ACT heritage minister Rebecca Vassarotti has appointed nine new members to the territory’s Heritage Council, which was entirely dissolved in December 2022. Heritage architect Duncan Marshall has been appointed chair of a new interim council while the government completes a “large-scale” review of Heritage Council. The nine-member council also includes two others with expertise in […] More
National Trust (NSW) has announced the shortlist for its twenty-ninth Heritage Awards, recognizing more than 40 built, natural and cultural projects. The annual awards celebrate excellence and outstanding practice across more than a dozen categories, including Adaptive Re-Use and Conservation – Built Heritage. Shortlisted projects include Cobar Sound Chapel, which was designed by Glenn Murcutt […] More
The Architecture Symposium: Brisbane returns on 9 June 2023 with a fresh line-up of speakers to explore how architecture celebrates and amplifies the Asia Pacific region’s rich collage of cultures. In this one-day conference, 10 speakers with ties across the region will share processes, research and ideas related to regional traditions, Indigenous peoples, contextually sensitive […] More
Architect-led developer Nightingale has submitted a planning application to the City of Merri-bek for a new five-building apartment complex opposite the existing Nightingale Village. Neeson Murcutt and Neille, Kennedy Nolan, Wowowa, Hayball and Lian have each designed separate eight-storey buildings for the new complex proposed for 17–19 Hope Street, Brunswick, directly opposite Nightingale Urban Coup […] More
The Western Australian government has abandoned plans to build a $1.8 billion maternity hospital at the Queen Elizabeth II Medical Centre site in Nedlands. Instead, the hospital will be built at the Fiona Stanley Hospital precinct in Murdoch. The project was first initiated in December 2020, and concept designs by Hassell were released in February […] More
The Federal Court of Australia has ruled that ARM Architecture and its former managing director Anthony (“Tony”) John Allen attempted to rig bids in a tender for Charles Darwin University’s $250 million education and community precinct project.
The court ordered the practice to pay a $900,000 penalty to the Commonwealth and contribute a further $20,000 to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to offset the civil proceedings’ cost. Allen was ordered to pay a $75,000 penalty to the Commonwealth and contribute a further $5,000 to the ACCC, again to offset the proceedings’ cost.
ARM was also ordered to establish a Competition Compliance program. Its requirements include employing a compliance advisor, appointing a compliance officer within its directors or senior managers, and undertaking regular staff training.
Additionally, Allen was ordered to publish “an educative notice” on the Architects Registration Board of Victoria website “as a warning to other professionals.”
ARM Architecture had completed a first-phase concept design, which was unveiled in June 2020, for a Charles Darwin University project.
“I had known, since ARM tendered for that work, that there would be a separate tender process for the second phase of that project,” Allen wrote in his educative notice.
On 24 September 2020, Charles Darwin University released the second request for tender.
Allen then sent an email to representatives at eight other firms, saying, “Please do not submit a tender as we are relying very heavily on continuing with this project to keep our practice alive throughout the remainder of this strange and difficult COVID time.”
The eight practices were part of the Ambassador group of the Victorian Large Practice Forum, which is facilitated by the Australian Institute of Architects. The group comprises the largest firms in the Large Practice Forum.
On 25 September 2020, ARM received responses from two practices, each confirming that it would not submit a tender. Four days later, Allen sent a second email to the group asking the remaining practices to “let us know of your intentions.”
The ACCC launched an investigation into the conduct of ARM and Allen, and in September 2022, it formally launched civil proceedings in the Federal Court of Australia.
ARM Architecture admitted to the Federal Court that it had attempted to engage in cartel conduct when those emails were sent. Allen also admitted that he had attempted to induce the eight other firms to make an arrangement with ARM Architecture that, although it had not been his intention, constituted bid rigging.
On 13 April 2023, the court found that ARM and Allen “attempted to contravene section 45AJ of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 […] by attempting to make arrangements or arrive at understandings containing a cartel provision.”
Allen said in his educative notice that he had never set out to contravene the law. “It did not occur to me when I sent the first and second emails that I was doing anything wrong,” he wrote.
“I made a very serious mistake by attempting to induce the other firms to engage in bid-rigging, and this has had serious consequences for me.”
“I have lost my position, my reputation, and my involvement in a profession that I love, my conduct will be permanently on the public record.”
“I have not worked as an architect since, and do not expect that I will ever do so again.”
“Do not do what I did. Learn from my mistakes. Whatever pressure you may be under, and whatever motivation you may have, do not attempt to induce others to engage in cartel conduct.”
ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said, “This judgment should serve as a strong reminder for everyone, including professionals and professional services firms, that bid rigging is against the law, no matter what industry you are in.
“When a business attempts to rig a bid or form a cartel, they harm competition by unfairly seeking to advance their interests over those of its customers. When they do so on a public project, they are also doing so at the expense of the public purse.” More
Cox Architecture has designed a 930-bed student housing facility for Brisbane CBD. To be located at 240 Margaret Street, the project is set to “inject a high-density accommodation offering into this burgeoning precinct of the city,” the architects said in a development application for the project. The tower will also accommodate a range of common […] More
A development application has been submitted for the expansion of Castle Towers, a shopping centre in Sydney’s north-west. The project will create a mixed-use precinct, dubbed “The Village,” with a three-storey retail space, a new hotel designed by Woods Bagot with more than 200 rooms, and 12-storey office tower designed by BVN that will accommodate […] More
