Evelyn Reynolds

More than 50 proposals, including urban forests, plazas, parks, road art projects and river pools, are on exhibition as part of a campaign to unearth bold ideas for the city’s future.
Brisbane City Council put forward a callout to design studios and industry bodies to submit their ideas that could transform the city for the world stage as part of its “inner spark” campaign.
The brief was informed by seven key themes aimed at promoting inclusion and accessibility; enhance connectedness; fostering creativity; enhancing beauty; facilitating future growth; incorporate clean, green and sustainable design; and responding and adapting to challenging conditions.
More than 600 ideas have been generated during the initial stage of Brisbane City Council’s Inner Spark engagement process, submitted by planners, designers, architects and students. From the projects submitted, 57 are now available for public review.
Proposals range from a linear urban street kitchen to tranforming Victoria Bridge into a “subtropical public realm [with] multi-levelled garden outcrops.”

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Wickham Park Precinct proposed by Daniel Kallis, Hassell. Image:

Courtesy of Brisbane City Council

Lord mayor of Brisbane Adrian Schrinner thanked the innovative and audacious submissions made to Council that “start a conversation” around how the city should look in the future.
“We asked some of Brisbane’s best and brightest to come forward with big and bold ideas that can transform those areas of our city that are popular with residents and visitors alike,” said Schrinner.
“Like Expo 88 transformed the industrial site we now know as South Bank, we wanted to start a conversation on how Brisbane 2032 can revolutionise other parts of our city, particularly those areas in and around Games venues.”
While some projects relate directly to Olympic activities, like the Breakfast Creek Sports Precinct proposed by Brisbane City Council with Neeson Murcutt and Neille, others range from widening the river edge to create waterside parklands, to creating a subtropical garden on Victoria Bridge.
Projects are open for public comment until 25 September on the Brisbane City Council website, and feedback will help to inform Council’s decision for the city’s future legacy. More

Applications are now open for the 2023 Australian Institute of Architects’ Dulux Study Tour. The coveted prize will see five winning applicants embark on a 10-day tour of the best architectural sites and practices across three cities. In 2023, the tour will return overseas for the first time since 2019. The prize is open to […] More

Heritage Victoria has twice refused an application to transform the former Land Titles Office into a high-rise office tower, once also earmarked as the site for a new Greek museum.
Designed by JJ Clark, architect of the Treasury building, the former Land Titles Office was completed in 1889 and is one of only two remaining 19th century buildings on the block of Melbourne’s legal precinct, the second being the Supreme Court.
Developer ISPT purchased the building in 2018. In 2020, designs by Bates Smart were submitted to state government to transform the building into a satellite of Greece’s Benaki Museum. The $244 million of proposed works included plans to partially demolish the heritage building and construct a 30-level tower, using the existing heritage building as a podium.
In 2021, Heritage Victoria refused the application on the grounds that the tower straddling the Strong Room would have “significant physical and visual impacts on the heritage place”.

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A development application to transform the building into a Hellenic museum, designed by Bates Smart, was rejected in 2021. Image:

Bates Smart

The height, width and overall mass of the proposed development would “overwhelm” the view of the office building, reducing the heritage building to a podium for the proposed tower. Heritage Victoria also said the proposed demolition of areas of the building to make way for the tower would cause “substantial harm” and “irreversibly diminish” the cultural and heritage significance of the Titles Office.
In January 2022, the executive director for Heritage Victoria accepted a proposal to amend the application to include a reduction in the height of the tower from 30 levels to 22, and a change the proposed use of the Strong Room and office building from the Hellenic museum to offices, affordable community spaces and hospitality venues.
The revised application was submitted to Heritage Victoria and rejected in July 2022, again on grounds that the partial demolition of the Land Titles Office building as well as the construction of the tower would devalue, diminish, and overwhelm the heritage structure.
The future of the heritage building is now uncertain, with Heritage Victoria acknowledging there is risk a project may fail or not be fully realized due to economic constraints, with the internal rate of return estimated as being “on the cusp of viability”.
The executive director has expressed concerns that any earmarked project could therefore see the Land Titles Office “being left in a more perilous state than it currently is”. More

The City of Sydney has approved a proposal to create a sculptural new building in the historic Rocks area, designed by Smart Design Studio. The former Westpac Museum building, located between the heritage-listed Union Bond Store at 47 George Street and Merchant House at 43-45 George Street, will be demolished to make way for the […] More

An exhibition at the Museum of Sydney unearths several failed design proposals for Australia’s most populous city.
Comprising designs, sketches, models as well as documentary footage, the Unrealised Sydney exhibition offers insights on an era of post-war utopian thinking in planning, as well as controversial schemes for contested areas of Sydney.
“The years after WWII saw complete replanning of precincts, not just buildings, on a scale that increased into the 1960s,” said guest curator Robert Freestone, professor of planning at the UNSW School of Built Environment. “Alongside the proclaimed technological and social advancements came serious community resistance for the first time in Sydney.”

