Evelyn Reynolds

Legislation proposing changes to the Architects Registration Board of Victoria (ARBV), which would have reduced the number of registered architects on the board, has been shelved.
The Victorian government has decided not to present the Building and Heritage Amendment Act 2022 to the upper house, the Legislative Council, in the last parliamentary sitting week before the state election, meaning, the bill will expire and status quo will remain for now.
The Australian Institute of Architects said the lapsed legislation was “great news” and reflected a huge effort to oppose the bill.
The Victorian chapter of the Australian Institute of Architects and the Association of Consulting Architects previously voiced its concerns about the bill in July, stating that a board with only three architecturally qualified members out of nine – none of whom would be required to be registered architects – was an irresponsible step for the ARBV.
Currently, the ARBV has 10 members, five of whom must be registered architects, while the remainder are representatives from consumer and construction sectors.
“These proposed changes would have damaged the integrity of the Architects Act, defied best regulatory practice and indeed common sense, and prevented the board from providing sound consumer protection to Victorians while deleteriously impacting the profession of architecture in Victoria,” wrote the Institute’s Victorian chapter president David Wagner.
“I would like to thank all members who wrote to their local parliamentary representatives, their MLAs, MLCs whether cross benchers, opposition members or government members and also to those who also campaigned for media attention on the issue.”
The campaign to oppose the legislation was lobbied in partnership with the Association of Consulting Architects (ACA) holding meetings with the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning and parliamentarians including Rod Barton and David Davis.
“The ARBV provisions [in the bill] would have seriously weakened our professional standards and diminished the profession’s capacity to contribute to our cities and communities. That the Architects Act will now continue in its current form is the best outcome for both Victorians and the architectural profession of this state,” Wagner said.
A state election will take place on 26 November, and should the new government decide to pursue the proposed reforms in the new parliament, it will need to introduce a new bill to the lower house. More

Three architecture practices – SJB, Durbach Block Jaggers (DBJ) and Curious Practice – have won the design competition for stages three and four of a mixed-use development for Newcastle’s East End.
The jury unanimously selected the winning design for its retention of Christ Church Cathedral as the city’s prominent landmark structure, as well as the inclusion of multiple public viewing corridors to the harbour, the integration of green space, and the distinct character allocated to each building.
SJB worked as executive architect on stage one of the four-stage project in the form of a masterplan back in 2013, working in collaboration with Durbach Block Jaggers and Tonkin Zulaikha Greer. SJB director Adam Haddow said the team was “over the moon” to collaborate with their peers to deliver the final stages of the project, which will include 235 dwellings across five buildings, as well as new retail space and public parking.
Newcastle East End is a combination of adaptive reuse and new builds that form the unique character of the city. The site has been divided based on “experience, expertise and scale”, SJB said, while forming a joint urban design strategy to realise the City of Newcastle’s “Harbour to Cathedral Park” plan to open up connections and view lines from the harbour foreshore and Hunter Street Mall to Cathedral Park.

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Designs for Newcastle East End redevelopment stages three and four. Image:

SJB, Durbach Block Jaggers and Curious Practice

“Our vision for the East End is rooted in a fine grain response that reimagines the retail offering and pedestrian activity of Hunter Street,” said Haddow. “The new public ‘market square’ has great potential to connect into council land, creating the link with Newcastle Christ Church Cathedral and the harbour, to become the centre of the East End.”
The winning design draws inspiration from existing Newcastle architecture as well as retains key heritage buildings, while bringing new life to the neglected centre. Three buildings will establish the marketplace precinct: the “block” of the heritage Municipal building, the “tower” behind, and the “stoa” forming the western edge.
The city’s lord mayor Nuatali Nelmes said that Newcastle’s East End is transforming “before our eyes”, with architectural design excellence bringing “the history and heritage of this harbour precinct into the modern era”.
Building envelopes identified in stage one are shaped to provide a sympathetic context for existingbuildings, while plans to “hollow out” the central public heart will let in sunlight through a new laneway through the site.
SJB said that following “extensive research” into the built fabric of Newcastle, the team has designed buildings that retain the historical fabric while referencing the “nuance” of the surrounding city.
The redevelopment is anticipated to cost $880 million. More

Sydney Modern architect SANAA has been named the recipient of 2022 Praemium Imperiale award for architecture by the Japan Art Association.
Inaugurated in 1988, the Praemium Imperiale art prize is today one of the world’s largest and most prestigious art prizez.
The award honours “individuals or groups from around the world for outstanding contributions to the development, promotion, and progress of the arts”, the committee said. Laureates are awarded in five fields – painting, sculpture, architecture, music, and film – and each received a prize of 15 million Japanese Yen (A$156,000).
Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa of Japanese architecture practice SANAA were awarded the prize for architecture in recognition of their contribution to the profession. Past architecture laureates including Zaha Hadid, Renzo Piano, Richard Rogers and Norman Foster. In 2021, Australian Glenn Murcutt was named the architecture laureate.
“There are five senior Japanese architects who have received the Praemium Imperiale, including Kenzo Tange, Tadao Ando, Fumihiko Maki, YoshioTaniguchi and Toyo Ito, and we are truly honored to join them,” said Sejima and Nishizawa.

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Sydney Modern render by SANAA, set to open December 2022.

