Evelyn Reynolds

Five leading Australian design teams have been shortlisted to participate in the Powerhouse Ultimo Design Competition. The competition, led by Create NSW, aims to generate an engaging proposal for the renewal of Powerhouse Ultimo (also known as the Powerhouse Museum) in Sydney – an expansive heritage site that includes a converted electric tram power station built in 1902.
This transformative project, which is underpinned by a $500 million investment by the NSW Government, will bring together heritage reuse and contemporary museum practice.
The Powerhouse Ultimo Design Competition will play a critical role in reimagining the landmark site for the benefit of future generations, providing an opportunity to engage with contemporary ideas and cater for diverse art, design and science programming.
Minister for the Arts Ben Franklin said the announcement of the shortlist was an important milestone, with the jury of design and cultural leaders now tasked with selecting the winning design.
“The renewal of Powerhouse Ultimo is a truly momentous project for NSW that will deliver new and expanded spaces to present exhibitions showcasing the extraordinary Powerhouse collection, international exhibitions programs that support the creative industries, and dedicated fashion and design galleries,” Franklin said.
The competition’s jury, chaired by Wendy Lewin, has revealed its shortlist of five design teams that will now move forward in to the next phase of the competition, developing a vision for the renewal and expansion of Powerhouse Ultimo.
The shortlisted design teams are:
Architectus, Durbach Block Jaggers Architects, Tyrrell Studio, Youssofzay + Hart, Akira Isogawa and Yerrabingin submitting under the working title SPARK.
BVN and Oculus with OCP Architects, TTW, Eckersley O’Callaghan, Transsolar Klima Engineering.
Cox Architecture, Neeson Murcutt Neille, Other Architects, Hector Abrahams Architects, Sue Barnsley Design and Arup.
John Wardle Architects, Billy Maynard, ASPECT Studios, Bangawarra, Eckersley O’Callaghan, Atelier Ten and Urbis.
Tonkin Zulaikha Greer Architects, JMD Design, TCL, Sibling Architecture, Freeman Ryan Design, Atelier Ten.
For more information visit the Powerhouse website. More

The Student Architecture Festival is a student-run event held annually by the Australasian Student Architecture Congress. Returning to Brisbane for the first time since 1991, the 2022 instalment, “Occupy,” aims to explore what it means to be an architect today and to compile a list of solutions for how to improve the architecture of the […] More

Tickets are now on sale for the next Design Speaks event, “A Broader Landscape,” which will interrogate how architects practising in Australia use (or misuse) the term “landscape” to many different ends. The discussion will expand and evolve our understanding of the specific histories and practices that have enabled our occupation of this land for […] More

An ambitious bid to supersede Adelaide’s tallest building record has reached a new milestone as planning approval has been recommended by the state’s planning panel for a tower that, if realized, would stand 180 metres tall.
Designed by Cox Architecture and JPE Design Studio, the SA1 Tower would be the tallest in Adelaide, significantly exceeding the city’s current tallest building, the Crowne Plaza on Frome Street, by 42 metres or 18 storeys.
The 55-storey building would include 330 residential apartments, 160 tourist accommodation rooms, and three restaurants on a site intersecting Pulteney and Flinders streets.
Located across from the heritage-listed St Paul’s Church, the site at 207–209 Pulteney Street currently contains a three-storey office building and an open-air carpark, which would need to be demolished for the new development.
Government planning officer Ben Scholes has recommended that the State Commission Assessment Panel grant the project planning consent on the grounds that the proposed tower is not seriously at odds with the provisions of the Planning and Design Code, despite suggestions that it would “significantly alter” the city skyline.
“While the development would be likely to significantly alter the built form profile of the Adelaide city skyline, the CBD has evolved in recent years through the proliferation of tower developments which are not concentrated in the city’s traditional core or its primary pedestrian area,” wrote Scholes.
The SA1 Tower currently has no provisions for affordable housing, but the developer plans to include carparking on levels one to nine, hotel rooms on levels 13 to 20, apartments on levels 22 to 50, and penthouses on levels 51 to 53. The top two levels would consist of a rooftop garden and services enclosure, and a sky lounge is planned for the eleventh level.
The SA1 Tower has garnered the approval of Adelaide Airport, which concluded that the proposed building would not intrude on commercial flight paths, despite apparent encroachment into “protected Commonwealth airspace.”
The government architect Kirsteen Mackay has also demonstrated her preliminary support for the project, stating it has the potential to “change the epicentre of the tallest buildings in Adelaide.” However, she indicated that her support was contingent on the project’s continued commitment to high-quality outcomes through subsequent stages of delivery.
The project is due to be assessed by the State Commission Assessment Panel on Wednesday 14 September. More

