Helping Ruffy rebuild after the bushfires

In Ruffy, a small community in Victoria’s Strathbogie Ranges, the loss of a much-loved community facility in the Ruffy-Longford bushfire has created an urgent need to plan for what comes next. Architects Without Frontiers is working with the community to support that process, bringing professional design expertise to a recovery effort being led locally.

AWF Network Partners Hayball and Tract Consultants, together with pro bono cost planner Slattery, will develop fully costed concept plans for Tablelands Community Centre Ltd. The work will help the community explore a replacement for the facility destroyed in January 2026.

A foundation for community-led recovery

A community centre is a place for people to come together. Planning its replacement offers an opportunity to consider how that shared space can serve the community into the future, while recognising the importance of what has been lost.

The concept plans will provide a basis for consultation, fundraising and cooperation with Strathbogie Shire Council, which owns the site. They will give the community a proposal around which to hold conversations about its needs and priorities, supported by an understanding of likely costs.

This is an early design and planning contribution to the recovery process. Its value lies in helping the community move from an intention to rebuild towards a proposal that can be discussed, assessed and used to seek support.

Bringing the right expertise together

The collaboration brings architecture, planning and cost advice into the same conversation. Through AWF, the community can draw on the knowledge of established built environment professionals as it works through the decisions ahead.

Ruffy’s proactive community is shaping its own recovery. We are proud that the skills and generosity of our Network Partners and pro bono collaborators can support that work, helping local ambitions take a more concrete form.