Evelyn Reynolds

The Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB) have released a discussion paper outlining the principles and scope of a new Building Product Registration Scheme. Prompted in part by the 2014 Lacrosse building fire in Melbourne’s Docklands and the fatal Grenfell Tower fire in London in 2017, the discussion paper follows a ministerial direction on 21 June 2024 for the development of a proposal to establish both a national building product register and a mandatory product labelling and traceability scheme.
As outlined by the ABCB, the purpose of the national scheme is to remedy problems caused by building products that do not conform or comply with the National Construction Code (NCC) and limited accessibility to compliant building product information in Australia. By addressing dangerous, slow and/or inaccurate building product choices, the proposed scheme aims to reduce unnecessary risks to Australians’ wellbeing.
Under the new scheme, all building products would be required to have minimum information, including evidence of conformance to the NCC and traceability through labelling, in a standardised format.
In a recent statement, the ABCB noted that “the scheme would introduce a risk-based designated products category in the NCC to increase industry and consumers trust in building products. The designated products category would be determined by the board in consultation with jurisdictions through a combined assessment of building products’ uses, safety and risk of defects.”
While state and territory governments would retain their authority to grant construction approvals and undertake compliance activities using the relevant provisions of the NCC, the register, much like the NCC itself, would be controlled on their behalf by the board.
No decision has yet been made and any feedback received will be considered by the ABCB and building ministers prior to any further action being taken. The discussion paper states that “if a new scheme were to be created, it is likely to require several more years of design and development, in partnership with industry and jurisdictions, followed by an implementation period that enables a smooth and efficient transition.”
The discussion paper is open for comment online until 3 October 2024. More

Following the appointment of a design team and community consultation earlier this year, Sydney’s Redfern Place will form a case study for quantifiable research into the benefits of social and affordable housing in Australia.
Transforming a vacant inner-city site, Redfern Place will deliver 350 dwellings, a new community facility and new head office for community housing provider and precinct developer, Bridge Housing. Within the mix of social and affordable housing, ten to fifteen percent of homes allocated by Bridge Housing will be dedicated to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander tenants. The design approach aims to provide long-term liveability by incorporating communal spaces, a large central garden and multiple rooftop gardens.
As precinct executive architect and design architect for two of the buildings, Hayball is joined by Silvester Fuller and Architecture AND, who will each lead the design of individual buildings. The team also includes Aspect Studios as landscape architect and Yerrabingin overseeing design with Country.

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Hayball will apply their recently awarded ‘Design Thinking’ grant from the Alastair Swayn Foundation (ASF) to forecast the social value of Redfern Place by implementing a newly-created monetisation framework created by Swinburne University, the Australian Social Value Bank (ASVB) and Community Housing Industry Association Victoria (CHIA).
The SIGMAH calculation tool measures the financial costs of operating social and affordable housing against wider, project-specific social and economic benefits. The framework argues that these benefits generate cost savings across public and private sectors, thus strengthening the business case for new developments.
“We know that architecture has a fundamental impact on peoples’ and communities’ wellbeing. However, to demonstrate and evaluate how our design decisions influence wellbeing, architects need empirical data. In Australia, there is currently no agreed methodology in place to measure the social value of projects,” explained Hayball principal Dave Tordoff.
“To capture the complete picture of creating social value through design, we need to further investigate how we can establish social value principles at the beginning of a project and track this through the whole project timeline. Ultimately, we want to forecast the social value that could be created through design and then evaluate the social value created when it is completed.”
Together with the ASVB and Bridge Housing, Hayball are developing the ASF ‘Design Thinking’ case study report to be made available in September 2024. Construction of Redfern Place is scheduled to commence in 2025 and due for completion in 2028. More

The City of Perth Council has unanimously decided to progress community consultation on Perth’s Riverfront Masterplan, following the release of concept designs in mid-2024.