The City of Greater Bendigo and Bendigo Art Gallery have appointed Jackson Clements Burrows Architects (JCB) and Clare Design to lead the gallery’s expansion project.
Released on 7 September, initial designs for the new building feature a contemporary white facade referencing the white clay of the Bendigo region.
The building’s exterior will be etched with a pattern to be designed by a Dja Dja Wurrung artist, to be appointed following an expression of interest process. For now, a placeholder design has been incorporated into the renders, showing a pattern inspired by the chevron detailing on a Dja Dja Wurrung shield.
Bendigo Art Gallery director Jessica Bridgfoot said that the proposed design was “on par with iconic international galleries,” while offering something “thoughtful and truly unique to Bendigo” through the incorporation of local Traditional Owner-inspired designs.
The proposed extension would adjoin the existing nineteenth-century galleries, pending assessment by Heritage Victoria, and the interior architecture will feature a light-filled foyer area and a “floating staircase” leading to the first floor.

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The interior design for the Bendigo Art Gallery shows a light-filled foyer area with elements of the white exterior carried through and a floating staircase to a new second level. Image:

Jackson Clements Burrows

According to the City of Greater Bendigo, there are plans to include a learning centre for students and an interactive children’s gallery, a second-level exhibition space, an expanded Traditional Owner Place of Keeping for Dja Dja Wurrung artefacts, and expanded access for free and collection-based exhibitions.
Bridgfoot said that the proposed expansion follows the success of high-profile exhibitions like this year’s Elvis: Direct from Graceland, which have raised the gallery’s profile and reinforced its importance to the state’s visitor economy.
A planning application has been lodged with Bendigo’s planning department for the estimated $48 million project, and its progress will be based on funding. The gallery aims to have the expansion completed by 2026, prior to the Victorian Commonwealth Games (for which Bendigo has been announced a co-host), but funding will need to be secured by June 2023.
Financial support will be sought from the state and federal governments, together with funding commitments from the City of Greater Bendigo, the art gallery’s board and philanthropic donations. If funding is not secured by the outlined date, the project will be paused until after the games.
For more information visit the Bendigo Art Gallery website. More

Four Australian interiors projects have been shortlisted across the interiors categories of the 2022 Dezeen Awards. It puts Australia in equal third place with the USA behind China (7) and UK (12). The shortlisted projects will progress to the next stage of judging by esteemed international designers including Australians Kelvin Ho of Akin Atelier and […] More

There’s a sense of deliberate eclecticism to Nikolai Kotlarczyk’s portfolio, undoubtedly bred from a strong graphic expression that incorporates bold curves and rationalized forms, as well as the odd decorative flourish. The Mullumbimby-born, Copenhagen-based furniture and lighting designer takes visual cues from all around and works hard to manifest them as purposeful designs relevant to interior environments.

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Nikolai Kotlarczyk says his inspiration is drawn from outside the world of design. Image:

Mathias Christensen.

“My inspiration comes from outside the world of design and I combine this with my knowledge of design history and the contemporary design industry,” he explains. “Then I ‘cook down’ or re-contextualize these inspirations into refined, beautiful products.” Nikolai’s approach is highly considered and, while simplicity drives the aesthetic, his penchant for narrative-laden concepts imbues each piece with personality, evoking curiosity and a sense of playfulness. In the Royce armchair for SP01, for example, a sculptural, curvaceous wing-back form is inspired by the loud, colourful tropical birds that lived in the rainforest where he grew up – a joyous nod to his childhood.
The concepts for the Chapel coffee table for Design By Them and the Barocche mirror, on the other hand, were informed by Nikolai’s recent European travels. “I have always loved the architecture and monumental forms of baroque churches – the scale and grandeur, materiality and theatricality – especially the ones in Italy,” he says. Chapel takes the stained glass rose window as a motif, strips it right back and repeats it to form the top of the table’s steel frame, while Barocche adopts the graphic qualities of the churches’ schematic plans to striking effect, paired with an oxidized brass finish.

