Evelyn Reynolds

More than 150 built-environment professionals have signed an open letter to Sonya Kilkenny, Victorian minister for planning and the suburbs, advocating for the removal of upper-level setback requirements within the state’s planning scheme.
The letter, dated 2 September 2024, follows a recent announcement from the Department of Planning and Transport outlining draft controls for ten slated activity centres across Melbourne. Drafted by YIMBY Melbourne, the letter builds upon the company’s research into relevant global and local precedents of high-rise residential development. It argues that building upward and without setbacks is conducive to better outcomes – both more affordable and environmentally sustainable.
“Upper-level setbacks are the most poorly-evidenced rule in the Victorian planning system, and are almost entirely indefensible. The rules are underpinned by confected terms such as ‘visual bulk’ and ‘break up the form,’ which don’t mean anything and provide no material benefit to anyone,” commented YIMBY Melbourne lead organiser Jonathan O’Brien. “No one goes to Paris or Prague and complains of the visual bulk. We shouldn’t complain about it here in Melbourne, either.”

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An excerpt from the open letter reads:

We congratulate the minister on the ambition to deliver increased density and more homes where people want to live.
However, as advocates, architects and urban design professionals, we have serious concerns with the prescriptive design controls within the plans. Most notably: the requirement for upper-level setbacks across all buildings.
All of the research and practice demonstrates the negative impacts of these mandated planning controls. These include but are not limited to:
· decreased thermal efficiency across the whole building
· increased embodied carbon within the building
· higher levels of defects, including timber-rot and mould
· reduced streetscape interface and forgoing amenity and passive surveillance
· reduced project viability and fewer, more expensive homes
The evidence is overwhelming: requiring upper-level setbacks is no way to build a sustainable, affordable city. These are outdated planning controls that offer little benefit to Victorians and as such should not be included within the Plan for Victoria.
Upper-level setbacks require architects and urban designers to compromise on both external built form and internal apartment design across projects. Upper-level setbacks force highly-compromised and complex apartment layouts with lower amenity, as well as fewer family-size apartments across our city.

Signatories to the open letter include representatives from: Apparte, Austin Maynard Architects, Breathe, Cox Architecture, Cera Stribley, Chloe Antonio Architecture, Clarke Hopkins Clarke, Co-lab Architecture, Cumulus Studio, Edition Office, Forum, Ha Architecture, Hassell, Ian Moore Architects, Jackson Clements Burrows, Karen Abernethy Architects, Keep Studio, Kennedy Nolan, Kerry Kounnapis Architecture Practice, Kerstin Thompson Architects, Milieu Property, Murray Barker, Nightingale Housing, Schored Projects, Studio Edwards, Tecture, YIMBY, YSG and Ys Housing.
The complete letter can be viewed online. More

A recent report from the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI) has put forward a multi-pronged strategy to lift the quality of Australian housing. The national approach aims to combat energy inefficiencies in Australia’s existing housing stock and the resulting financial burdens experienced by households, while also setting improved standards for new homes into the future.
Authored by researchers from the University of South Australia, Monash University, the University of Adelaide, the University of Sydney and the University College of London, the report’s analysis of the Australian Housing Conditions Dataset 2022 found that over 70 percent of existing Australian houses had an energy rating of three stars of lower and about the same statistic of households reported building quality problems.
Lead researcher and associate professor at the University of South Australia Lyrian Daniel noted, “As Australia looks to build 1.2 million new homes over the five years from 2023, the low quality of our housing is currently set to perpetuate.”
The report claims that despite energy efficiency standards coming into effect more than two decades ago, 82 percent of new Australian homes are still designed to meet only the minimum requirements – low by international standards. In response, the report’s authors call for national enforcement of housing standards via mandatory disclosure of a home’s performance at point of sale or lease, minimum standards in the rental sector and stronger performance requirements for new houses.
“While voluntary policies and standards are important for encouraging leadership and innovation, they only improve a small proportion of the housing stock,” said Daniel. “Mandatory approaches are needed to lift the environmental standard of most homes. One example is the compulsory disclosure of the home’s energy efficiency of a home at point of sale or lease. The ACT government’s mandatory disclosure requirement means the territory has the highest level of energy efficiency improvements to existing owner-occupied dwellings.”
“Policies that mandate the disclosure of dwelling energy performance could improve housing markets with better consumer information about the performance of houses offered for sale or lease and also enable monitoring of performance standards across the entire housing stock.”
The full report can be viewed online. More

