Evelyn Reynolds

The Northern Territory government has announced that the state’s proposed art gallery, which has been under construction since 2022, is now to be subject to a public Expressions of Interest (EOI) process. According to the government, this process is designed to “identify the most cost effective and impactful use of the building” going forward.
Concepts for Darwin’s proposed Northern Territory Art Gallery, designed by Ashford Architects with Clare Design and Hully Liveris, were first unveiled in 2021. NT News noted that construction of the Northern Territory Art Gallery was expected to be complete by 2026.
In his statement to the media, Minister for the Arts Jinson Charls acknowledged that the project had faced major funding shortfalls and is now estimated to exceed the budget by over $100 million, but emphasised the government’s commitment to seeing it through to completion.
“[…] we want to go to market and ensure we are achieving the most effective model going forward for the benefit of all Territorians,” said Charls.
The open EOI will invite applications from interested parties to operate the site. Given the competitive process, the government hoped that applicants would “articulate in detail the potential costs involved to operate, the benefits to the community and specific model used to maximise the possibilities the site offers.”
A taskforce comprising key government agencies, including the Department of People, Sport and Culture, Department of Trade, Business and Asian Relations, Department of Treasury and Finance, and Department of Logistics and Infrastructure will be appointed to draft and manage the EOI.
Charls commented, “By seeking proposals from multiple potential operators, with a view to selecting a model of operation that best contributes to rebuilding the economy and restoring the Territory’s lifestyle, we can be open to alternative funding opportunities outside of the Northern Territory government.” More

The Sydney edition of The Architecture Symposium 2025 invites a new generation of Australian architects to consider the future of architectural practice and the pathways to getting there.
Titled The Architecture Symposium: What’s next for practice?, the event will feature 15 speakers from the emerging generation who are responding to contemporary social, environmental and economic challenges by embracing an evolution of architectural practice and process. These speakers will share their approaches for driving meaningful change and the projects through which these ideas are being realised. Their collective insight will illustrate how architectural practice is being redefined by the next generation.
Presenters include: Grace Mortlock of Other Architects; Rory Hyde of the University of Melbourne; Amelia Borg of Sibling Architecture; Ben Berwick of Prevalent; Simon Robinson of Office; Ksenia Totoeva of Tonkin Zulaikha Greer Architects; Christina Cho of Cox Architecture; Liz Walsh of So. Architecture; Jack Gillmer-Lilley of SJB; Xavier De Kestelier of Hassell; Isabelle Toland of Aileen Sage Architects; Andrew Nimmo of Lahznimmo Architects; Nic Brunsdon of Brunsdon Studio; Billy Maynard of Billy Maynard Architects, and Belqis Youssofzay of Youssofzay Hart.
The full-day symposium will be held on 1 August, followed by the 2025 Houses Awards on the evening of the same day. Tickets to the symposium and the 2025 Houses Awards are now available. Architects are eligible to earn up to 4.5 formal CPD points, while Design Institute of Australia members can earn 6 DIA CPD points by attending The Architecture Symposium: What’s Next for Practice?
The Architecture Symposium is a Design Speaks program organised by Architecture Media, supported by premium partners Planned Cover and Bondor, and hotel partner Ovolo. More

Updated designs have been unveiled for the transformation of Bendigo Art Gallery in regional Victoria. Preliminary concept designs for the project were revealed alongside the appointment of the project’s architects, Jackson Clements Burrows (JCB) Architects and Clare Design, in September 2022.
Bendigo Art Gallery has released a statement noting that the institution will close in November 2025 to begin the $45 million expansion and redevelopment project, which will be the largest-ever civic infrastructure project to be led by the City of Greater Bendigo.
The renovation will contemporise the gallery’s external facade and internal gallery spaces while retaining historic features of the original building, including the Abbott, Bolton and Drury Courts.

