Evelyn Reynolds

The Australian Institute of Architects has opened entries for its annual Dulux Study Tour, a prize that connects Australia’s promising emerging architects with respected international sites and studios.
A jury will select five successful candidates to embark on the tour, which is scheduled to depart in May 2026.
The prize is open to Institute members who are within 10 years of graduation from an AACA-accredited master of architecture degree (or equivalent).
Judging will occur in two phases, with first-stage entrants submitting their answers to four nominated questions. Each shortlisted candidate will then be required to submit a resume, employer references and a portfolio of work.
Entrants will be judged not only on contributions to architectural practice, but also education, design excellence and community involvement.
The 10-day tour will visit acclaimed studios, innovative projects and landmark buildings across three countries, which are yet to be decided. Winners will be invited to nominate their preferred sites and practices to help shape the itinerary.
The 2025 tour saw Gumji Kang, Jimmy Carter, Kate Shepherd, Marni Reti and Nicholas Souksamrane embark on a journey through Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Barcelona.
Stage-one entries may be submitted via the online portal until 3 October 2025. Entrants shortlisted for stage two of the competition will be required to submit additional material by 15 November.
To enter, visit the Australian Institute of Architects’ website. More

The NSW government has announced that six reserves and parks along the inner Sydney Harbour have been added to the state’s heritage register in recognition of “their unique cultural, environmental and industrial histories.” According to a communique from the state government, the listing follows extensive consultation with local councils, heritage experts, and community groups.
The parklands are located around the headlands and the water planes connecting the northern and southern shores of the harbour. Collectively, they have been described as “the green necklace” – a term originating from a 2018 cultural landscape study the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects (AILA) NSW.

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The NSW government’s communique notes, “These landscapes represent the ever-evolving nature of land and water use on Sydney Harbour, showcasing the change from undisturbed bush to industrial use to green space preservation.”
“Each park and reserve has its own story that has been shaped by thousands of years of Aboriginal connection and more recent layers of industrial, artistic and community history,” the release reads. “They reflect how people have interacted with, altered, and valued the land over time.”
Minister for Heritage Penny Sharpe also noted, “They are not only green spaces but living archives of Sydney’s cultural and industrial evolution, and a reminder of the rich and enduring Aboriginal history we are surrounded by.”

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The heritage-listed parks include:

Badangi Reserve, encompassing Berrys Island Reserve and Wollstonecraft Foreshore Reserve
Ballast Point Park, a park built on a former Caltex Oil site in Birchgrove
Balls Head Reserve in Waverton, “a rare surviving natural headland” that was declared a public reserve as the result of an environmental campaign in the 1920s and 30s.
Berrys Bay (Carradah Park) in Waverton, the former site of a BP refinery
Yurulbin Park and Foreshore in Birchgrove, an early example of the transformation of industrial land to public use that recaptures the qualities of an Indigenous landscape and was also the 1994 launch site of the Australian government’s Local Government Reconciliation Program.

According to the communique, the protection of the parklands is also intended to retain the harbour’s “natural beauty for generations to come.”
“Listing these landscapes means their heritage value will be safeguarded into the future, in a context where Sydney’s built environment is fast growing. The listing is a shift away from traditional listings such as physical buildings and instead recognises the importance of a cultural landscapes and the environment in NSW’s rich history,” the release notes.

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Shape commented, “I want to acknowledge the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects for starting this listing process many years ago, and congratulate them on the wonderful outcome of their work and advocacy.”
AILA NSW president David Moir commended Sharpe’s foresight in protecting the landscapes.
“These iconic landscape elements, integral to the internationally significant Sydney Harbour setting, are foundational to the city’s identity as a global destination,” Moir said.
“Through visionary landscape planning and design, once-derelict industrial sites have been transformed into inclusive public spaces where communities can connect with nature in an increasingly urbanised environment. Their inclusion on the State Heritage Register and the commitment to their ongoing conservation reflect enduring community values and a deep respect for our shared landscape legacy.” More