Powerhouse Museum Ultimo has had its heritage listing broadened, ensuring the site will continue to operate as a museum after nearly a decade of redevelopment controversies.
The 1988 Wran Building, the 1988 Galleria and the 1899 Harwood Building will now be protected by heritage status alongside the original power station, preventing the entire complex from further sale or commercial development.
In 2015, the then-state government proposed to sell the site to fund the relocation of the Powerhouse Museum to Parramatta. They revised the plan in 2020 following public outcry, opting instead to demolish the Wran building and redevelop the site into a mixed-use cultural and commercial complex.
This plan was met with another wave of backlash, particularly as the Powerhouse Museum Ultimo project and its architects, John Whyte (Ian) Thomson and Lionel Glendenning, were awarded a Sulman Medal in 1988, which is the highest honour for public architecture in New South Wales.
A 2022 design competition for this $481 million redevelopment was won by a consortium comprising Architectus, Durbach Block Jaggers Architects, Tyrrell Studio, Youssofzay and Hart, Akira Isogawa, Yerrabingin, Finding Infinity and Arup.
In 2023, the plan to redevelop was abandoned after reports emerged that the former government had buried studies that had recommended that the entire site be heritage listed.
At that time, arts minister John Graham announced the government had decided to respond to “community calls for a more modest redevelopment,” and would instead opt for a $300 million heritage revitalisation that protected the Wran Building.
A state significant development application was submitted in early 2024 for the “more modest” heritage renewal, designed by Durbach Block Jaggers, Architectus and Tyrrell Studio. The proposal to restore buildings, reorient the museum’s main and introduce a new garden square was approved in 2024 and is now currently underway.
The heritage revitalisation project is still compatible with the expanded heritage listing and is expected to be complete in 2027.
Heritage NSW executive director Sam Kidman said the extended heritage listing “reaffirms” the site’s significance as “a cultural landmark.”
“This amendment ensures that the architectural and historical significance of the entire Powerhouse Museum Complex is recognised and protected,” Kidman said. “An integral part of our state’s cultural and educational heritage, the Powerhouse Museum Complex is, and will continue to be, an iconic cultural institution for the people of NSW.” More

The Frame Awards are premised on “the notion of recognizing spaces that matter” and championing innovation in interior design. This year, the awards received hundreds of submissions across 24 categories in the Retail, Hospitality, Work, Institutions, Living and Shows sectors and are scored on Innovation, Functionality, Creativity and Sustainability.
The awards will be announced on 24 October 2024 at a live ceremony in Hong Kong.

Spatial Categories
Hotel
Journey Beyond Gold Premium Carriages – Woods Bagot
Cultural Space
ANZ Gothic Specialist Hub and Banking Museum – Foolscap Studio
Exhibition
Modern Guru and the Path to Artificial Happiness France and Taiwan – ENESS More

