Evelyn Reynolds

Burnie City Council has released draft architectural plans for the refurbishment of Burnie Arts and Functions Centre.
Designed by Tasmanian practice Xsquared, the project will create a “reimagined space […] to experience, enjoy, and learn about our local identity through arts, history and performance,” the council said.
Transforming the existing centre, the new design has been developed in consultation with the community and will feature an integrated multi-storey complex, with better connectivity to the CBD and enhanced community engagement.
Xsquared said its proposal represents a “multifaceted cultural hub” that reinvigorates the existing site on the fringe of the CBD. Renovations and additions will enable the integration of the Burnie Regional Art Gallery and the Burnie Regional Museum within the one building, creating a dynamic contemporary arts hub within a broader cultural precinct in the regional Tasmanian city.

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Architectural render of Burnie Cultural Centre atrium. Image:

Xsquared Architects

Xsquared director Peter Scott said robust metal cladding options were being explored to provide long-term finishes that reflect the industrial history and coastal context of the city.
“Our design responds to the industrial context of Burnie, to stringent environmental requirements for buildings adjoining Bass Strait, and to the scale of the existing building and those surrounding it,” said Scott.
Burnie Arts and Functions Centre was originally designed by Leith and Bartlett almost 50 years ago, and while it has undergone several modifications, interventions are required for more modern amenities, with improved accessibility, way finding and circulation.

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Render of Long Room main entry for Burnie Cultural Centre. Image:

Xsquared Architects

In 2021, the council announced its intentions to refurbish the centre, abandoning former plans to build an entirely new centre, the North West Museum and Art Gallery designed by Terroir, to avoid unnecessary additional costs.
“This decision was made for financial reasons because the additional expense the community would need to incur each year (around $600,000 per year in depreciation) is more than the community can afford to pay,” a spokesperson for Burnie City Council said.
“This is not just a cosmetic refurbishment of the Burnie Arts and Function Centre, but a new vision and model for culture and creativity in our city.”
The council is seeking community feedback on the draft architectural plans until 7 November. More

Planning approval has been granted for the Studio Nine-designed Otello Tonsley, a “wellbeing-focused” commercial and retail precinct in South Australia.
According to the developer, the mixed-use project has been designed to promote healthy living, with food and beverage offerings, retail space, and health and wellbeing facilities onsite, as well as a supermarket, retail and recreational facilities. The precinct will support South Australian government’s Tonsley Innovation District, a 20-year project to transform a 61-hectare site, formerly occupied by a Mitsubishi Motors assembly plant, into an integrated employment, education and residential precinct.
Studio Nine said the architectural response is driven by “biophilic design, connectivity, transparency, apporoachability and inclusivity,” and these principals are manifest from the overall masterplanning to the design response of each building.
“Our involvement in this project […] has given us the opportunity to work together to challenge what the future of a mixed-use building can offer its end users, and acknowledge the wider responsibility the built form can provide to the community and state as a whole,” said Studio Nine director Andrew Steele.
The built form of the mixed-use development responds to the site-specific orientation to create a well-lit floor plate, using passive considerations that minimise unwanted heat gain, glare, and reliance on mechanical systems.

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Render of Otello Tonsley commercial and retail precinct, South Australia, by Studio Nine Architects. Image:

Treehouse 3D

Centred around a generous atrium at its nucleus, the interior creates visual connectivity with plentiful natural light and a linking internal stair.
The precinct includes a landscaped ground plane public realm and a range of external terraces with differing scales, providing a mix of “experiential offerings” with varied opportunities for activation and intimacy, the architects said. More

DKO and Furtado Sullivan have been selected as the winners of a design competition for the final stages of a mixed-use precinct project in Gosford on the New South Wales Central Coast.
The successful concept for Central Coast Quarter presents two towers set alongside a central pavilion that will “activate the area with retail and hospitality venues,” the architects said.
The southern tower will be home to around 100 apartments with waterway views, featuring a “scalloped” balcony designs to complement its coastal setting.
The eastern tower will consist of an 18-storey commercial building above the terraced public realm, designed to offer a flexible and accessible space designed to maximise liveability, work and leisure.

