Evelyn Reynolds

The final underground station in the Melbourne Metro Tunnel project is now complete, the Victorian government has announced.
Premier Jacinta Allan and Minister for Transport Infrastructure Gabrielle Williams visited the newly completed State Library Station – the last of the five Metro Tunnel stations to be finished, following Arden, Parkville, Town Hall and Anzac stations.
Designed by Hassell, Weston Williamson and Partners, and Rogers Stirk Harbour and Partners, the new stations will link Footscray and Malvern, connecting the Sunbury Line to the Cranbourne and Pakenham lines.
According to the state government, State Library Station is the deepest and most complex station ever built beneath Melbourne’s CBD. Located 42 metres below Swanston Street – deeper than the height of Marvel Stadium – it features platforms that are 220 metres long and 18 metres wide, making them among the widest underground metro platforms in the world.
In a statement, the government highlighted the use of precision keyhole construction, with crews lowering materials and machinery through shafts while traffic continued to flow on streets above.
The station’s main entrance, located at the corner of La Trobe and Swanston streets, is framed by 12 columns that are topped with 70-tonne, 18-metre beams, which were lifted into place by a 400-tonne crane. A second entrance opens onto Franklin Street.
A major artwork by Australian artist Danie Mellor, titled Forever, is integrated into the glazing at the main entrance. The work incorporates historical portraits of Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung women set within contemporary landscape imagery. The historical images were sourced from the archives of the neighbouring State Library Victoria, with support from the library’s curatorial team.

View gallery

The station features 27 escalators, including two at Melbourne Central Station, which it shares a concourse with. The longest escalator stretches 42 metres, making it the longest in Melbourne – 12 metres longer than those at Parliament Station.
Premier Jacinta Allan said the Metro Tunnel project is the biggest transformation of Melbourne’s rail network in more than 40 years. “Transferring between State Library and Melbourne Central is one small step for a commuter and one giant leap for Victoria,” said Allen.
“The end of major construction means the start of a new era for Melbourne, where you can get to uni, work and retail faster and easier.”
Opening dates for the stations are still to be announced. More

On Wednesday 15 October, Design Speaks Weekly host Georgia Birks will be joined by renowned architectural critic Elizabeth Farrelly and Finding Infinity principal Ross Harding in a special live recording of the podcast at South by Southwest (SXSW) Sydney.
The SXSW Sydney program, which brings together diverse professionals across technology, media, government, creative industries and more, will feature a dedicated live podcast stage and a packed program of podcasts, with topics ranging from AI and startups to true crime and music.
Within this lineup, Design Speaks Weekly will delve into the work of architecture professionals across Australia to find design solutions that address the biggest challenges of our time, like the climate and housing crises. Farrelly will share her insights into what’s holding Australia’s designers back in the face of crisis, while Harding will unpack the ongoing push to build a self-sufficient, sustainable future.
Tickets are on sale on the SXSW website.
Design Speaks Weekly is presented in partnership with the Australian Institute of Architects and with support from Lysaght. A fresh episode will be delivered every Tuesday. You can listen to it on major podcast apps, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and Pocket Casts. More

The University of Adelaide recently announced the winners of its Australian Space Architecture Challenge (ASAC), a competition hosted by the Andy Thomas Centre for Space Resources that invites conceptual proposals for human habitation in deep space.
This year’s theme, Built on the Moon, tasked entrants with envisioning the Central Operations and Habitat Zone of the Australian Lunar Village, a planned permanent lunar settlement situated on the elevated ridgeline of the Malapert Massif near the Moon’s South Pole.
The inaugural challenge in 2024, open to Australian students and graduates across STEM and creative disciplines, garnered more than 80 team registrations. This year, the challenge expanded globally, attracting 110 teams from across the world.
The winning design, titled Umbra, was developed by a team comprising Alma Kugic, Denis Acker, Finley Wallace, Victor Ramirez and Nicholas Florio from the University of Stuttgart in Germany.

View gallery

Second prize was awarded to Zhelun Zhu, Weiyi Wang, Ke Yan and Xinle Tian from the Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University in China for their project, Moon Metabolism.
Samer El Sayary of Alexandria University in Egypt and Ihab Shamseldin from Sydney took third prize for their project, Lunar Colony Reefs.

