The Murphy Group has been a long-standing supporter of the Daniel Morcombe Foundation and we are very grateful that it provides us an opportunity to support a truly inspirational initiative.
Most recently we completed the construction of Daniel House. Daniel House is the National HQ for the Daniel Morcombe Foundation. It is the pulse of their community awareness campaigns and provides the “Walk Tall” program offering free counselling services for child survivors of crime and their families.
Working closely with Bruce and Denise Morcombe, it became our heartfelt mission to get as much support as possible from as many trades and suppliers as possible to bring their vision to life.
Our Daniel House collective worked in unison seeking community support and engagement. We asked – and our community delivered! Together we were able to secure over $500,000 of construction value and in-kind support. Accompanied by a $900,000 state government grant, together this materialised the Daniel House dream.
Being in the Sunshine Coast hinterland, Bruce and Denise wanted to retain many of the old growth trees: they were keen to maintain the hinterland feel with its “own little rainforest walk” in Bruce’s words. This was juxtaposed with contemporary design and a fun castle turret styled fence (built by the Morcombe’s son Brad) for the outdoor counselling room.
It was important for the Foundation to offer privacy for the counselling patients. This can be seen through the increased setbacks, established trees, building orientation and fencing height. The centre’s entry was specifically positioned facing the rear of the site to allow for privacy and anonymity for attending counselling patients.
Daniel House provides executive offices and open plan layouts, boardroom, counselling rooms, media room, kitchen, bathrooms as well as an alfresco meeting space nestled in the centre of the building. The project features many innovative building products from the ground up – including waffle pods, solar panels, acoustic panels and modern technologies like an automated air conditioning system that can be operated remotely.
A noteworthy challenge for the Murphy team was managing the gift in kind process. The community wanted to give so much, and the project team were overwhelmed with donations. As the Foundation received the government grant, all donations and support needed to be reported in detail which created additional administrative work.
The workmanship on this project is of an exceptional quality. While each stage of the construction posed challenges, every effort was expended to ensure a perfect finish for the Daniel Morcombe Foundation — and the children, families and community that will benefit from this centre.
Working with Bruce, Denise and the Foundation’s staff was a humbling and inspirational experience for each of our team. Our community literally came together to support the Morcombe’s and the Foundation in the most generous of ways. We all went on this journey with Bruce and Denise and we were there with them as they took each step. And as Bruce says, they now feel like “the Daniel Morcombe Foundation finally has a home”.