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The successful concept for Central Coast Quarter presents two towers set alongside a central pavilion that will activate the area with retail and hospitality venues. Image:

DKO and Fertado Sullivan

The retail podium will be a selection of retail and commercial spaces connecting the laneways from Mann Street to Baker Street. Across three cascading terraces, the public pavilion will be designed to host outdoor dining and function spaces.
“The sophisticated design by DKO and Furtado Sullivan is perfect for the eastern and southern portions of the Central Coast Quarter project,” said Justyn Ng, development director of St Hilliers.
DKO was responsible for the first stage of the Central Coast Quarter project and director Nicholas Byrne said the team was pleased to collaborate on its final stages.
“This was a huge opportunity for the practice to work on a large-scale, multi-staged development in the rapidly growing Central Coast region,” said Byrne. “We hope the series of buildings and spaces in the precinct will create a unique place for the City of Gosford, reflecting the broader landscape and respecting Country.”
The design jury commended the architect’s response to “Connection to Country”, which set the framework for the built-form response.
The jury comprised Paulo Macchia (chair, director design governance at Government Architect NSW), Paul Walter (principal of Atlas), John Choi (partner of Chrofi) and Jared Phillips (Central Coast Council’s manager of centres planning and urban design). More

A new rooftop pavilion has been proposed for Melbourne’s heritage-listed Nicholas Building, one of the city’s oldest and most diverse vertical creative precincts.
Designed by Henry Norris in 1926 and located at 37 Swanston Street, the Nicholas Building is is a landmark office and retail building influenced by the “Chicago-style” architecture prevalent in Melbourne during the time.
Proposed designs by Urban Creative Studio show a new rooftop pavilion and green public space featuring inbuilt solar technology, which will provide a space for hosting a range of creative and arts programs atop the 100-year-old building.
The pavilion would incorporate a recessive design with generous setbacks to respect the heritage of the Nicholas Building, while providing a place to gather among curated artist gardens.
It would serve as a multi-functional live performance venue and hospitality offering, to host cultural events programs with local, regional and international partners. The new space would host a suite of events and experiences, including festivals, exhibitions, performances, forums, symposia and more.

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The design would feature a green roof with a tree canopy to contribute to urban cooling and assist the collecting and reusing of rainwater. Image:

Urban Creative Studio

The design would feature a green roof with a tree canopy to contribute to urban cooling and assist the collecting and reusing of rainwater, and the rooftop would generate its own electricity by harnessing solar energy.
The vision builds on the existing studio spaces in the labyrinthine Art Deco building, which is currently home to more than 200 artists, creatives and other enterprises, including bespoke bookstores, independent boutiques, recording studios and more.
Alongside the restoration and upgrade of the Nicholas Building rooftop, works would also include the renewal of facilities, including new performance spaces and hospitality venues. The revamp will help to preserve the landmark tower as a valuable cultural asset into the future.
In July 2022, the Nicholas Building was sold to investment firm Forza Capital for a reported $80 million. “Forza Capital is excited about the opportunity to provide capital towards the purchase, restoration and upgrade of the Nicholas Building together with the long term protection of the occupants of the building. This is a globally significant collection of artisans and will be lost forever without the assistance of both government and the private sector.”
The City of Melbourne has also contributed to the funding for the redevelopment works. The Nicholas Building Association said it has raised 75 percent of capital required to realise the project through private and public investment. More

Who cares for you? That is the essential question that Mexican architect Tatiana Bilbao wants you to think about in her large-scale installation for the inaugural Mecca x NGV Women in Design Commission.
Titled La ropa sucia se lava en casa (Dirty clothes are washed at home), the installation at the National Gallery of Victoria uses the act of laundering clothes as a vehicle for exposing the inequalities of unpaid domestic labour, to spark a “care revolution” that would turn the preconceived values of society on its head.
The installation comprises a central washbasin, representative of an 18th-central communal laundry in the town of Huichapan in central-eastern Mexico. A series of collages and large wall drawings illustrate historical communal laundries from around the world and the social interactions that occurred in those spaces.

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La ropa sucia se lava en casa (Dirty clothes are washed at home) by Tatiana Bilbao. Image:

Kate Shanasy / National Gallery of Victoria

Surrounding the washbasin are a series of patchworked sheets, made from pieces of donated clothing and fabric. Bilbao ran a series of workshops in Mexico City, Berlin and Melbourne in which participants were asked to bring a piece of clothing or fabric “that represents someone in their lives who has performed acts of care for them.”
In each of the workshops that Bilbao had conducted, “everybody spoke about their mums. The same conversations were happening everywhere and it’s because care is primarily done by women. I’m glad the workshops have exposed that. But the majority of people are not aware this is labour,” Bilbao said.
“It’s women’s equality, but at the end of the day it’s everyone’s equality. Let’s say domestic labour is shared equally by men and women. Whoever does it is still unpaid. It’s better that it’s equal because we’re sharing the unfairness; but still, it’s discriminative because it’s not acknowledged or recognised as labour and it’s not paid,” she continued.
“What we’re trying to do here is understand the necessity of really caring for ourselves, and caring for clothes is one way, along with caring for children, caring for the elderly, caring for our own bodies, nurturing, making food – all these things.”