View gallery

On the ground floor, a dedicated space for the display of the gallery’s contemporary Australian and First Nations collections will be free for all visitors, while an upstairs gallery will host ticketed exhibitions across 1,200 square metres of display space. The redevelopment will also include a ground-floor learning centre with a children’s art studio, workshop space and theatrette, designed to welcome more groups from rural and remote schools and encourage hands-on making sessions for children to participate in art.
According to their media communique, Bendigo Art Gallery has worked in close partnership with Traditional Owners, the Dja Dja Wurrung people, to provide a purpose-built Place of Keeping in the redeveloped gallery. The space will include opportunities for display and interpretation of cultural materials brought home to Country in recent repatriation projects, including 20 artefacts repatriated from the Burke Museum in 2018.

View gallery

Project director at JCB Architects Veryan Curnow reflected, “Beyond the role of the gallery as a significant exhibition space, the redevelopment will have a far-reaching impact for the gallery’s many and diverse users.
“Through engaging architectural, urban and landscape re-shaping, such as a new internal street which unifies View Street with Rosalind Park, the proposed design aims to support the gallery’s future needs and growth, enhance Bendigo community access and the visitor experience.”
Curnow said, “We are thrilled that this transformational redevelopment will soon be realised. It’s been a rewarding experience collaborating with diverse stakeholders, and through these conversations appreciating what this means to the people of Bendigo and beyond.”

View gallery

Funding for the project has been secured through various sources, which include a $21 million commitment from the Victorian Government, $9 million contribution from the City of Greater Bendigo and $4 million of funding from the Bendigo Art Gallery Board.
A philanthropic campaign led by the gallery and a fundraising committee chaired by Andrew Myer has raised a total of $9.35 million to date. In addition, the Sydney Myer Fund and the Ian Potter Foundation have contributed $4 million and $3 million respectively, along with a number of private donors.
Director of Bendigo Art Gallery Jessica Bridgfoot said this was an unprecedented level of philanthropic support for the gallery. “This extraordinary generosity is an acknowledgement of the transformative impact arts and culture can have on a regional community and we truly appreciate our donors’ investment in the Gallery and Greater Bendigo.”
During its closure, the institution will present a series of off-site exhibitions and activities, including an exhibition staged in partnership with Bendigo’s Discovery Science and Technology Centre next year.
“Bendigo Art Gallery is one of the oldest, largest and most visited regional galleries in Australia, attracting visitors from across the country, and generating significant impacts on local businesses and the Bendigo economy,” Bridgfoot said. “This is an exciting next chapter in the history of our esteemed gallery, and its central focus is to increase participation in creativity and culture and to create a space that is inspirational and welcoming to all, for now, and for generations to come.”
The redevelopment is expected to commence construction in early 2026 and will take approximately two years to complete. The gallery’s re-opening is planned for early 2028. More

The Design Institute of Australia (DIA) has announced that CEO Jo-Ann Kellock will resign from her position in September 2025, concluding over seven years of leadership at the national design body.
Kellock joined the DIA in May 2016 and was appointed permanent CEO in July 2017. During her tenure, she steered the organisation through a period of significant change, championing sector advocacy, deepening member engagement and advancing digital capabilities.
“It has been an honour to serve as CEO of the DIA,” said Kellock. “I am immensely proud of what we have accomplished together, particularly in supporting our members through the unprecedented challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. This would not have been possible without the dedication of the DIA team, the support of the Board, and the resilience of our members.”
DIA National President Ryan Russell thanked Kellock for her service, citing her passion and dedication to the design community. “Jo-Ann’s passion for design and her unwavering commitment to the DIA have been invaluable,” said Ryan Russell, national president of the DIA. “We thank her for her leadership and wish her all the best in her future endeavours.”
Kellock will remain in the role until a successor is appointed. The DIA Board is preparing to launch the search for a new CEO, with further details to be shared with members in the coming months. More

“Barcelona is full of imperfections,” architect and CEO of Guiding Architects Barcelona Lorenzo Kárász told the winners of the 2025 Australian Institute of Architects Dulux Study Tour during a cycling tour of the city. Kárász was quick to emphasise that the city’s beauty lies not in perfection, symmetry nor stylistic harmony, but in the complex layering of styles, ideas and histories embedded within the built environment.
Kárász illustrated his point with a visit to the Mercado de Santa Caterina, originally opened in 1848 and restored in 2005 by Enric Miralles and Benedetta Tagliabue (EMBT). He explained that during the restoration project EMBT deliberately replaced a fallen baluster upside down – a gesture intended to highlight imperfection and unpredictability, and to capture a moment in time rather than conceal history. The intervention embraces imperfection, and more broadly, offers and honest reflection of life’s inherent flaws and unexpected turns.