View gallery

Amit Srivastava, organiser of the challenge and head of the Lunar Architecture Research Group at the Andy Thomas Centre for Space Resources (ATCSR), said space architecture has been a research theme since the centre’s inception in 2019.
“The competition this year was focused on industry integration, and we partnered with four Australian construction and robotics companies involved in lunar construction to showcase our homegrown capabilities,” Srivastava said.
“This included Crest Robotics and Earthbuilt (working on a new robot with a $500,000 grant from the NSW government), Luyten3D (Australia’s biggest manufacturer of 3D concrete printing machinery), 3VIMA (Sydney-based 3D concrete printing construction company) and Astroport Space Technologies (South Australia-based company developing construction material from lunar regolith and other lunar construction machinery).”
“Participants were invited to explore how Australian capabilities address NASA’s highest priority technology gaps, including how additive manufacturing and robotic construction can be leveraged for In-Situ Resource Utilisation (ISRU) and Waste Recycling.”
The winning entries from the Australian Space Architecture Challenge were displayed at a public exhibition as part of the Space Architecture Symposium (SAS) held on 4 October. More

Visions for a new theatre in Canberra have been unveiled, designed by Cox Architecture in collaboration with Yerrabingin, Charcoal Blue theatre consultants and Arcadia Landscape Architecture.
Located in the city’s Civic and Cultural District at City Hill, the proposed Lyric Theatre is the first part of a staged redevelopment of the Canberra Theatre Centre, which includes refurbishments to the Canberra Theatre, the Playhouse and the Courtyard Studio. The ACT government had previously appointed a consortium comprising Architectus, Henning Larsen and Arup to lead the redevelopment.
The new lyric theatre planned for the northern side of the Playhouse has been newly imagined by Cox Architecture as a “world-class performing arts venue that reflects Canberra’s cultural aspirations.”
According to the architect’s communique, a 2,000-seat auditorium at the heart of the project will “establish a new benchmark for cultural inclusivity, accessibility and artistic excellence in Australia,” and expand the city’s capacity for major performances.
The design of the auditorium, which comprises stepped terraces of 1,000-seat stalls, a 500-seat circle and a 500-seat balcony, is aimed at enhancing acoustics and intimacy while reducing the building’s mass along the site’s main public frontages.

View gallery

Engagement with First Nations and LGBTQIA+ community groups has been key to the design team’s approach.
Director and project design lead at Cox Joe Agius said, “We wanted the design to reinforce Canberra Lyric Theatre’s unique identity – one grounded in cultural respect, continuity and storytelling.”
“As a project of national significance, it was vital that the design harmonise with Canberra’s civic fabric while also affirming the role of cultural infrastructure in shaping a shared identity – one that’s shaped by our First Nations heritage as well as the diversity of contemporary Australia.”
Co-founder and director of Yerrabingin Christian Hampson added that the “project honours and celebrates its unique place in Country, connecting audience and performer through a shared experience of acknowledgment.”
According to the architect, the theatre’s sculpted architectural form frames views to Black Mountain and Vernon Circle, while also filtering light though a layered exterior. As the first stage in the redeveloped precinct, the proposal is intended to provide a welcoming public domain that supports intuitive circulation, with its main entry oriented to the future Theatre Plaza.

View gallery

Last year, the ACT government put out a call for ideas on the transformation of City Hill Park adjacent to the theatre, which were exhibited online. They note that a forthcoming concept masterplan that builds on the proposals will guide future improvements, “incorporating stakeholder engagement, site analysis and feasibility.”
As part of the approval process, the Lyric Theatre design is on public exhibition with the National Capital Authority until 20 October. More

Perth Airport has released its masterplan, outlining a multi-billion-dollar investment program into new and upgraded infrastructure. The announcement follows the release of renders in July for a new domestic terminal, specifically designed for Qantas operations, and an expanded international terminal (Terminal 1), both of which are being developed in collaboration with Woods Bagot, Nordic Office of Architecture, and Architectus. The landscape design is being undertaken by UDLA and TCL.
In addition to these works, the masterplan outlines a program to expand Terminal 2, which includes regional connections, a new 3,000-metre runway parallel to the existing one, a 237-room hotel operated by Accor, two multi-storey car parks, and improvements to the road network.

