Chanmollyna Chhour

Interior Architecture

Hi, I'm Mollyna, an interior architecture graduate driven by the principles of minimalism and sustainability. My design approach prioritises creating spaces where carefully chosen materials shape the atmosphere, balancing visual refinement with functional optimisation. Growing up in a close-knit community has profoundly influenced my work, inspiring me to design environments that foster interaction, connection, and creativity. I am deeply committed to sustainable architecture, particularly energy-efficient designs and conscious material selection. For me, architecture is not merely about constructing buildings; it’s about crafting experiences and enriching the lives of those who inhabit these spaces. By focusing on minimalist aesthetics and sustainable principles, I aim to create designs that resonate with the essence of the communities they serve.

Converged Care: A Pre-Admission and Recovery Centre

Converged Care aims to design a supportive and adaptable pre-admission and post-recovery centre that effectively caters to both long-term and short-term hospital patients, facilitating a seamless transition from home to hospitalisation and from hospital care to independent living. It explores how the integration of community engagement, social interactive spaces, entertaining spaces and therapeutic spaces can enhance patient’s mental health pre-admission and recovery.

Healing in Healthcare: Reshaping The Public Space of Footscray Hospital

Healing in Healthcare aims to change human’s perception of hospital by elevating the public spaces within hospital design, not merely as functional areas but as vibrant centers of healing and community as well as enhancing the visitor experience and fostering strong community networks. The design promotes interactivity, wellness, and environmental harmony, particularly through the integration of indoor gardens in the lobby.

Artisanal Design Gallery: The Museum of Hand-made

The Museum of Hand-made is a project that embodies sustainability by
generating and maintaining its own energy, reflecting a commitment to
environmental responsibility. Designed as a self-sufficient, stand-alone
building, its primary purpose is to foster community engagement and
serve as a dynamic creative space for local artists and residents. The
museum not only promotes artistic expression but also offers a welcoming
and secure environment for the community to gather, ensuring a space
that is both inspiring and comfortable for all who visit.

Synergistic Studio: An Architectural Studio

The Synergistic Studio is an architectural studio designed to bring together individual’s creativity into one space. The concept proposes to convert the existing building to a contemporary, timeless and residential-like working environment to promote employee’s productivity. In addition to the material’s choice, the space incorporates organic and wave-like shapes to generate a contrast from the exterior environment. The studio is equipped with programs including amphitheater, open collaborative workspace, individual workspace and open garden rooftop. The overall notion of this project studio is to encourage colleague’s interaction and discussion between one another in order to produce the best outcome for their group projects.

Blossoming Dorsal: Regent Station Re-imagine

Blossoming Dorsal is a re-imagined space of Regent Station, envisioned as a vibrant community space where locals can connect, socialize, and actively participate in initiatives supporting both physical and mental well-being. Serving as the "backbone" of the suburb, the station nurtures the lively spirit of the area by fostering a sense of belonging and providing a welcoming space for events, wellness activities, and communal gatherings. Blossoming Dorsal aims to create a harmonious balance between connectivity, health, and community engagement, breathing new life into the heart of the neighborhood.

Acknowledgement of Country

The School of Design and Architecture respectfully acknowledges the Wurundjeri peoples of the Kulin Nation as the Traditional Owners and knowledge-keepers of the lands, waters and sky that surround us, where we work, learn, create, communicate and make place. We recognise that sovereignty has never been ceded and this always was and will always be Wurundjeri Country. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who continue to make a better world through design.

We extend our acknowledgement to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff, students, alumni, real-life clients, and knowledge keepers, who have contributed to our own education diversity and growth. We will continue to ensure that staff and students respectfully honour ancestral connection to Country and Place in everything that they do.

We are dedicated to the notion of design to make a better world and we acknowledge that making tools, shaping place, sharing stories, making meaning, wayfinding and collaborating have long been and continue to be both central and integral to First Peoples' cultures. We recognize that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples’ cultural contributions have continued relevance to design practice and commit to: reconciling ancestries of design and contemporary practice as well as pursuing culturally and professionally appropriate ways to engage with a diverse population of colleagues, industries and clients. In a time of treaty-making and voice we understand that there are overlaps between caring for Country and the sustainable production of goods, services, experiences, products and buildings.

Guided by the principles of respect, reconciliation, and reciprocity we undertake to indigenising and decolonising design practice by dismantling colonial structures and challenging biases that have marginalised Indigenous voices and design.

As students of SoDA you will be given opportunities to both engage with and educate yourself in Indigenous creative practices and cultural protocols through a lens of inclusivity, diversity, respect, mutual understanding, inter-cultural dialogue in all aspects of design practice. Indigenous people have been telling stories, making tools, and connecting to Country through visual media, placemaking and place marking for more than 60,000 years and these practices are part of an ongoing, evolving and live tradition.