Evelyn Reynolds

Dean Norton established his eponymous studio with the desire to have freedom in his design work. To have full creative expression and control, to design functional pieces that are artistic statements and stories, and to not be limited by a client brief or budget.
British-born and Melbourne-based, Dean studied graphic design and interior design at the University of the Arts London, after which he worked on retail and commercial projects, including custom furniture and fixtures for high-end clients. “I loved designing custom pieces because we didn’t have a limited budget and the brief was to stand out, so I could express myself creatively,” he says. He decided furniture design provided the creative freedom he was seeking and launched his own studio in 2017, debuting the Moodlum collection in 2018. “The idea of Moodlum was for each piece to merge with a space and complement the room’s style and atmosphere,” Dean says.
Moodlum established a minimalist language that is consistent throughout Dean’s work: well-resolved geometric shapes, continuous curves and no visible fixings. With this foundation, Dean focuses on form and experiments with materials, before considering construction and production. “It’s more freeing, because I’m not limiting myself creatively with the complexities of construction,” he explains.
The original Mood tables are powdercoated in white or black, with a tabletop in smoke-grey mirror or back-painted frosted glass. He has since expanded the range of finishes, imbuing the minimalist table and its environment with a different aesthetic, feeling and effect. The Mood coffee and side tables in zinc, for example, reflect the colours and tones of their surroundings, while the wood and resin finish emphasizes the table’s natural timber grain. Dean also develops custom pieces and finishes for interior design commissions, including a chrome side table for Aesop’s Karrinyup store.
Dean has designed several pieces as thematic responses to exhibitions, and emotive reactions to Melbourne lockdowns. Containa explores confinement and protection, featuring a wood-turned form encased within a frosted glass shell, while Daylight is a light therapy lamp intended to boost wellbeing and creative energy. He entered Daylight and the Float glass tables into the VIVID 2021 Emerging Designer Awards, for which he won the Judges’ Choice Award.
The National Gallery of Victoria’s acquisition of Dean’s graphic illusion Concave Convex Mirror in 2021 affirms his approach to design and creative expression: “[Having my design] in an art gallery is a dream come true as I see my work as artistic statements. They are creative pieces and I want them to have an ongoing creative story.”

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The Association of Consulting Architects is conducting its sixth survey of the Australian architectural profession in a longitudinal study of how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting the industry. Released on 18 July, the latest survey hopes to find out what has changed for architectural businesses, document the challenges and identify opportunities for the future. Past […] More

Chrofi and Tyrrell Studio have designed an urban park and cultural centre for Burwood, in Sydney’s inner west.
The project, to be located on the site of the existing Burwood Library carpark, also aims to bring open space and tree canopy to the suburb’s town centre, as well as deliver a new arts and cultural centre that includes a new café, a community lounge, studio spaces, multipurpose halls, a 200-seat theatre, and other public amenities.
Chrofi and Tyrrell Studio were appointed the design team following a competition held by the local council in 2020.
Chrofi initially designed a city-wide masterplan for Burwood in 2019 after it was comissioned by council to respond to the city centre’s rapid transition from a low-scale suburban centre to a high-rise strategic centre.

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Rendered concept imagery for the Burwood Urban Park and Cultural Centre. Image:

Chrofi with Tyrrell Studio

In response to Burwood’s inadequate public domain, prevalence of overshadowing and poor scale transitions, Chrofi identified the site as an ideal park location that could increase amenity in the city due to its “sunny location and proximity to existing civic and heritage asset,” the architect said.
“Burwood is a rapidly densifying centre with limited opportunities for new public space, so any development of public land needs to work hard to satisfy the diverse needs of the growing population,” said Chrofi director Tai Ropiha.
The cultural centre has been designed as a wedge-shaped form that appears to emerge out of the ground with an open space on top. “The idea to have a community building under the open space maximises the potential of the site to respond to community needs,” the architects said.
According to the concept designs, the geometry of the park has been conceived to articulate three landscaped spaces that enable pedestrian connections between surrounding destinations, like the Burwood train station, the public library, and the Hornsey Street precinct.
The design team proposes to engage with the history of Burwood’s heritage buildings by taking inspiration from the terracotta of the federation homes and the fine-grain brickwork of Burwood Public School. Engaging with these existing material conditions, the proposal uses terracotta screens, recycled brick pavements and cladding to create a sense of place and continuity. More

Travelrite’s architecture tour of Japan returns after eight years following the Japanese government’s recent move to permit specialized group tours to enter the country for the first time since the pandemic.
Marking Travelrite’s 20th architecture tour, the 2022 Japan tour will cover 17 nights from 22 October to 8 November and includes six Japanese destinations: Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Nara, Mount Fuji and Hiroshima.
Led by recognized architect and former principal of Scott Carver Architects, Malcolm Carver, the tour will take place during autumn in Japan – a time of year Carver describes as one of the more spectacular to appreciate the country and its infrastructure.
Carver admires Japanese architecture for its “pure simplicity” and enduring timelessness. He said, “[Japan] is original and unaffected by Western styles; it stems from a long monocultural history.”
Carver added, “It’s a delightful journey to discover that the same building design principles are evident in its hard and soft landscape, in the people, and of course in the culinary delights.”