Fifteen architectural consortia from across the globe have been selected as finalists for the New South Wales Pattern Book Design Competition.
The competition seeks to increase the supply of quality and improve the diversity of low- and mid-rise housing through designs that can easily be replicated. The endorsed designs will be contained within a pattern book and will qualify for expedited development approval.
The shortlisted professional candidates include 12 architecture teams from New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia, alongside three international consortia: one from London, one from New Zealand, and another featuring architects from Germany, Italy, India and Australia.
Additionally, six student teams have been shortlisted, including four from the University of Sydney, one from Western Sydney University and another from the University of Melbourne.
The competition received 212 expressions of interests, 176 from Australia and 36 from Europe, the UK, Asia, Africa, North America, and South America. This figure is only 18 entries less than that of the Sydney Opera House international design competition, which attracted 230 entries.
The panel responsible for evaluating entries includes NSW government architect Abbie Galvin as jury chair; architect, urban designer and 2024 gold medalist Philip Thalis; NSW emerging architect 2024 Jennifer McMaster; architect and Indigenous spatial expert Michael Mossman, and international architect Paul Karakusevic, who is based in the UK.
Acting government architect NSW Paulo Macchia said the process of narrowing down the expressions of interests into a final shortlist proved to be quite challenging, as the quality of submissions was high.
“It’s encouraging to see the innovative and thoughtful submissions and the jury looks forward to reviewing the shortlisted candidates’ detailed designs,” Macchia said. “The competition will support more diverse and contemporary designs for the Pattern Book to suits people’s changing needs – from raising children, to working from home, to retirement.”
Shortlisted teams in the professional category:

Aileen Sage Architects – NSW
Andrew Burges Architects – NSW
Angelo Candalepas and Associates – NSW
Archier – Vic
Housing is a Verb – a collaborative team including Other Architects, NMBW Architecture Studio and Tarn – NSW and Vic
Includesign and Six Degrees – NSW
Mae Architects – United Kingdom
Neeson Murcutt Neille – a collaborative team including Finding Infinity and Maryam Gusheh and Monash Urban Lab – NSW and Vic
Officer Woods Architects – WA
Partners Hill – Vic and Tas
Retallack Thompson Architects – NSW
Scale Architecture – NSW
Site Office – a collaborative team including Rashi Shah, Schlaich Bergermann Partner and Christos Diplas – Germany, Italy, India and NSW
Spacecraft Architects – New Zealand
Studio Workshop and Clare Design – NSW

Shortlisted teams in the student category:

Amanda Eessa from Western Sydney University, NSW
Chris Stelzer and Illiana Jones from the University of Sydney, NSW
Cicely Brown, Angus Gregg and Finn Holle from the University of Sydney, NSW
Georgia Reader, Angela Xu and William Badaoui from the University of Sydney, NSW
Madeleine Gallagher, Poppy Brown, Kangyun Kim, Paris Perry, John Suh and Catherine Taylor from the University of Sydney, NSW
Stephanie Wills, Lachlan Balia, Maya Welsch and Nathan Arceri from the University of Melbourne, VIC

Finalists will have until mid-October 2024 to submit designs for stage two. The designs will be assessed on liveability, buildability, replicability, cost-effectiveness, sustainability, and their capacity to address the needs of industry and local communities.
To find out more about the competition, visit the website. More

NH Architecture has announced the opening of its second Australian studio, sited in Tasmania.
Director Nick Bourns – who will be heading up the Tasmanian studio – said the practice is pleased to finally put down roots and establish a permanent presence after more than a decade working on projects across the state.
“It’ll be great to be on the ground and more immediately available for our clients here, and to build on the relationships we’ve established over the years,” Bourns said. “Tasmania has such a rich culture of craft, which we’ve enjoyed engaging with. We’re encouraged to see some really exciting projects coming online for the state and very happy to place ourselves closer to the action.”
“There’s a well-established culture of genuine collaboration here, which we feel often leads to better design outcomes. People want to work together to progress projects that are going to move the state forward across many sectors, including healthcare, education and industry.”
NH Architecture was recently engaged to design the redevelopment of Tasmanian-based construction company Fairbrother’s headquarters in Devonport. The firm is additionally working with alternative education provider Indie School to develop a design for a permanent location in Devonport.
“Tasmania has a really unique natural beauty which is often mirrored in the buildings and urban spaces,” said Bourns. “We bring with us our experience of creating and reimagining urban spaces that are embedded in the local context. We’ll certainly be drawing on the magic of the natural environment in the work we do in the state.” More