The masterplan encompasses Langley Park and two waterfront areas between Terrace Road and the Derbarl Yerrigan/Swan River. Designed by Hassell, the masterplan proposes transforming the underutilised riverfront area into a “city park” that incorporates elements of nature, biodiversity and culture.
The overall masterplan includes five distinct precincts: Cultural, Play, Leisure, Event and Ecology. Key features of the proposal include a reimagined river edge with activated ground planes, improved connections to the CBD and a re-aligned Riverside Drive. Additionally, plans indicate that 3,000 trees would be planted across the 44-hectare site.

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Lord Mayor Basil Zempilas said that the full potential of the site as a tourist attraction has not been fully realised. He added that the masterplan aimed to improve the appeal and liveability of the area through the introduction of cafes, restaurants, a lagoon, a public mooring and ferry jetty and a riverwalk.
“This masterplan is timely given the planning currently underway for the new Aboriginal Cultural Centre and improvements at Supreme Court Gardens, along with investigations into the potential redevelopment of the Tattersalls site at the eastern end of the project area,” Zempilas said.
“The time to push this vision forward is now […] we have a beautiful river on our doorstep – a magnificent asset – which has never been fully showcased.”
Perth’s riverfront has been the subject of more than 200 masterplans since 1883, many of which did not progress further.
An extensive consultation period will commence shortly. More

A museum with a hit-and-miss masonry facade and a multigenerational beach house wrapped in textured terracotta have taken out top honours at the 2024 Think Brick Awards.
The 2024 awards program attracted 200 entries across six categories. Six projects have received awards, while 11 have earned high commendations.
Melbourne Holocaust Museum by Kerstin Thompson Architects received the prestigious Horbury Hunt Commercial Award for its playful application of clay and solid glass bricks. The transparency of bricks allows natural light to pass through the interior in the day and artificial light to radiate through the exterior in the evening.
The jury commended the use of brick in a single plane and its harmonious blend with the heritage building. “The textural and painterly qualities that are evoked from a single material are extraordinary,” said the jury. “It was just a joy for us to look at. Both the external appearance and internal experience of the light and the way brick has been used as a light shaping material is extraordinary.”
Burnt Earth House by Wardle earned the esteemed Horbury Hunt Residential Award for its extensive use of terracotta in the exterior brickwork and interior wall and floor linings. The burnt earth shade of bricks reflects the colours of cliff edges in the nearby locale. The brickmaking process involved extrusion and handtearing the surface prior to cutting, leading to a rough, textured finish.
“Burnt Earth Beach House is an amazing kind of experimentation in expressing brickwork in a totally fresh and individual way,” commented the jury.
Elsewhere in the awards, a public library, two schools, a warehouse consolidation project and several residences were among those to receive accolades.
The awards jury comprised Bob Nation of Nation Architects, Tamara Donnellan of Aspect Studios), Adrian Iredale of Iredale Pederson Hook Architects, Jessica Spresser of Spresser, and Cathy Inglis of Think Brick Australia.
Horbury Hunt Commercial Award – category winner
Melbourne Holocaust Museum – Kerstin Thompson Architects (PGH Bricks and Pavers)
High Commendations
Berninneit Cultural and Community Centre – Jackson Clements Burrows Architects (Nubrik)
The Round – BKK Architects & Kerstin Thompson Architects (PGH Bricks and Pavers)
Horbury Hunt Residential Award – category winner
Burnt Earth Beach House – Wardle (Krause Bricks)
High Commendation
Naples Street House – Edition Office (Bowral Bricks)
Kevin Borland Masonry Award – category winner
The Warehouses – J.AR Office (National Masonry)
High Commendation
Casa Piva – B.E Architecture (National Masonry)
Bruce Mackenzie Landscape Award – category winner
Boronggook Drysdale Library – Antarctica: Architects and Architecture Associates (Krause Bricks)
High Commendations
Naples Street House – Edition Office (Bowral Bricks)
The Nursery on Brunswick – Clare Cousins Architects
Robin Dods Roof Tiles Award
John XXIII College – TRCB (Bristile Roofing)
High Commendation
Bellevue Hill House – Tribe Studio Architects (Bristile Roofing)
New Entrant Award – category winner
Darlington Public School – FJC Studio (Bowral Bricks)
High Commendations
Boronggook Drysdale Library – Antarctica: Architects and Architecture Associates (Krause Bricks)
Glen Iris House – Pandolfini Architects
Tarakan Street Social Housing – NH Architecture, Bird de la Coeur Architects, Openwork and Tract
The Warehouses – J.AR Office More