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Tadao Ando Gallery in Naoshima, Japan. Image:

Jo Quinnn via Unsplash

Following the success of the 2014 Japan tour, this year’s program has considered guest feedback to compose an itinerary with six additional nights featuring Japan’s world-class architecture, memorable contemporary buildings and striking temples along with authentic Japanese food.
The Pritzker Prize for Architecture has been awarded seven times to Japanese architects since its inception in 1979, with four awarded the revered prize in the past decade. Carver will take the tour to see works of eminent Japanese architect Tadao Ando and of ten other significant and internationally acclaimed architects including Tange, Ito, Sanaa, Isozaki, Kuma, Kidosaki, Piano, Pei and Vinoly.
“Japanese architects have excelled, mostly in Japan, over the past fifity years,” said Carver. “The international demand for their services today is extraordinary: just look at the new Sydney Modern by Sanaa and the Botanical Pavillion at the National Gallery of Victoria.”
The rich itinerary will include a tour of Peace Memorial Park and Museum; a trip to Naoshima Island, known for its art museums and sculptures; and journey to a modern Buddhist water temple, among other activities.
The tour is limited to 32 participants and includes accommodation, guided sightseeing, entertainment and meals.
For more information visit the Travelrite website. More

A contentious redevelopment on an historic north shore office block is back on the cards after state heritage listing on the site was successfully overturned. The Land and Environment Court has ordered the NSW Heritage Council to remove the heritage status of the 1950s MLC office building in North Sydney, permitting developer Investa Property Group […] More

The City of Melbourne has released a new blueprint outlining its vision for the future most populated city in Australia.
Melbourne is forecast to become the most populated city in Australia by 2026. In response to this, the City of Melbourne has developed a Municipal Planning Strategy to make Melbourne a better place to live, work, study and visit by investing in new growth areas.
The Municipal Planning Strategy plots how Melbourne will look over the next ten to 20 years, earmarking areas such as Docklands, Macaulay and Arden to cater for the thousands of new expected residents.
The strategy focuses on issues of climate change, affordable housing, jobs creation and the deliverance of high-quality development and design, in what acting Lord Mayor Nicholas Reece has called “one of the most forward-looking plans since ‘Postcode 3000’”.
Postcode 3000 was a planning initiative launched in the early 1990s, coordinated by the City of Melbourne and championed by then-premier Jeff Kennett, which aimed to boost residential development in the CBD.
“Over the past 30 years, our city has changed at a rapid pace, bringing both amazing opportunities and tough challenges,” said Nicholas. “If we want to retain our place as Australia’s most liveable city then we need to have a clear blueprint.”
The Municipal Planning Strategy underpins the vision for the future city with six goals. These are: creating more jobs for a stronger economy; protecting Melbourne’s distinctive cultural identity; addressing emissions reductions targets to net zero by 2030; reducing economic and social inequality; improving safety and wellbeing; and celebrating First Nations culture, lore, knowledge and heritage.
The strategy has been years in the making, informed by draft strategies like the City Spatial Plan, which outlines place-based strategies for growth across the municipality. The anticipated opening of five new metro stations across Melbourne has also fed into the projections for future living patterns.
The strategy will be considered by councillors at the Future Melbourne Committee meeting on 19 July, prior to being released for public exhibition and consultation. More

A development application has been approved for a Conrad Gargett-designed, 38-storey beachfront apartment complex submitted to council last year.
The Gold Coast high-rise will be located on Garfield Terrace in Surfers Paradise, right on the sands of Northcliffe Beach, and will feature an open podium design that engages with the natural elements.
Conrad Gargett director John Flynn said the building’s soft-edge form combined with organic landscaping will create a sense of “openness” and harmoniously blend with the natural rolling dunes of the site.
“The original landscape of the ocean, beach and dunes, continuing through to the waterways, has been broken over time by buildings,” Flynn explained. “So by lifting the tower up off the ground, we’ve been able to create greater transparency, which has been one of our key design moves.”

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A development application has been approved for a Conrad Gargett-designed, Image:

Conrad Gargett

Inspired by “longshore drift”, or the natural movement of drifting sand and water along the coastline, the building’s form is intended to respond to the ripples and deep recesses that occur in the sand as a result of the tides.
Raw and natural materials, such as concrete, stone and timber finishes, are intended to help the tower to sink into the natural landscape, while also providing a sturdy foundation to withstand the onshore elements.
The tower will feature resort-style amenities, including wellness spaces, a bar and a pool. It will house a mix of one-, two-, three-, four- and five-bedroom apartments, including half- and full-floor apartments with expansive outdoor living spaces. More