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Chapel’s symmetry and transparency stem from the opulence of stained glass. Image:

Pete Daly.

These designs highlight Nikolai’s emphasis on robust materiality and the importance it plays in realizing his ideas. He often favours steel because it allows him to articulate an idea graphically, as seen in Indre, his new lighting design for Rakumba. In this instance, the fitting’s finely executed metalwork – in the form of an interlocking modular rod system – allows for configurations that are quite simply stunning. Nikolai studied interior design at Queensland College of Art, a background that has enabled him to view product design as an extension of an interior. That foundation is especially evident in Indre, which defines a space through its arrangement.
Currently working on a presentation to be shown in Milan 2022 and furniture and lighting collections for existing and new collaborators, Nikolai continues to focus on producing timeless designs. “I want my work to have relevance for many years to come,” he says. “Combining strong forms with durable, high-quality materials and great manufacturing is the best approach to design and the environment.” More

Griffith University and Murweh Shire have launched an international architectural competition for the design of a new museum – the Outback Museum of Australia (OMOA) – for Charleville, in south-west Queensland.
Architects are invited to submit expression of interest for a sustainable and resilient building, demonstrating an “understanding of the outback” in the land of the Bidjara People, the project’s proponents said.
The museum is intended to celebrate the diversity of Australia’s outback, unveiling its “mysteries, natural environment and people”, the brief read, along with its “contemporary spirit”.
“OMOA is not so much focusing on history and heritage, but rather on the present and future of the outback, as expressed by immersive and multi-sensory experience installations for the visitors,” the competition website reads.
OMOA is expected to complement Queensland’s existing tourism attractions like the Australian Stockman’s Hall of Fame and Outback Heritage Centre in Longreach, the Outback at Isa, the Qantas Founders Museum, and the new Desert Dreaming Centre in Barcaldine.
The museum will be located in the proposed “Top Secret Tourism Precinct” in Charleville, to be located on the site of a former World War II military base that is current home to the Cosmos Centre and Observatory.

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“Top Secret Tourism Precinct”, which is the new tourism precinct of Charleville, on the site of a former World War II military base and current home to the Cosmos Centre and Observatory. Image:

Courtesy of the Shire of Murweh

The landscape on the site is characterised by expansive flat plains, red dirt soils and desert vegetation, and this competition offers an opportunity to create a new architectural landmark on virgin soil.
The shire has specified the design should target a 5-Star NABERS rating and allow for flexible spaces that respond to the region’s changing needs. “OMOA must become a living platform, increasing dialogue and exchanges through accessible and convivial public spaces,” it said.
The museum design must include an entrance hall with a reception and cloakroom; a commercial space for catering and souvenirs; around 300 square metres of flexible exhibition space; engagement and research spaces; and external landscaping and pathways connecting to parking and outdoor attractions. A more detailed list of key requirements is available on the OMOA competition website.
The competition jury includes Queensland government architect Leah Lang, UQ School of Architecture director of Indigenous engagement Carroll Go-Samm, architect Greg Burgess, landscape architect Lisa Mercer and jury chair Gordon Holden who was foundation head of Architecture at Griffith University.
Murweh Shire expects the museum will become an outback landmark that embraces the region’s evolution and harnesses the local conditions to maximise operational efficiency. The competition jury comprises seven professionals with expertise including architecture, landscape architecture, museology, Indigenous design and culture, urban design and planning.
The construction budget for OMOA is estimated at $6.5 million with a building footprint of 700 square metres.
The design competition was launched on 17 August. Deadline for registration is 20 September and cutoff for submission is 22 September. Winners will be announced 29 September. Recognition will be awarded for first, second and third place, with prizes between $40,000 and $10,000.
Click here to enter. More