A modular island home designed by Blok Modular with Vokes and Peters has been honoured as the Australian House of the Year at the 2024 Houses Awards.
Blok Three Sisters, which also won the category award for Apartment or Unit, was praised by the jury “as an example of successful experimentation not only in design, but also in procurement, assembly and – most importantly – the ways an extended family can live alongside each other.”
“Each unit is an example of the minimum needed to get the most out of this coastal location. The project is pragmatic and shows that architecture doesn’t need to be flashy,” the jury citation reads.
“Australia needs more examples of stealth density that demonstrate how our freestanding residences might gradually evolve. […] The jury felt this terrace-like, modular design was not only a successful response to this laid-back coastal setting, but also a worthy and replicable model for co-living that could be readily adapted.”
Winning the New House over 200 square metres category was Studio Bright’s Hedge and Arbour House – in the words of the jury, “an intriguing yet rigorous built form interlaced with landscaped spaces” situated on the edge of suburbia and bushland. The award for New House under 200 square metres was bestowed upon Sawmill Treehouse by Robbie Walker, which was described by the jury as “a beautiful sculpture, perched on slender columns among the trees.”
The full list of winners are as follows:
Australian House of the Year
Blok Three Sisters – Blok Modular with Vokes and Peters
New House over 200 square metres
Hedge and Arbour House – Studio Bright

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New House under 200 square metres
Sawmill Treehouse – Robbie Walker

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House Alteration and Addition over 200 square metres
Cloaked House – Trias

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House Alteration and Addition under 200 square metres
Carlton Cottage – Lovell Burton Architecture

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Apartment or Unit
Blok Three Sisters – Blok Modular with Vokes and Peters

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Small Project
Window, Window, Window – Panov Scott

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House in a Heritage Context
Mess Hall – Architecture Architecture

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Sustainability
Cake House – Alexander Symes Architect

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Emerging Architecture Practice
Ellul Architecture

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Commendations
See the 28 commended projects.
Houses Awards are organised by Architecture Media, supported by Artedomus, Blum, Brickworks, James Hardie, Roca, Fulgor Milano, Architectural Window Systems, The Heritage Council of Victoria and Latitude. More

The Queensland Chapter of the Australian Institute of Architects has announced that nominations are open for both their 2025 Dunbar Fellowship and their 2026 Philip Y. Bisset Planning (Architecture) Scholarship.
Established in honour of the late Jennifer Taylor – an architectural scholar, critic and educator – the Dunbar Fellowship supports Queensland architects and graduates to pursue research in Asia and the islands of the South Pacific (excluding Australia and New Zealand).
According to a communique from the Institute, the $30,000 award enables architects to undertake one year of structured study or research that reflects Taylor’s vision for a more outward-looking Australian architecture – one deeply engaged with the cultures, traditions and material wisdom of our nearest neighbours. The successful applicant’s findings are expected to be presented to the public and published in a report accessible to practitioners, educators, policy-makers and the wider community.
Executive director of the Queensland Chapter Anna Svensdotter commented, “This Fellowship is about expanding the field of architectural thinking and ensuring that the profession continues to evolve in response to the diverse cultures and climates of our region.”
“It’s a chance for architects to step away from project delivery and engage with deeper questions of place, heritage, ethics and innovation — and to share those learnings for the benefit of the broader public,” she said.
Open to final-year Master of Architecture students in Queensland, the Philip Y. Bisset Planning (Architecture) Scholarship supports research and travel related to planning, public architecture and civic life, with the aim of generating ideas for how the built environment can improve the lives of Queenslanders.
“The Bisset Scholarship invests in the next generation of architects as civic leaders,” Svensdotter said. “It enables students to ask bold questions about how architecture can support healthier, more inclusive, and more sustainable communities.”
Established in honour of Philip Y. Bisset, a Queensland public servant and advocate for better planning and design outcomes, the $15,000 scholarship has previously supported students’ research into community housing in Indigenous communities, post-disaster urban recovery and the transformation of waterfront public space. Presentations from the 2024 Philip Y. Bisset scholars are expected in September–October this year.
Applications for the 2025 Dunbar Fellowship and their 2026 Philip Y. Bisset Planning (Architecture) Scholarship are open until 30 September 2025. More

Designs for a residential tower in Melbourne’s Docklands are currently on exhibition with the Victorian ministerial permits register. Authored by architecture practice FK, the 38-storey tower proposal from Salta Properties is located just north of the city’s Marvel Stadium and comprises 560 built-to-rent apartments.
Located at 696-699 La Trobe Street, on the corner of Harbour Esplanade, the project site is home to a previously approved mixed-use development, also by Fender Katsalidis (FK). The previous scheme included three towers – the tallest with an overall height of 128 metres.
According to a report from Urbis, the project’s planning consultant, “The site has an important connection to the CBD as it marks the termination of La Trobe Street. It is one of the remaining harbour front infill blocks in a locale that has been masterplanned at a larger scale.”
“The development is anticipated to become synonymous with the Docklands as a recognisable urban marker in the context of the area that frames Docklands Stadium as forming part of the city when view from the waterfront,” Urbis notes.