View gallery

Marni Reti, one of the five participants on the Dulux Study Tour, described Barcelona as having a playful quality in its architecture. She observed that, compared to the other cities visited on the tour – Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Copenhagen – the architecture in Barcelona felt like “an antithesis.” This was particularly true of Copenhagen, she noted, which appeared “more regimented, rhythmic and regulated in its architectural outcomes” in contrast to Barcelona’s complex and disordered layers of history and culture. Reti agreed with Kárász’s view that the city’s architecture doesn’t always follow a cohesive style and is instead defined by layering, “but I think that’s part of the whimsical nature of the city,” she said.
Though the city might resemble a patchwork quilt with architecture that often stands apart and speaks for itself, tour participant Kate Shepherd observed that the city follows a well-organised and cohesive urban plan. “It all sits within a very structured framework,” she explained, referring to the grid of octagonal blocks with chamfered corners and uniform block sizes.

View gallery

Building on this idea of structure enabling creativity, tour participant Nicholas Souksamrane likened Barcelona’s gridded urban plan to that of Melbourne. “The strong grid in both cities allows the buildings to be a bit more playful,” he said, “in contrast to Sydney, where the streets are wonky and irregular, so the architecture tends to be less fun.”
A visit to Plaça de les Glòries, a newly opened urban space where three of the city’s major thoroughfares intersect, was generally regarded as a much-needed addition to the city by tour participants. They observed that, in comparison to the other cities visited on the tour, Barcelona offered less in terms of green space and the public realm. Shepherd acknowledged that there did seem to be a current, deliberate effort to address this. She noted that, in the early 2000s, Barcelona had focused on creating bold, standalone architectural objects in empty fields – structures designed to be visually striking and make a statement. “Now they seem to be filling in all the gaps and dissolving the threshold [between architecture and public space],” she remarked.

View gallery

For tour participant Jimmy Carter, the most unexpected insight from Barcelona was the ability of young firms to demonstrate their ideas through practice, taking on large-scale projects that smaller firms in Australia might not typically have access to. Carter discerned this after meeting with the founders of MAIO Architects and Lacol Cooperative Architecture, two young firms leading multi-residential projects. MAIO’s first new-build project was a 22-dwelling housing block titled 110 Rooms (2016), while Lacol’s debut project was La Borda (2018), a 28-unit cooperative housing development.
“In my experience, this is not something that often happens in Australia (or Melbourne), as this size of project is left to trusted architects and outcomes are very specific because of the required profit expectations of the developer,” Carter reflected. “It seemed the two firms were given these opportunities because of their dare and rethinking of present-day problems,” specifically through research-driven approaches. This is a stark contrast to Australia, where firms are often expected to prove the viability of their research through prior built work before being trusted with larger commissions.

View gallery

Another tour participant, Gumji Kang, was similarly struck by the ambition of Barcelona’s emerging practices – particularly their willingness to engage with regulatory and societal challenges at the intersection of architecture and government. Rather than operating solely within traditional design roles, many of the firms visited were, as she put it, “shifting the needle and prioritising practical solutions and efficient design” through advocacy. She found this especially noteworthy given the strict design regulations in Spain.
This willingness was particularly evident during the visit to La Comunal, a cooperative workspace by Lacol Cooperative Architecture that houses ten organisations (including Lacol’s own office). Founded in 2009 during the global economic crisis, Lacol is a worker-owned architecture cooperative that has been actively promoting a socially driven, more accessible and affordable cooperative housing model. One of the founders of Lacol Carles Baiges explained that the practice’s approach extends beyond design, with some team members dedicated full-time to advocacy (part of which involves lobbying for policy changes that support greater access to cooperative housing models).