A Melbourne design team have been awarded the 2024 Holdmark Innovation Award, receiving a cash prize of $10,000 for a retrofit project that epitomises “innovative excellence.”
Architecture firm Kennedy Nolan and environmental consultancy Finding Infinity have received the award for their Wilam Ngarrang Retrofit, a project that involved the retrofit of a 1970s apartment block in Melbourne’s Fitzroy.
The award is presented by Powerhouse with the support of Holdmark Property Group. A panel of judges evaluated the entries, which included Gerard Reinmuth, who serves as a professor of practice in the School of Architecture at the University of Technology Sydney and is the director of Terroir; Keinton Butler, the senior curator of design and architecture at Powerhouse; and Kevin Nassif, the chief operating officer at Holdmark Property Group.
The winners and commendations were announced during the Sydney Design Week 2024 opening event on 13 September.

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According to a statement from Powerhouse, the Wilam Ngarrang Retrofit was selected as the winner for “its delivery of an energy-efficient space with both social and sustainability agendas at its core.”
“The retrofit addresses the challenges of waste in the construction industry through innovative ways of reusing or recycling materials, and provides efficiency initiatives like rooftop rainwater collection and solar panel installation that reduce the building’s energy use by 70 percent.”
Panel member Kevin Nassif echoed those sentiments, stating that the project offers a “solution to the aging red brick apartment buildings from the 60s and 70s” found across Australia’s urban landscape.
“It is a very clever, energy-efficient space with both social and sustainability solutions for giving these buildings a new life and providing critical and effective solutions given the current housing and affordability crisis facing the nation.”
Commendations were presented to ARM Architecture with Architectus for Blacktown Exercise Sports and Technology Hub (BEST) and Grimshaw with Andrew Burges Architects and McGregor Coxall, and the City of Parramatta Council for the Parramatta Aquatic Centre.

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In addition to the Holdmark Innovation Award, designer Caity Duffus was named the recipient of the Carl Nielsen Design Accelerator program for her design of Mycelia House, which, according to the statement, is a functional container that captures the beauty of mushrooms and supports their growth within the home.
The Carl Nielsen Design Accelerator – supported by a bequest from Australian industrial designer Carl Nielsen and his wife Judy Nielsen – recognises “outstanding industrial design for sustainability.”
As the winner, Duffus will receive nine months of mentorship from industrial designer Ed Ko. In addition, she will receive financial support for the production and distribution of her project. More

Following a request from the New South Wales Premier in June 2024, the Productivity and Equality Commission have conducted an inquiry into the causes of, and potential policy solutions to, the state’s housing shortage.
The report, published on 11 September, found several barriers impacting housing supply, including high residential construction and borrowing costs, capacity constraints within the construction industry, and bottlenecks in the development process.
On review of the challenges, the report made 32 recommendations grouped into four distinct themes. The first: to free up construction capacity to build more homes quickly; the second, to streamline the development process and legislate mechanism to resolve bottlenecks, including those arising post-development approval; the third, to provide greater manpower to the construction sector workforce by shifting migration intake and recognising worker skills while also supporting innovation and productivity; and the last, to ensure a diverse and equitable supply of homes.
Commenting on these aspirations in the report’s foreword, commissioner Peter Achterstraat stressed the “need to make sure we build housing that’s right for people of all incomes, family sizes, and stages of life. We can do this through investments in social housing and smart regulatory changes that make it profitable to build the diverse housing people need.”
The new report builds upon the commission’s previous research, observing that between 2016 and 2021, Sydney lost twice as many people aged 30 to 40 as it gained. To this point, NSW premier Chris Minns reiterated concerns from commissioner Peter Achterstraat’s prior report, warning “that [Sydney’s] at risk of being a city with no young people. Doing nothing is not an option.”
A statement released from the NSW government noted their intent to develop an action plan identifying the recommendations that could be taken up immediately. Paul Scully, NSW minister for planning and public spaces, said, “We’ve already introduced some of the biggest planning reforms in NSW history and are keen to consider and act on recommendations from important reviews like this from the commission.” More