View gallery

According to the masterplan, the works will be progressed in stages, beginning with the first car park and the new runway. Construction of the hotel is slated to commence after the initial car park is finished, in mid-2026, while works on the new terminal and second car park are expected to begin in mid-2027.
The entire redevelopment is scheduled to be operational following the completion of the new terminal in 2031, and after Qantas operations are consolidated to the central airport precinct; both Terminal 3 and Terminal 4 buildings are set to be decommissioned.

View gallery

Perth Airport CEO Jason Waters said the masterplan details the enormous potential of the airport, which is forecast to grow from an annual passenger intake of 17 million to more than 30 million passengers by 2046.
“We have begun work on the largest private investment in infrastructure in Perth’s history, which will be delivered over the course of this five-year plan,” he said. “This will unlock the full potential of the resources sector and its extraordinary pipeline of new projects worth more than $100 billion. It will create a vast array of new tourism, business and trade opportunities for Western Australia and deliver new property development opportunities on the airport estate.
“Most importantly, it will provide Western Australians with a world-class travel experience within ‘One Airport’ and deliver our airline partners the capacity and efficiencies they need to grow their businesses,” Waters added.

View gallery

Waters said that in its development, the airport commits to growth that is responsible and sustainable.
“Sustainability is at the heart of everything we do, and the masterplan confirms our commitment to net zero by 2032.”
The masterplan is now open for public comment until 23 December. More

A development application proposing a residential precinct on a former 168-hectare industrial site in Brisbane’s West End has been lodged.
Designed by Plus Studio with placemaking consultants Urbis, the project would transform a site on Donkin Street through the introduction of five 30-storey towers and one 12-storey tower, with three oriented towards the river and three facing the urban landscape. The development is proposed to accommodate 1,108 dwellings, making it Plus Studio’s largest masterplanned project in Queensland to date.
Each tower is designed to be visually distinct, with the architects noting in a communique that the river-facing towers adopt a lighter colour palette featuring glass balustrades and white aluminium screening, while the urban-facing towers embrace “bolder tones,” with steel powder-coated balustrades in red. The statement noted that podiums have been designed to reference industrial aesthetics through materiality, intended to reflect the site’s industrial history.

View gallery

Under the proposal, the riverfront towers are connected at podium level via bridges.
Director of Plus Studio Danny Juric said the practice worked closely with Urbis to design a “public realm that fosters interaction at every level.” Rooftops and podium terraces feature shared amenities, including a terraced amphitheatre, a lap pool, a spa and sauna, a gym, barbecue areas, yoga and pilates studios, and coworking spaces.
The plan also features pocket parks, a pedestrian laneway that connects the riverfront with the city edge, food and beverage establishments and flexible open spaces for markets and community activities.

View gallery

The site is framed by established fig trees, some of which, according to the development application, have stood for more than two centuries. These will be retained as part of the precinct.
Juric said the project represents a city-shaping opportunity for Brisbane. “This is a rare chance to transform an underutilised industrial site into a new riverside landmark. We’ve drawn on the character of West End while responding to the lifestyle and landscape qualities that define Brisbane today, creating a destination that connects the city’s past and future.” More

The state-heritage-listed flat where Australian modernist architect Sir Roy Grounds resided in Toorak has been listed for sale.
Located at 24 Hill Street, the flat is one of five units collectively known as the Hill Street Flats. The front unit, designed by Grounds for his family, is renowned for being a bold geometric experiment. At its centre lies a fully glazed, open-to-the-sky circular courtyard within a perfectly square building footprint, with every room oriented toward this central space.
The flats behind the front unit lack the precise geometric layout of Grounds’s residence, but still feature distinctive elements such as angled car park walls, small slatted balconies and double-height main living spaces.
At the time the Grounds family purchased the Hill Street property, Grounds had completed the Four Flats projects: Clendon, Quamby, Clendon Corner and Moonbria, all located in either Armadale or Toorak and completed between 1940–1941. An original scheme for the Hill Street Flats from 1952 featured a single-storey home for the Grounds family with 12 flats behind it. In 1953, that plan was modified to comprise five flats – a configuration that remains today.