Melbourne-based architecture and design studio Breathe have won the annual NGV Architecture Commission for 2024. Their design, titled Home Truth, will be on display within the NGV garden from 13 November until April 2025.
The winning design was selected from a shortlist comprising two other teams, including Office of Culture, Technology and Architecture; and Snooks and Harper, N’arwee’t Carolyn Briggs and Philip Samartzis. Interrogating the status quo of typical residential construction in Australia, Breathe’s winning project speculates on the ethical and ecological impacts of very large homes while envisioning a more environmentally sustainable, small-scale and community-oriented approach.
The project takes the form of a labyrinthine house-within-a-house. An outer house frame represents an oversized silhouette of the average Australian home, whose 236-square-metre footprint ranks as the largest average house size on earth. As visitors pass through the external door, they move through a maze of rooms and corridors before emerging within a reflective, timber volume. Representing a small-scale home, this space is also intended as a meditative space in which to contemplate Australia’s alternative housing future.
Reflecting current residential construction methodologies, the outer house frame and walls within are to be built from ubiquitous pine framing, while a skin of silver-flecked Saveboard, made from 100 percent post-consumer waste, is intended to symbolise the inadequate foil insulation used in new Australian homes.
A statement from the NGV noted that “by drawing attention to and contrasting […] these two structures, Home Truth highlights how small footprint housing could help curtail suburban sprawl, lessen the environmental impact of housing construction and create a better quality of life for communities.”
Having drawn inspiration Melbourne’s Cairo apartments and the Small Homes Service, Breathe aimed to highlight the historical precedent for affordable and architect-designed housing in under 100 square metres. The NGV statement remarked that “that their proposal is not part of some unattainable imagined future, but rather a return to a more thoughtful and appropriate scale of living that responds to the needs of others and the planet.” More

A national survey of 169 architecture firms has highlighted unanimous concerns around securing future projects amid rising construction costs, interest rates and living expenses, compounded by stringent budgets and regulatory limitations.

The Australian Architectural Billings Index, conducted by architecture marketing agency Office D.Sharp, is a new quarterly report that compiles practices’ financial insights, commentary and their expectations for the months ahead. The report takes its cues from the eponymous monthly report from the American Institute of Architects, published since 1995.
The inaugural report, released publicly in August 2024, captured financial data between the beginning of April and the end of June 2024. Among the key findings, firms shared similar sentiments on securing their future project pipeline despite experiencing nuanced state and territory growth patterns.
Overall, most practices reported a growth in billings (43 percent of practices reporting an increase and 29 percent reporting a decrease compared to the previous quarter). While a positive trend, this statistic could also reflect the widespread status of business cash flow conditions, with more projects potentially in documentation or on site rather than in early feasibility, concept and sketch design stages. As one architect commented, “We […] have projects underway which have carried us through so far but they are coming to an end.” Another noted that “enquiries increased but lots of people won’t sign fee proposals due to uncertainty.”
Contributing at least in part to project programming difficulties, many architects voiced their concerns toward increasing regulatory red tape and delays. One architect observed that “it has become much more arduous to get through each statutory process. Municipalities and building surveyors are asking so much more of architects in terms of documentation and administration. Planning and building permits were much easier to obtain in the not-too-distant past. This has had a significant impact on profitability because we haven’t been able to adjust our fees as quickly as this change has occurred.”
The downturn in firms’ prospective projects was evident across the board, with enquiries being less in both number and quality (44 percent of practices reporting a decrease in volume and 39 percent reporting a decline in quality). One respondent attributed this concern to an imbalance in costs and expectations, noting that “clients budgets aren’t increasing but cost of construction is. We’re getting the same briefs and budgets but less ability to achieve what they want.” Another architect attributed the decline in project quality to smaller budgets and clients’ desires to downscale or stage works.
Notwithstanding these shared sentiments, the report captured varying growth patterns and attitudes toward hiring that appeared contingent on both locale and practice size. In comparison to Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia, who generally reported less appetite to hire, business conditions appeared stronger in Queensland and thriving in Western Australia. The report also found that mid-size practices of around 11-25 people showed strongest billing growth (with 63 percent seeing an increase compared to the previous quarter) and while large practices faced a tough quarter (with only 18 percent percent reporting an increase in billing), most (64 percent) were optimistic and intending to hire into this quarter.
Founder of the Australian Architectural Billings Index Dave Sharp said he hoped the first report would prompt further data sharing and honest discussion around the challenges facing architectural businesses today and into the future.
View the full report online. More

