Evelyn Reynolds

The Architeam annual awards program showcases the best in architecture from Australia’s small, medium and emerging architects. On 18 November, the 2022 award winners were announced as part of the program’s 15th year, coinciding with Architeam’s 30th birthday celebrations.
Spring Bay Mill by Gilby and Brewin Architecture received the program’s top honour with the receipt of the Architeam Medal. The project was also recognized with the Sustainability Medal and as the winner of the awards for Commercial, Community and Public architecture.
Wowowa was also acknowledged in two categories as the winner of the Brickworks Materiality Award for Ponds, and received a commendation in the Commercial, Community and Public category for Hampton Park Secondary College Senior Learning Centre.
The Architeam 2022 awards jury comprised Adam Newman of NWMN (chair), Fiona Dunin of FMD, Will Fung of Coap, Rory Hyde from the Melbourne School of Design, Jennie Officer from Officer Woods, Anthony Gill of Anthony Gill Architects and Amy Muir of Muir.
The winners are:
Architeam Medal
Spring Bay Mill– Gilby and Brewin Architecture
Sustainability Medal
Spring Bay Mill – Gilby and Brewin Architecture
Small Project Medal
Butcher Shop Convert – Tsai Design
People’s Choice Award
Burnley – Sonelo Architects in collaboration with Ample Architecture
Brickworks Materiality Award
Ponds – Wowowa Architecture

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Ponds by Wowowa. Image:

Martina Gemmola

Passive House Scholarship
Passive House Surprise – IOA Studio
Residential New – up to $1 million
Winner
Jan Juc Studio – Eldridge Anderson Architects

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Jan Juc Studio by Eldridge Anderson Architects. Image:

Benjamin Hosking

Commendation
Light Scoop House – Molecule Studio
Burnley – Sonelo Architects, in collaboration with Ample Architecture
Residential New – over $1 million
Winner
West Bend House – MRTN Architects

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West Bend House by MRTN Architects. Image:

Peter Bennetts

Commendations
Bermagui Beach House – Winter Architecture
Bellbird House– Bower Architecture and Interiors
Residential Alts and Adds up to $500,000
Winner
Hawthorn I – Agius Scorpo Architects

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Hawthorn I by Agius Scorpo Architects. Image:

Asa Elgin

Commendation
Arthur – Oscar Sainsbury Architects
Residential Alts and Adds $500,000 to $1 million
Winner
Periscope – Architecture Architecture

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Periscope by Architecture Architecture. Image:

Tom Ross

Commendation
Weather House – Mihaly Slocombe Architects
Residential Alts and Adds over $1 million
Winner
Higham Road House – Philip Stejskal Architecture

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Higham Road House by Philip Stejskal Architecture. Image:

Bo Wong

Commendation
Wakanui Trail House – Ben Callery Architects
Carlton North Residence – Project 12 Architecture
Commercial, Community and Public Award
Winner
Spring Bay Mill– Gilby and Brewin Architecture
Commendation
Cowes Primary School, New Gymnasium – Project 12 Architecture
Hampton Park Secondary College Senior Learning Centre – WOWOWA
Unbuilt Award
M1_The Deck: The Infrastructure Open-Air Museum Park – Fairbank and Lau
Innovation and Contribution Award
Winner
Black Diasporas – Culture as Creative
Commendation
Lost Lands Found Fence – Public Realm Lab More

Aspect Studios has won an international design competition for a campus park project in Hangzhou, China, for Alibaba’s headquarters. According to the practice, the design takes inspiration from the city’s Xixi Wetland – a local national park with more than 4,000 years of history and significant cultural heritage importance. Aspect Studios said it created a […] More

The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) has announced its annual awards, recognising projects and individuals that make “extraordinary contributions to the advancement of tall buildings and the urban environment”.
The program, initiated in 2002, celebrates buildings that also achieve sustainability at the highest and broadest level, and demonstrate excellence in every aspect of performance.
Winners were announced at the International Conference, which was held in Chicago from 9 to 12 November. Awards have been given in over twenty categories for Best Tall Building, Urban Habitat, Innovation, Renovation, Interior Design, Construction, and Engineering. This year, overall category winners included five Australian projects across six categories.
The winners are:

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Olderfleet, Melbourne, by Grimshaw Architects. Image:

Tim Griffith

Best Tall Building 100-199 meters
Olderfleet, Melbourne – Grimshaw Architects

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Collins Arch, Melbourne by Woods Bagot, Shop Architects. Image:

Trevor Mein

Best Tall Mixed-Use Building
Collins Arch, Melbourne – Woods Bagot, Shop Architects

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Collins Arch, Melbourne by Woods Bagot, Shop Architects. Image:

Trevor Mein

Best Tall Building Australia
Collins Arch, Melbourne – Woods Bagot, Shop Architects

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Wesley Place, Melbourne by Cox Architecture. Image:

Charter Hall

Urban Habitat – District/Master Plan Scale
Wesley Place, Melbourne – Cox Architecture

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55 Southbank Boulevard, Melbourne by Bates Smart. Image:

Peter Clarke

Renovation Award
55 Southbank Boulevard, Melbourne – Bates Smart

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Sydney Greenland Centre by BVN, Woods Bagot. Image:

Greenland Group Australia

Construction Award
Sydney Greenland Centre – BVN, Woods Bagot More

Sydney Metro West has released concept plans for a Parramatta metro over-station development for a new mixed-use precinct with “retail, entertainment and opportunities for creative and innovation jobs,” according to the vision statement.
The inner-city block consolidates multiple individual sites fronting Macquarie, George, Church and Smith streets and will accommodate the future Parramatta metro station – a proposed station on the Sydney Metro West that will service the second-largest CBD in Sydney.
Bates Smart is responsible for the integrated urban design and architecture for the new precinct, collaborating with Grimshaw Architects, leading the station design, and Arcadia, responsible for the public domain and landscape.
Four towers – three commercial and one residential – will form the bones of the new precinct. Ranging from 24 to 38 storeys, they will be fully integrated with the new below-ground station. The precinct will include a new activated public domain, including a plaza and pedestrian laneways.

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A render of the proposed metro over-station development (indicative only). Image:

Bates Smart

Bates Smart said eight key principles guide the design approach for the new precinct: an enhanced civic link; active and engaging frontages; a dignified heritage setting; prominent and public station entries; a legible and safe movement network; relevant and attractive building typologies; comfortable and attractive public space; and a “uniquely Parramatta” character.
Brick will be incorporated in the lower levels of the buildings and the laneways, responding to the local heritage of the site. The upper levels of the towers will be clad in materials “inspired by Country,” including sandstone, and exhibit a soft and natural palette of earthen tones.
The New South Wales minister for transport, David Elliott, said the precinct would support employment growth and future housing demand in the city’s fast-growing west. He said the four new buildings will “allow for retail at ground level and opportunities for commercial and residential spaces above” and “seamlessly connect to wider Sydney with turn-up-and-go metro services on their doorstep and easy access to new light rail, Sydney Trains, buses and active transport links.”
The community is encouraged to have its say on plans for the Parrammatta metro station precinct as outlined in the first concept planning application. Community feedback is open on the NSW Planning Portal from 16 November to 13 December. More

Six Degrees Architects has designed a new mixed-use precinct to accommodate Ballarat’s growing population, with residential and commercial buildings planned in convenient proximity to the city centre.
Located at 102–108 Humffray Street in Bakery Hill, the irregular-shaped site covers around 4,200 square metres and has been occupied by a timber merchant for decades.
“Previously, it was a light industrial site, but it is actually quite a historic part of the city,” said Six Degrees director James Legge. “There’s quite a haphazard street network organized around the old diggings, which makes the site interesting. But a lot of it has been bulldozed and taken over by large box stores and carparks.”
The project will involve the regeneration of the area, transforming a carpark and underutilized spaces into a higher density precinct. The development will comprise two separate buildings: an eight-storey residential building to the west and a commercial building to the east, with permeable communal and public space between.
“The city is trying to work out a way to increase its population, residential and commercial, without chewing up farmland on its periphery,” said Legge. “This development is envisioned as the first of a few future developments, providing the opportunity to increase density of the city.”
The mass of the residential building will be “highly articulated” and divided into smaller forms, reducing the urban scale of the development. Its facade will be varied through balconies and changes in material, and planters will be scattered on Juliet balcony windows to add diversity and intrigue.
The commercial building, running along Humffray Street, will also comprise eight storeys, incorporating a series of setbacks and varying window grid articulations to break up the overall mass.