View gallery

The same year Grounds revised the scheme, he joined architects Frederick Romberg and Robin Boyd in establishing Grounds Romberg and Boyd, an architectural practice that operated until its dissolution in 1962. The partnership dissolved partly in response to Grounds’s appointment as sole architect for the National Gallery of Victoria – a building that echoed many of the themes found in the Hill Street flat, built a decade earlier. A newly published book by Maria Larkins explores the famed practice in depth, tracing how it operated and how it ultimately all came undone.
In another recent book, Roy Grounds: Experiments in Minimum Living by architect and historian Tony Lee, it’s noted that Roy and his wife Betty Grounds lived in the Hill Street house until his death in 1981. The home continues to be recognised and “celebrated as one of Australia’s most outstanding modernist houses. Grounds’ later projects, both residential and civic, including the Australian Academy of Science (1957) and the National Gallery of Victoria (1959) replicate details from these five flats, confirming his pattern of incremental design,” commented Lee.

View gallery

In its statement of significance, the Victorian Heritage Database describes the home as “inward looking” and possessing “an almost eastern character,” expressed through its projecting eaves and the central courtyard, which was originally planted with bamboo. The database further characterised the house as “a striking essay in pure geometry, a hallmark of Ground’s work during the 1950s, and one of the best examples of experimentation with geometry in the work of post war avant-garde architects in Victoria.”
For more stories on the architecture of Roy Grounds, explore the Revisited articles on Moonbria and Boyd Baker House, or read these features chronicling the history of the National Gallery of Victoria, published in honour of its fiftieth anniversary, and the Arts Centre Melbourne, marking 40 years since its completion.

View gallery

Expressions of interest for Grounds House are now being accepted. For details, visit here. More

The NGV’s latest design exhibition, Making Good: Redesiging the Everyday on show at the Ian Potter Centre: NGV International, aims to present tangible examples of how designers are reimagining everyday products and systems for the good of both humans and the planet. And it’s a cleverly titled show. The “making good” of the name invokes the positive contribution contemporary designers are making by prioritising ecological responsibility, ethical production processes and social impact. It also hints at what we, as designers, might not always want to talk about: that design, despite its often, good intentions, has been complicit in myriad issues and the cause of significant harm. So, how can we, as designers, begin to repair some of the damage that we’ve caused? How can design make good on its promise to contribute positively to the world?

View gallery

The work on display made some suggestions, and I found myself thinking again about British designer Kiki Grammatopoulos’s Rewild the run shoes numerous times after my visit. Learning from biomimicry, the shoes have a chunky, bristled outer sole that grips and distributes seeds, thus involving the runner in rewilding the city. Displayed nearby was the memorably named Full Metal Jacket made from an antibacterial copper textile, created by clothing brand Vollebak. Together, these prototypes prompted the imagination, conjuring visions of cities dense with greenery that had been spread by long-limbed runners, and bacteria-free hospitals teeming with staff outfitted in scrubs that would look perfectly at home in an early 2000s music video.

View gallery

Alongside these more evocative works, less glamorous items designed for daily use argued for the transformative impact that practical, functional designs can have. Items eradicating single-use plastic included compostable food wrap, edible coffee cups and plant-based ear plugs, while a dehydrated oat milk powder showed how product innovation can reduce packaging and the energy used in transport, in this case by significantly reducing the product’s weight. Collectively, these items underscored the impact of personal choice on the climate crisis.
Coming from a background in landscape architecture, it would be amiss of me not to mention the built environment work on display, from schemes for more sustainable architecture, to paint systems that purify the air. While the proposal for Hotel Optimismo – an energy-generating, waste-recycling, high-rise built from carbon-sequestering materials by Finding Infinity (presented in a short video) was no doubt thought-provoking, I lingered longer over a film that documented the already built and operating Regenerative Futures Studio at Woodleigh School. Designed by Joost Bakker with McIldowie Partners and Sam Cox, one could see the physical outcome and hear the testimonials of the building’s impact on the students who use it.

View gallery

Making Good should make you feel good about design as a profession. And the broad range of approaches on display offers much food for thought when it comes to interdisciplinary thinking. (Are there approaches to more ecologically responsible design that come from fashion design, for instance, that could be taken into architecture? Or vice versa?) Furthermore, as designers, there are the choices we make in our professional practice – how we frame a brief, the approach we take to a project, the materials we specify – but also the decisions we make in the everyday running of our studios, and at home in our domestic spaces. Making Good helps us to appreciate the many scales and dimensions of design, highlighting just how many (design) decisions we make in our personal and professional lives. More