View gallery

Kang found the intersection of architecture and politics in Lacol’s work noteworthy, commenting on the need for a similar shift in Australia: “It’s such a tiny subsection of the architecture industry that focuses on advocacy or policy. I think there needs to be a general uplift in trying to engage with the political and financial spheres.”
“Maybe I’m just speaking for myself here, but it feels like at times we don’t really know what our role as architects is beyond design. I think we [as an industry] should be actively acknowledging and encouraging the idea that there are different pathways you can take as an architect,” Kang added.
Shepherd echoed those sentiments, stating that, “fundamentally, architects are problem solvers, but the solution doesn’t necessarily have to be a built outcome.”
Adair Winder is travelling with the 2025 Dulux Study Tour. Follow #2025DuluxStudyTour on social media and the blog. More

The jury for the 2025 Eat Drink Design Awards has been announced. The Eat Drink Design Awards recognize excellence and innovation in the design of food and beverage venues across Australia and New Zealand, from high-end restaurants to hole-in-the-wall cafes and luxury hotels.
The awards will be judged across six primary categories of Best Restaurant Design, Best Café Design, Best Bar Design, Best Hotel Design, Best Retail Design and Best Identity Design.
Each year, a landmark venue of more than 10 years standing will be inducted into the Eat Drink Design Awards Hall of Fame. Past inductees have included iconic venues such as Berowra Waters Inn by Glenn Murcutt, Icebergs in Sydney’s Bondi by Lazzarini Pickering, and Melbourne hospitality institutions Cumulus Inc by Pascale Gomes-McNabb and Cookie by Phillip Schemnitz.
The 2025 jury comprises venerable industry leaders from hospitality and design sectors: Jean-Paul Ghougassian (co-director of Ritz and Ghougassian), Callan Boys (national restaurant editor, Good Food), Simone McEwan (director, Nice Projects), Jason M. Jones (restaurateur of Entrecote and Hopper Joint) and Cassie Hansen (editor of InteriorsAu).
Jean-Paul Ghougassian, Ritz and GhougassianJean-Paul co-founded Ritz and Ghougassian, an architecture and interiors practice that has been the recipient of a number of Eat Drink Design Awards. He leads the interior design side of the practice with a clear vision, shaped by years of experience across restaurants, bars, wellness spaces, private residences and more.
Callan Boys, Good FoodCallan is Good Food’s national restaurant editor at The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, and the NSW restaurant critic for Good Weekend. He joined Fairfax Media as the national food and drink writer in 2014 after contributing several restaurant and travel-related articles and reviewing for the Good Food Guide.
Simone McEwan, Nice ProjectsSimone is an interior architect with two decades of experience. She has delivered highly successful global hospitality projects for brands such as Soho House, Selfridges and Co, Fortnum and Mason and Rosewood Hotels. In 2020, she launched her studio Nice Projects alongside long-term design collaborator Sacha Leong.
Jason M. Jones, Entrecôte and Hopper JointJason has been a dynamic force in the culinary world since opening his first restaurant at just 17 years old in his hometown of Maffra. Today, he is proud to call Entrecôte, the Parisian-inspired restaurant in Prahran, his home base, alongside other beloved establishments such as Hopper Joint, Second Home and the recently opened Gigi.
Cassie Hansen, InteriorsAuCassie is the editor of InteriorsAu and prior to this was the editor of Artichoke magazine for more than ten years. She is an active contributor to design media through writing, editing, presentations and participation in awards juries, including the Asia Pacific Interior Design Awards, the Retail Design Institute Awards, the Vivid Emerging Designers Awards and more.
Entries to the awards are now open until Friday 18 July 2025. Awards and commendations will be announced on Wednesday 29 October. Click here to enter. More

The Australian Institute of Architects has launched its Architecture Industry Decarbonisation Plan 2025–2050, which aims to provide an architect-led collaborative pathway to achieving net-zero emissions across the built environment.
A release from the Institute notes argues that as early adopters of technology, design professionals are key to driving a low-carbon future for Australian architecture. Its decarbonisation plan urges immediate government action and leadership to help develop the built environment sector’s capabilities.
Co-chairs of the Institute’s National Climate Action Sustainability Committee Caroline Pidcock and Stefan Preuss said the plan represents a critical turning point for the industry.
“This is a moment of responsibility and opportunity. The building and construction sector accounts for over one quarter of Australia’s carbon emissions. With the right leadership, design, and regulation, we can bring that to zero – and create better, healthier places in the process,” Preuss said.
The Institute’s five-part plan places emphasis on government leadership of decarbonisation within the built environment through:

Updating the National Construction Code (NCC) 2025 to implement mandatory measurement of embodied carbon in accordance with the National Australian Built Environment Rating System (NABERS)
Updating the NCC 2028 to achieve buildings that are all-electric, highly efficient, grid-responsive and effectively net-zero in operational carbon, and reduce upfront carbon in all new buildings and major renovations by 40 percent, by 2030
Requiring government-procured buildings to be grid-responsive, have net-zero operational emissions and reduce their upfront carbon by 20 percent using NABERS methodology from 2025
Funding NABERS and the Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) to extend operational and embodied carbon ratings across all building types
Investing in transforming skills, practices and supply chains to keep pace with a rapidly evolving industry and maintain investment confidence.

Pidcock emphasised that collaboration between industry and government is vital.
“We’re calling on all levels of government to work with architects, engineers and planners to future-proof our cities and buildings,” she said. “We need stronger national policy that supports innovation, upskills the workforce and embeds sustainability at every stage of the built environment lifecycle.”
The Institute’s release notes that the decarbonisation plan builds on existing climate strategies, aligning with national and international targets to deliver resilient, zero-carbon buildings by 2050. Strategic recommendations in the plan include mandatory whole-of-life carbon assessments, incentives for adaptive reuse, and integration of sustainability training into education and professional development.
“This is not just about reducing emissions – it’s about improving lives,” said Pidcock. “A decarbonised built environment is healthier, more efficient, and more equitable. The roadmap we’ve launched gives us a realistic and responsible way forward, that will inspire architects, clients and team members.”
The Architecture Industry Decarbonisation Plan 2025–2050 can be viewed online. More

AJC Architects has received approval for its redevelopment of a retail town centre in northern Sydney. According to a release from the practice, the design “reimagines the Eastwood Centre with a new eat street, fresh food market and retail offering … topped by residential apartments encircling a landscaped ‘big backyard.’”
Located next to Eastwood Station on a 1.2-hectare site, the approved scheme replaces the current 12,500-square-metre retail offering, which includes a Woolworths supermarket, and 2,400 square metres of commercial floor space. The redevelopment will deliver 41,421 square metres of residential floor area, and 21,587 square metres of commercial and retail space shared between five restaurants, 65 retail tenancies, four commercial tenancies, three mini-major tenancies and two supermarkets.
The firm’s communique notes that the design has been “inspired by Eastwood’s strong cultural ties with the Asian community” and “guided by the holistic concept of Jiefang – loosely translating to ‘authentic’ or ‘neighbourhood feel.’”
AJC says that this principle has informed the design of the landscaping and built form, which includes a key pedestrian link connecting The Avenue, Rowe Street and Rutledge Street. This new laneway, labelled “eat street,” will provide covered outdoor dining.
Internally, a network of arcades lined with shops on the Rowe Street level is intended to create a finer-grained urban experience. The lower ground level is centred on a fresh food market supported by smaller food stalls, speciality retail and mid-sized to large-format supermarkets. On the first floor, a series of restaurants with indoor-outdoor terraces face onto Rowe Street Mall.

View gallery

Above the retail, a 3,200-square-metre landscaped communal space for residents is designed to create a “sunny, secluded garden for relaxation and play – bringing nature into the heart of this urban development,” AJC notes.
The project consists of 411 apartments ranging from one to four bedrooms in size. Five affordable dwellings were secured through a previous planning agreement, which also includes public domain upgrades to the mall.
Senior project lead for design at AJC Kaustav Gupta commented, “The new centre is poised to reimagine urban living, where vibrant streets with an eclectic mix of food and retail overlap with lush green spaces – celebrating Eastwood’s heritage and diverse community.” More