The duo founded their Tokyo-based studio in 1995. They have built a body of work that includes the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art in Kanazawa, the New Museum of Contemporary Art in the USA, the Louvre-Lens Museum in France, and the Bocconi University New Urban Campus in Italy.
SANAA also designed the extension of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney Modern which has completed major construction is due to open on 3 December.
The practice also received the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2010 and the Architectural Institute of Japan Award in 2006.
Other laureates of the 2022 Praemium Imperiale include Ai Weiwei for sculpture, Giulio Paolini for painting, Krystian Zimerman for music and Wim Wenders for theatre/film.
In 2022, the Japan Art Association appointed former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as International Advisor to the Praemium Imperiale. More

The Australian Institute of Architects’ 2022 Queensland Regional Symposium will take place in Yeppoon, engaging with the theme “Regional Futures: A Collaborative Perspective”. “Regional practice requires agile and collaborative mindsets, which provides the foundations for transdisciplinary practice and creative solutions to stakeholder engagement,” the Institute said. Collaborators from across the country will come together to […] More

ARM Architecture and exhibition designer Local Projects have delivered a $34 million revitalization of gallery and play spaces for the National Museum of Australia in Canberra, marking its largest redevelopment since opening its doors in 2001.
The 2,500-square-metre redevelopment, comprising the revamped Great Southern Land gallery and the Tim and Gina Fairfax Discovery Centre, follows ARM’s initial museum building design, conceived as a “Boolean string” in 1997, along with its subsequent extensions over the last 20 years.
The redevelopment builds on the architectural themes established in the 1997 museum concept, now used to shape a new window and lakeside stair and a revitalized mezzanine at the centre of the exhibition space.
Being a social history museum, the renovation was undertaken to “keep pace” with the changes the nation has experienced over the last 20 years, museum director Mathew Trinca said.
Based off of ARM’s masterplan, Local Projects revitalized the exhibition space by dramatically opening up the interior volume to improve the exhibition’s layout and navigation tools. The completed redevelopment includes the museum’s largest gallery space to date, as well as new immersive play spaces for children.

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Architects revitalized the exhibition space by dramatically opening up the interior volume to improve the exhibition’s layout and navigation tools. Image:

Anne Stroud

The expansion with the integration of new technology has enabled the introduction of 2,000 additional traditional and digital objects to be displayed in the museum. The new design increases connectivity to Lake Burley Griffin, opening the lakeside facade through a “dramatic, curved and red glazed stair”.
ARM director and original museum architect Howard Raggatt said the exhibition design “realizes the original intent for the museum” with the layout leaving room to experience and appreciate the unique form of the building.
“The design now allows for spectacular views over Canberra, while the Discovery Centre opens a part of the museum not previously accessed,” said Raggatt. “The redevelopment fulfils a key step in the overall vision for the masterplan and we look forward to the unveiling of remaining stages over the coming years.” More

Building works are in motion on a mixed-use development in Melbourne’s retail centre, in what will be the first built project in Bourke Street Mall in more than 50 years. The site, known as The Walk arcade, spans 3,600 square metres across eight separate building footprints. Designed by Buchan, the redevelopment will include 6,000 square […] More

The Tasmanian government is working with Housing Choices Tasmania to deliver a 65-unit expansion of the Queens Walk social housing complex site in Cornelian Bay, Hobart. Designed by Cumulus Studio, the $24 million expansion would provide 65 additional homes for Tasmanians in need of “safe, secure and stable housing” that is close to the city, […] More

The 2022 Old School / New School conference interrogates architecture’s role in the future of education and the creation of pedagogical spaces.
“As a driver for opportunity and independence, education has the potential to advance society as a whole and is an important investment for our future,” the organizer said. The conference will consider the question: How can architecture create learning environments with equity, community and longevity at their core?
The program comprises three virtual sessions over three Wednesdays in October, each followed by a panel discussion. Attendees will hear from leading practitioners, researchers and educators from Australia and abroad.
Session one, on 5 October, follows the theme “Thinking Ahead: Designing the Evolving Campus” and explores the relationship between design thinking and the evolution of the campus. The session features speakers Carroll Go-Sam from the University of Queensland, and BVN principal Ali Bounds, and Simon Lyager Poulsen, part of Danish practice Adept. The presentations will be followed by a discussion with the speakers, moderated by Hassell principal Adam Davies.
On 12 October, session two will cover “Beyond the Classroom: Designing a Neighbourhood Asset” and covers the pivotal role architecture plays in shaping a neighbourhood’s sense of place and identity. Speakers include Ben Cleveland from the University of Melbourne, MLKK Studio’s Kian Yam and Kwan Ho Li, and Thierry Lacoste of Lacoste and Stevenson and moderator Chad Brown from Hayball.
Session three on 19 October will explore “Getting Smart: Designing Spaces for all Learning Capabilities”, and considers how architects can better design spaces that cater to the diversity of learning types and capabilities. Speakers will present case studies and insights to discuss the importance of inclusivity when designing a learning environment. Speakers include Sibling Architecture director Amelia Borg, Matthew Springett and Fiona Macdonald of Matt and Fiona, and Peter Walker of the Australian Association of Special Education. The session will be moderated by Kellee Frith, education environments strategist at Architectus.
Delegates can purchase tickets for individual sessions or for all three. Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased up until 4 November. The sessions can be viewed live or demand until 11 November 2022.
Old School / New School is a Design Speaks program organized by Architecture Media, publisher of ArchitectureAU.com, and supported by partner Moddex. More