Final design renders of a flourishing urban garden surrounding the National Gallery of Victoria and the Arts Centre in the Melbourne Arts Precinct have been released.
Along with the public release of final designs, the name Laak Boorndap (pronounced Lark – Born – Darp) was bestowed upon the garden by Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Language Elder, Aunty Gail Smith, who explained the name signifies “a beautiful place for all people to visit and recognise our Country and our Wurundjeri ancestors. It’s not just a placename, it brings Sky Country, the heavens, and everyone back together on Country.”
The garden will span a substantial area of 18,000 square metres between City Road and Southbank Boulevard. The public space has been designed to serve as more than an attraction for tourists and locals to visit, functioning additionally as an access route between Princes Bridge, the Southbank Boulevard and the Arts Precinct. Once established, it will also be used as a site for hosting performances, workshops and events.

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Designed by Hassell and New York practice Solid Objectives with horticulturalists Nigel Dunnett and James Hitchmough, and plant expert Jac Semmler from Super Bloom, the garden will feature climate-resilient plants and an elevated planting deck above Sturt Street.
According to the design consortium, plant selections have been carefully considered to establish a garden that thrives year-round. A mix of native and introduced species, including trees, perennials, grasses and flora, will be planted to try to achieve this objective. The diversity of plants and a multi-layered planting design aims to create a landscape that continually evolves and appears distinct each season, ensuring repeat visitation.
The design features six distinct planting zones, with each of these zones reflecting an individual theme.
Principal at Hassell Ben Duckworth said Laak Boorndap will be “a place for people to be immersed in nature. A place for people to connect to each other, art and performance.”
To create a symbolic connection between the garden and its surrounding arts and cultural institutions, sculptures and artworks will be located throughout the garden. These works will include new commissions completed by First Nations artists.

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Katrina Sedgwick, director and chief executive officer of Melbourne Arts Precinct Corporation, said the new space “delivers biodiversity, beauty and social connection in a way that is diverse and ever-changing.”
“This new garden will become a destination in and of itself, building connectivity and wellbeing for visitors, workers and residents alike,” she said.
Laak Boorndap forms part of the Melbourne Arts Precinct Transformation masterplan, a major project which will involve the establishment of a new contemporary art gallery for the National Gallery of Victoria (named the Fox: NGV Contemporary) and upgrades to the Arts Centre Melbourne Theatres building. More

Tasmania’s Parks and Wildlife Service are in the process of finalising concepts for their Next Iconic Walk project in Tyndall Range within the state’s West Coast. Following the format of the established Overland and Three Capes Tracks, the new three-day/two-night hut-based bushwalk will connect Lake Plimsoll in the north with Lake Margaret Power Station in the south.

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Leading the design, Jaws Architects have proposed concept plans for the two hut sites that were signed off by the Steering Committee in October last year. Their portfolio includes the prefabricated and site-assembled Three Capes Track cabins that were completed in 2015.
Drop-in information sessions with the architects and project team are scheduled in Launceston on 11 September and Hobart on 17 September. Attendees will be able to view the proposed hut designs, maps of the track route and early interpretation themes.
According to the updated project timeline, the development application is due to be lodged with West Coast Council and advertised for further public comment in late 2024. Construction is expected to commence at the end of 2025.
Visit the website for details on the drop-in sessions. More