegie patch, rows of bay trees in recycled CHEP bins and buzzing-alive bee-hives?” But the director of design and urban environment at the City of Melbourne, Professor Rob Adams instantly saw in The Greenhouse a small salve to the heat island effect and an accessible, artful opportunity to make the public think about how technology, processes and materials are impacting on the planet and how they might make a difference. So the red-tape was cut through and planning is now underway for its imminent launch.

To arrange interviews or request images please contact:

Lauren Roe
Consultant, We Are Hunter
lauren@wearehunter.com
+61 3 9662 1657

0418 737 500

bigger than ten bears
Corina Baldwin, Director
0418 866 958
+61 3 9429 9277
cbaldwin@bttb.com.au

Seamstress Restaurant & Bar
113 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne
+61 3 9663 6363

Vue de Monde
Normanby Chambers
430 Little Collins Street, Melbourne
+61 3 9691 3888
vuedemonde@vuedemonde.com.au
www.vuedemonde.com.au

Lexon Constructions P/L
+ 61 3 9818 3098
jonathon@lexon.com.au
www.lexon.com.au

Click here for more information and weekly updates

Greenhouse by Joost
The Amphitheatre at Federation Square (Flinders Street), Melbourne
Open Now! – 29 January 2009

Public entry - Between 7am and 4pm daily
For entry between 4pm and 10pm become a member at the door or contact one of our many supporters to obtain a ticket
For further information contact bttb
Tel: +61 3 9429 9277

Opening Hours:
The Greenhouse by Joost is open daily as an exhibtion and education centre. During this time visitors can get a taste of sustainability practice in world-class design and enjoy produce grown on the rooftop of the Greenhouse and sourced from organic and local suppliers.

The Greenhouse will instantly deconstruct leaving not a single trace of waste. The hope is that this cost effective, self-sustaining, pop-up structure might serve as more than a momentary mirage in the city of Melbourne. Ideally it will educate, generate debate, and serve as a model for a cheaper, more spirit-lifting form of public housing in our suburbs. But in the very near future plans are afoot to take the Greenhouse to next year’s Milan Furniture Fair.

Extrapolating the experiment of his own home, an extra-ordinary pot-plant veiled structure made from straw bales and furnished entirely from and with other’s waste, Joost decided to take the opportunity to project its possibilities into a more commercial structure in a dense city environment. Conceiving a building made from straw bales - one of the world’s biggest and most problematic waste products - set into a 100% recyclable steel framework (uncoiled and cut on site), he envisaged a ‘Greenhouse’ that whilst serving as a platform for Spring to Summer entertaining (day-time café morphing into night-time VIP venue) would serve to instruct a city on how simple and straightforward sustainability practice can be if each individual gives a thought to the life-cycle of the things they consume.

Enlisting the material donation and promise of voluntary labour from all manner of like-minded industry and individuals, Joost took his Waste of a Space idea – with its floors of deconstructed shipping crates, feature wall of wild strawberries planted in old plastic palettes, tables fabricated from redundant fire hydrants, chairs of re-structured street signs and shade-cloths woven from tiles discarded by the Melbourne Cricket Club – to officials at Melbourne City Council and expected the bureaucracy to baulk at the precedent.

“Who’s going to rubber-stamp a roof-top garden in Fed Square complete with compositing vats, a burgeoning vegie patch, rows of bay trees in recycled CHEP bins and buzzing-alive bee-hives?” But the director of design and urban environment at the City of Melbourne, Professor Rob Adams instantly saw in The Greenhouse a small salve to the heat island effect and an accessible, artful opportunity to make the public think about how technology, processes and materials are impacting on the planet and how they might make a difference. So the red-tape was cut through and planning is now underway for its imminent launch.

Lexon Construction is a family-run commercial and domestic building business which has operated throughout Australia for over 30 years. Lexon specializes in seeking innovative and efficient building methods to deliver excellent results that are cost-effective and timely. Lexon met Joost in 2005 and discovered that Joost’s passion for designing an environmentally sustainable home matched Lexon’s passion for finding innovative solutions to construction challenges. Lexon worked closely with him to create the amazing masterpiece that is his house in Monbulk. The collaboration was a great success and The Greenhouse is based on this design.

Lexon Constructions P/L
+ 61 3 9818 3098
jonathon@lexon.com.au
www.lexon.com.au

Jason Chan and Anthony Herzog bring an eclectic array of skills, interests and experience to Seamstress. Jason is a fifth‐generation restaurant owner and also runs the award‐winning Batch Espresso on Carlisle Street, Balaclava. In 2005 he was named The Age Barista of the Year and was part of the winning team at the 42 Below Vodka World Cocktail Championships.

Anthony Herzog is well known in the Melbourne restaurant scene. He is a trained chef and worked in a two Michelin star restaurant in Basle, Switzerland before completing a BA in Hospitality Business Management and an Advanced Diploma in Wine Marketing at the Le Cordon Bleu Institute‐affiliated University of South Australia. He has numerous cocktail awards to his name.

Seamstress has just been named “Best New Bar” and awarded “Best Beverage Selection” at the 2008 Australina Bar Awards.

Seamstress Restaurant & Bar
113 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne
+61 3 9663 6363
bookings@seamstress.com.au
www.seamstress.com.au