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The massing of the proposed design, which reaches just over 130 metres in height, is separated into a seven-storey podium – host to a residents’ lounge, bike workshop, cafe, sitting areas, lounges and services – and residential tower above.
Of the apartment offering, 10 percent of the component of the building over 75 metres in height are designated as affordable.
In addition to the proposed residents’ uses, the scheme includes a 483-square-metre co-working area on ground floor, a fitness centre on level seven, and dining areas, lounges and external amenity on the top floor.
The proposed tower takes an interlocking form. According to Urbis’s report, the masonry and concrete podium, which is designed to have “a sense of monumentality,” is contrasted with a lighter, aluminium and glazed tower articulation. The report describes the architectural language as one “that seeks to provide a sense of solidity and human scale in a precinct that has many modern glass edifices and anonymous glazed shopfronts.”

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A landscape design from Oculus includes a protected urban forecourt with a large civic gesture “intended as an artistic landmark,” Urbis’s statement notes. The podium rooftop and rooftop terraces at level 27 also involve “substantial landscaped areas.”
The proposal is on public exhibition. More

In his latest exhibition, digital craftsperson Marcus Piper expands the definition of drawing through experimental compositions involving light, sound, objects and viewer interaction. The exhibition also draws on Piper’s background in graphic design, industrial design, art, music, photography, typography, printmaking and publishing. The exhibition Optic 01: Drawing Parallels is on show at Useful Objects in Collingwood until August 30.
The exhibition features a series of mirror-based sculptures, darkroom photograms and digitally-animated prints that challenge conventional boundaries between mediums. A key highlight is a sculptural coffee table that “draws itself” — a suspended drawing within its frame shifts in depth and form through internal reflections as the viewer moves around it.

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“This exhibition is about a way of viewing the world. Or, seeing it differently – with you in it,” says Piper. “It draws heavily on my enduring habit of marking parallel lines and creating depth from a two-dimensional plane through experimentation with processes and materials.”
A consistent monochrome palette runs through the show. From photograms created using transparent sculptures and 15 seconds of refracted light, to digital animations generated from a six-hour musical score, the works span the analogue and the digital — a space Piper calls home.
“I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t challenge things,” Piper says. “Challenging the idea of perfect is also part of it and inviting the process into the outcome.”

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One installation, the Nota triptych, demonstrates Piper’s performative method. It began with the artist composing a full-length piece of music, which triggered movement in an animation of his drawings. Still frames from the resulting digital performance were then printed onto glass and mirror.
“Everything I do is crafted,” Piper explains. “My tools are (generally) digital but I bridge the analogue era. I am also a person. It is that simple but really important as a definition outside the pigeon holes of designer or artist.”

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The exhibition doesn’t just invite viewers to look — it requires their presence. Three wall mirrors printed with drawings reflect both the audience and the room around them. The drawings shift with light, angle and perspective, creating an experience that’s never the same twice.
“I love the idea that you create the drawing and it will never be seen the same twice,” Piper says. “Ultimately, I just want to share that experience of being ‘in the drawing’ with anyone who comes across the work.”
Presented by Useful Objects, Optic 01: Drawing Parallels is on until August 30. More

The Queensland government have announced that expressions of interest (EOI) are open for the preparation of an integrated masterplan for Brisbane’s Victoria Park precinct, which will form the heart of the city’s 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The news follows the an EOI period for the design of four new and upgraded sporting venues that opened earlier this month and closed less than a week ago.
In a media communique, the government asserts that the “co-location of key 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games infrastructure provides the opportunity to create a world-class recreation and lifestyle hub” at Victoria Park.
The inner-city precinct, which includes the Brisbane Showgrounds and surrounds, is envisioned as a place for recreation, events, entertainment and lifestyle.
At its heart, the Queensland government notes, “The main stadium at Victoria Park will become the new, world-class, 63,000-seat home to AFL and cricket in Queensland, and attract major national and international events, leaving a lasting legacy for 2032 and beyond.”
During the 2032 games, this stadium will host the opening and closing ceremonies, as well as athletics events.
Together with the neighbouring National Aquatic Centre at the Spring Hill Centenary Pool site, the main games stadium is a major part of the jointly funded $7.1 billion Games Venue Infrastructure Program being rolled out over the next seven years, in which the state and federal governments will deliver 17 new and upgraded venues across Queensland.