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La ropa sucia se lava en casa (Dirty clothes are washed at home) by Tatiana Bilbao. Image:

Kate Shanasy / National Gallery of Victoria

For Bilbao, care is the oft-forgotten thread in the fabric of a productive and egalitarian society, because the latter cannot existing without the former. “If what we’re all aiming for is the perfect full-time job and equal opportunities to all of us, then who does the rest?” she asked.
“Our cities right now are built on the necessity of productivity. Everything in the city is done to allow you to be more efficient, and whatever is not productive, we make it so that you are be able to produce easier. Everything, even the home, is designed in that matter. But if we surrender to production, then what prevails is capital,” Bilbao said.
“For me, what covid exposed was that we privileged people were sitting at home behind our computers working away. But the internet works because there are other people there working; our food arrives at our houses because there are people out there exposing their lives. When did we forget that we essentially need to be healthy and then produce?”
“So I think it’s very necessary to think how we transform our society into a society of care.”
NGV director Tony Ellwood said Tatiana Bilbao’s is a “compelling voice from outside of the traditional canon of architecture, offering a unique perspective on both its history and its future. A woman from North America, an advocate, and a spokesperson for change, Bilbao creates work that is as intellectually rigorous as it is visually dynamic,” said Ellwood.
La ropa sucia se lava en casa (Dirty clothes are washed at home) is on display until 29 January 2023. More

For one day only, the public will have the opportunity to see inside of four iconic midcentury homes in Melbourne’s bayside as part of the Beaumaris Modern Open 2022. Beaumaris Open is a not-for-profit organisation run by a committee of local volunteers committed to campaigning for the preservation of local heritage icons. Established in 2017, […] More

March Studio’s proposal for the Outback Museum of Australia has been unanimously chosen the winner of a design competition to create a tourism destination in a remote southwestern Queensland town.
The winning scheme aims to “capture the heart and soul of the outback.” Five circular pavilions, made from rammed red earth will house a variety of gallery spaces, ranging from 95 to 145 square metres. An additional three pavilions will house ticketing and information services, restrooms and a gift shop and snack bar.
The pavilions will be arranged around a central native garden which in turn will have a central circular meeting area for smoking ceremonies. A large-spanning Aramax roof will hover over the pavilions, unifying and shading the entire facility. The roof will also act as water collecting device during rain events, funnelling rainwater to catchments around the native garden. The waterfall effect that it would create references the springs and gorges found throughout the outback.

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The winning design for Outback Museum of Australia by March Studio. Image:

Courtesy Griffith University

The jury said “the character, functionality and chosen materials [of this scheme] are considered to meet the program’s call for an exemplary building, with an innovative but simple and agile design that will stand the test of time.
“The seamless and organic forms, the honesty of the material selection and detailing in addition to the obvious physical connections to the surrounding landscape, ensure human scale and approachability of the built form. The exhibition spaces proposed are considered with development, to present a unique curatorial opportunity.”

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The circular galleries range in size from 95 to 145 square metres. Image:

Courtesy Griffith University

The jury awarded second place to a scheme by Hassell which it described as “an appropriate and achievable proposition [that would create]memorable visitor experience.” However, “concerns were also raised about the extensive use of unshaded concrete.” Third place was awarded to Adhaeream for its sinuous, ground plane of converging paths that contrast with an expressive central vertical landmark element accommodating exhibits and elevated viewing opportunities.” But the jury were concerned it would impact “the functional agility of the museum.”
The Outback Museum of Australia was first proposed in 2021, with a masterplan produced the Griffith University academic Karine Dupre, together with architecture students Majed Abuseif, Ting Ren, Miyuki Suzuki and Sebastian Smith.
The project is a collaboration between Griffith University and Murweh Shire Council. The museum will be built in Charlesville’s existing Top Secret Tourism Precincton the site of a clandestine air base where almost 4,000 US troops were stationed during World War II. More

The National Gallery of Victoria is now taking expressions of interests for participation in the next festival. In its seventh year, Melbourne Design Week will run from Thursday 18 to Sunday 28 May 2023 and invites participants to respond to the theme “Design the world you want”, encouraging the industry to use creative thinking to […] More