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The existing heritage smoke stack is to be retained and integrated as a “marker in an active and landscaped ground plane.” Image:

Sketch by Simon O’Brien

Six Degrees said it would incorporate its signature “textural and fine grain approach to urban planning and design” to mediate mass and create a congenial living and working environment.
Steering away from the glass box typology, the architect selected a wall and fenestration approach, with red textured concrete referencing the heritage brick facades of the neighbouring buildings. The history of the site will be celebrated, with the existing smoke stack retained and integrated to become a “marker in an active and landscaped ground plane.”
The site currently contains a mix of dilapidated houses and timber storage sheds, with pedestrian access limited by vehicular routes and truck loading bays. Six Degrees proposes to relocate carparking underground.
Six Degrees is targeting a minimum 7-star NatHERS thermal performance rating for the apartments, a 5-star Greenstar and 5-star NABERS rating for the commercial building, and zero fossil fuels will be used in the operation. More

Capral has introduce a lower carbon primary aluminium option available across itslocally manufactured, extruded window and door systems. Local is providing Australian architects, designers, builders and developers with access to cleaner, greener, more sustainable aluminium for their projects. The Local offer includes two lower carbon aluminium options: Local Green, with carbon emissions of 8 kilograms […] More

A development application has been submitted for the construction of two South Brisbane commercial towers.
Designed by Richards and Spence with Bates Smart, this proposal complements an earlier proposal by the same design team as part of a greater Melbourne Street master plan.
The twin buildings are the second and third in a three-tower complex proposed for the newly consolidated site, with the towers to be located at 164-190 Melbourne Street and 23-27A Manning Street, respectively.
“Tower two”, as it is referred in the proposal (with “tower one” being the Manning Street building), will feature winter gardens facing north-west, servicing each floor plate zone with access to light and ventilation, as well as providing shading for the tower’s most exposed facade.

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On tower two, a biophilic facade will hover over the masonry podium. Image:

Richards and Spence, Bates Smart

The design concept for tower two is based on the lightweight, shaded framework of the Brisbane verandah vernacular, featuring a grid of vertical and horizontal shading. A biophilic facade will appear to hover above the masonry podium, to be made from terracotta brick. Tower two contains nine commercial floors on top of a three-storey podium, as well as a rooftop terrace. The gridded face is made of expanded white metal mesh fins.
“Tower three”, fronting Melbourne Street, will feature a side core with a single contiguous floor plan, external balconies to the east and west. Tower three should “complement but differentiate itself” within the precinct, with a warm, soft shingles facade made of bronze perforated screens. Tower three has no podium, with 11 commercial floors above a retail ground floor along Melbourne street, plus a roof terrace and service sub-level.
According to the architects, the precinct is designed to incorporate design elements that embrace the city’s subtropical climate. More

Approval has been granted for the first regional library for the Central Coast on the site of the current Parkside building on Donnison Street, Gosford.
Designed by Lahznimmo Architects, the $27-million project has been three decades in the pipeline, with residents of the former Gosford council paying a special levy towards its development.
A development application for the four-storey regional library was submitted to the NSW planning department in 2021.
The building will be located in the centre of Gosford, creating a central public meeting place for residents. The local council said the library would activate the town centre, providing improved public space and infrastructure that would positively impact the economic development of Gosford.

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Ground floor main stair in the proposed Gosford Regional Library. Image:

Lahznimmo Architects

Lahznimmo worked closely with council stakeholders to develop a brief through a series of workshops to create a place that was an “extension of the public domain at a civic scale,” project architect Hugo Cottier said. “Gosford library will become something of a community centre, where all types of public and educational activities can occur within.”
The building will be entered through a forecourt to be known as the Neighbourhood Room, with landscape architecture by Spackman Mossop Michaels. This covered space will connect three levels of the building, providing a weather-protected and gently tempered environment.
The Public Living Room contains the main library collection and reading spaces. The facility will also include a children’s collection; a collection of historical resources on the Central Coast; flexible function spaces; and breakout spaces on every level for private and collaborative learning. The library will be accessible to all, with the inclusion of hearing loop systems, lifts on every floor, and adjustable-height desks.
Council said the next step is to award a construction tender, anticipated for January 2023. The library’s completion date has been slated for May 2024.
The project is funded by a $7 million grant from the federal government, $8 million from a council special levy, and the remainder from developer contributions and sales proceeds. More