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The government’s EOI invites Queenslanders to shape the future of Victoria Park precinct through community consultation.
In its first phase, the project involves the development of the precinct masterplan, which will include technical site investigations, planning, and design activities to support infrastructure delivery.
Alongside the main stadium and aquatic centre, the precinct includes the Brisbane Athlete Village at the showgrounds site, which will deliver housing post-games.
The state government notes that “the masterplan will identify the major pieces of connectivity and public realm infrastructure required for the precinct to operate both during the games and the decades beyond,” and “will focus on world-class and iconic public and green spaces.”
Deputy Premier and Minister for State Development, Infrastructure and Planning Jarrod Bleijie emphasised that the project “is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for industry leaders” to help deliver significant civic infrastructure.
“With the precinct to include Brisbane Stadium in Victoria Park, the National Aquatic Centre in Spring Hill and the Brisbane Athlete Village in Brisbane Showgrounds, it will become a key part of Queensland’s Games legacy,” Bleijie said.

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The Queensland government notes that it is working closely with Brisbane City Council, the Royal National Agricultural and Industrial Association of Queensland (RNA), and other key stakeholders to ensure integrated design outcomes across the precinct.
According to the government’s communique, community feedback on the Victoria Park Precinct Master Plan will play a pivotal role in shaping features such as open spaces, public realm enhancements and parklands.
Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner welcomed the opportunity for Brisbane residents to have their say.
“We reimagined Victoria Park from a golf course into a vibrant, world-class precinct with more for residents to see and do,” he commented. “We’ve delivered a pump track, picnic shelters, an urban common and Brisbane Metro, which already provides direct access to Victoria Park ahead of the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.”
“This is a great opportunity for us and the community to have input into the State Government’s vision for this incredible precinct,” Schrinner added.
The EOI for master planning principal contractors and sub-contractor teams can be accessed online, and will close on Friday 1 August 2025, ahead of a request for tender process to shortlisted proponents. More

Built-to-rent platform Novus, and M and G Real Estate have announced that they have secured approval of a residential development in Chatswood, designed by Rothelowman.
The project is the fourth overall and the second Sydney build-to-rent (BTR) scheme from Novus and Rothelowman. It follows approval of the duo’s Novus on Harris project, located in Parramatta, in April last year.
Rothelowman Principal Ben Pomroy noted, “Novus on Albert continues our growing partnership with Novus, built on a shared commitment to housing. Prioritising the occupant experience, the design encourages engagement between people and place through layered landscape, crafted detail, and robust materials – contributing meaningfully to Chatswood’s evolving urban fabric.”

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The $290 million Chatswood scheme is situated adjacent to the suburb’s major lifestyle and retail precincts – including Westfield, Chatswood Chase and the Concourse Arts Precinct – with direct connections to the Chatswood Transport Interchange.
Across 27 storeys, the proposal comprises 198 purpose-designed BTR apartments including studios, one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, along with a pool, wellness areas, co-working spaces, a rooftop lounge and outdoor terrace, and ground-floor retail.
A statement from Novus says that “the tower has been carefully designed to maximise solar access, amenity and privacy, while capturing panoramic views over the Lane Cover River to the west and Sydney’s CBD to the south.”

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Novus co-founder and chief development officer Jason Goldsworthy said the pathway to achieving state significant development approval “involved working alongside the NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure, Willoughby City Council and Government Architect NSW to reach a positive outcome for Sydney’s Lower North Shore and aid in the housing shortfall being experienced across the state of NSW.”
“Novus on Albert is part of the new wave of sustainably designed and developed residential buildings,” Goldsworthy explained. He noted that the project includes initiatives to promote improved thermal performance, reduced reliance on mechanical air conditioning and increased energy efficiency, resulting in a 5-star Green Star rating and an average 7-star NatHERS rating.
Construction is due to commence in early 2026. More