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Dino Burattini & Assocs 1990 Bennelong Centre Project proposal. Image:

City of Sydney Archives, East Circular Quay Redevelopment Project Records

The exhibition focuses on eight precincts: the Sydney Opera House, Circular Quay, The Rocks, the Museum of Sydney, Macquarie Street, Woolloomooloo, Darling Harbour and Barangaroo. It includes competition entries, unsolicited proposals, and design challenges.
“Ideas for new buildings and precincts reveal a lot about the time of their conception – the economic and political influences, technological advances and insights into our society and environment,” said Adam Lindsay, CEO, Sydney Living Museums and NSW State Archives.
“Unrealised Sydney takes a look at the many visions that did not come to fruition and offers a thought-provoking reflection of what the city of Sydney may have become.”
The exhibition will also include an interactive experience where visitors can design their own city block.
Unrealised Sydney is free to attend and will open at the Museum of Sydney on 6 August until 13 November. More

SJB has designed a mixed-use office and retail proposal for Sydney’s Surry Hills. Bordering Elizabeth, Cleveland, Goodlet, and Perry streets, the site is situated in Sydney’s burgeoning technology corridor and presents a unique opportunity to develop a bustling retail thoroughfare. The design proposes to work with the existing buildings on the site, restoring the Elizabeth […] More

Conrad Gargett has completed the $100 million refurbishment and extension of the historic home of Queensland Ballet.
Housed in a 110-year-old former boot factory designed by architect Richard Gailey and built in 1908, the redevelopment of the Thomas Dixon Centre has retained its original brick facade with nods to Georgian revival-style architecture throughout.
Works included the refurbishment of the existing centre with the addition of a new three-storey extension to make way for six dance studios, a performance and wellness centre, expanded wardrobe and production facilities, a roof terrace, cafe and function spaces. Five historic air raid shelters have also been converted into a “bunker bar” that will be ready to host exclusive hospitality experiences from next year.

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Conrad Gargett has completed the refurbishment of the historic Thomas Dixon Centre, home of Queensland Ballet. Image:

Chris Wardle

Prior to the refurbishment, as Queensland Ballet began to outgrow the site, various options were explored, including the possibility of the organisation’s relocation after 30 years at the site. The redevelopment, which began in 2019, has been ten years in the pipeline, with Queensland Ballet raising funds to enable it to stay in its West End location.
“It was decided that the Thomas Dixon Centre was their true home, presenting a fantastic opportunity to revitalize the site,” said Conrad Gargett project architect Tamarind Taylor.
“As a heritage building on an inner-city site, it wasn’t the easiest option to rejuvenate and restore the Thomas Dixon Centre, but Queensland Ballet wanted to remain in West End as we felt a sense of neighbourhood pride,” said artistic director Li Cunxin.

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Conrad Gargett has completed the refurbishment of the historic Thomas Dixon Centre, home of Queensland Ballet. Image:

Chris Wardle

The new additions are set back from the heritage building, creating a central promenade and focal point for the building. The design is sympathetic to the building’s historic details while considering the “complexities of the workflows and operations” of the Queensland Ballet, according to head of building precincts and projects Lucas Gilroy.
Another design objective was to provide the public with a rare glimpse of ballet beyond the stage, retaining a sense of mystique and intrigue while offering viewing opportunities into the costume workshop and dance studios.
“The architectural design seeks to invite the community into the home of the Queensland Ballet by offering glimpses ‘behind the curtain’,” said Taylor. More

Responding to change is fundamental to successful workplace design, and to ensure the longevity of office furniture and fittings, malleability is key.
Schiavello has released a new product range reflecting the values of fluidity, flexibility and change, to support the needs of contemporary workplaces into the future. Schiavello’s strategy outlines three key considerations for the hybrid workplace and highlights what solutions best enable them.
Diverse work environments inside the office
Contemporary workspaces need to support a range of activities, from focused concentration, to private meetings, to collaborative activities. Beyond workstations, Schiavello offers Focus Booths and a range of Focus Quiet Rooms designed to offer quiet concentration opportunities in open-plan work spaces, each offering different levels of audio and visual privacy.
The Toku Collection – named after the Japanese word for “talk” – invites conversation and collaboration through a range of benches, ottomans, and tables. In between, the new Valli collection of powered lounges and sofas provides privacy and comfort for workers away from the desk.
Supporting connection outside of the office
The merging of the physical and digital worlds is paramount to the longevity of a workplace. Purposively designed spaces that keep connectivity in mind are leading the way in workplace design, enabling high-tech integration and fluidity of digital connection.
Schiavello’s fully-powered and ventilated Focus Quiet Room collection offers specialised lighting and acoustics for video conferencing. Portable power is also essential for convenience and mobility, and moveable furniture, like laptop tables and charge towers, enable digital connection from anywhere.
Schiavello’s unified work platform Nora Space offers workers a solution to managing the integration of the digital and physical worlds. The platform also features an IoT software system that allows users the flexibility to remotely book desks and teamwork zones.
Easily transform furniture configuration to entire floor plans
Team zones should be designed to be reconfigured for independent or collaborative activities with minimal effort. Similarly, floor plans should be adapted to accomodate activities from training, to workshops and presentations.
Schiavello’s furniture is lightweight, portable, and reconfigurable, enabling workplaces to quickly and easily adapt spaces to meet a variety of different needs. Portable items, like the Henge Whiteboard, Aire Fold Table or Aire Media Stand, glide around on wheels for easy reconfiguration. The climate desking system’s clever articulator, now incorporated into the Krossi sit-stand, means desks can be expanded or compacted on a whim.
To see this thinking come to life in 3D animation, view Schiavello’s Purposeful Workplace. More