Evelyn Reynolds

Woods Bagot, in a joint venture with the City of Adelaide, has completed designs for what could be Adelaide’s greenest office building.
Located within the commercial portion of the city’s $400 million Central Market Arcade redevelopment, the tower will be a 15,000 square-metre, all-electric office building targeting a six-star Green Star rating from the Green Building Council Australia (GBCA).
To achieve this level of accreditation, a building must be “fossil fuel-free, powered by renewables, highly efficient, built with low carbon materials and offset with nature,” according to the GBCA.
Woods Bagot said it wanted to focus on long-term sustainability solutions to help address looming global challenges. Plans for the Market Square tower reveal the building would use locally sourced recovered and recycled materials wherever possible.
Developer ICD Property said the building will feature other “unique earth-friendly initiatives” including rooftop solar, rainwater capture for irrigation, and a targeted minimum of 90 percent diversion of waste from landfill.

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Aerial view of the Market Square precinct. Image:

Woods Bagot

ICD said it would also maximise the use of biophilic design elements like natural light, raw materials and vegetation.
City of Adelaide lord mayor Sandy Verschoor has expressed her support for the proposed project, calling it a “significant green milestone” in the journey towards a renewable economy.
“We all know the journey towards a green economy is not quick, but in Adelaide we are making real progress thanks to commitments like this,” said Verschoor. “We are thrilled that Market Square is enabling us to deliver one of the first all-electric buildings in South Australia.”
Market Square is also on track to achieve a five-and-a-half star rating for the National Australian Built Environment Rating System, as well as Gold WELL accreditation rating from the International WELL Building Institute.
ICD managing director Matt Khoo said the sustainability initiatives were “non-negotiable.” He added that ICD, as a developer, has a responsibility “to influence tangible change in Australia’s landscape by future proofing all our projects with best-in-class sustainable practises.”
“Aside from the obvious benefits to the community and environment, there are also flow-on effects to tenants who will receive significant savings through lower ongoing operational costs,” said Khoo.
Construction of the precinct is earmarked for July and will be built by Multiplex. More

Plans have been submitted to the City of South Perth for a 183-metre-tall hybrid timber tower designed by Fraser and Partners – a research-based design studio borne out of Elenberg Fraser.
If built, it will reportedly be the tallest hybrid timber tower in the world, three metres taller than Atlassian’s hybrid timber tower in Sydney, designed by Shop Architects and BVN, which was approved in October 2021.
Located at 6 Charles Street, South Perth, the development will be named C6, after the chemical element for carbon on the periodic table. It will become the first carbon negative building for Western Australia.
According to plans, the $350 million hybrid timber tower will be constructed using 7,400 square metres of timber.

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Plans for C6 include 300 per cent more communal space per apartment than what current planning requirements specify. Image:

Fraser and Partners

The proposal currently includes provisions for 245 apartments (ranging from one to four bedroom apartments) over 48 levels, and a 500-square-metre rooftop that will feature an edible garden, outdoor dining and entertainment paces, and communal amenities.
The proposal also includes an open-air piazza with a playground, cinema, horticultural zone, food and beverage and entertainment precinct at ground level open to the community.
Fraser and Partners’ design intends to adopt biophilic design principles, demonstrating the tangible benefits of incorporating nature in the built environment. C6 will include almost 3,500 square metres of floral, edible and native gardens as well as onsite energy production and electric vehicle charging stations.

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The $350 million hybrid timber tower will be constructed using 7,400 square metres of timber. Image:

Fraser and Partners

Plans for C6 include 300 percent more communal space per apartment than what current planning requirements specify.
Grange Development founder and director James Dibble said that if successful, C6 will set a new precedent for renewable building developments around the world.
“If we can accelerate a paradigm shift into the use of more renewable building materials such as mass timber in a hybrid nature and see even 10, 15 or 20 percent of future projects use mass timber in their construction in the next few years, we will have succeeded. At the moment, that figure is almost zero,” said Dibble.
“We want to encourage other developers to see what we have delivered with C6 and start to incorporate the methodology across other projects. Steel and concrete are some of the most energy-dense materials in the world to produce, and at the moment, the industry relies on it,” he added.
Plans for Elenburg Fraser’s hybrid timber skyscraper have been submitted to council for planning approval, with building intended to commence next year. More

Plans for a $2.5 billion scheme for Central Barangaroo on Sydney Harbour have been released under a project development agreement between the New South Wales Government and developer Aqualand.
Central Barangaroo will be the final chapter of the the 22-hectare foreshore development. London-based David Chipperfield Architects alongside Australian firms Durbach Block Jaggers, Smart Design Studio and John Wardle Architects were commissioned in August 2021 to design the buildings and surrounding spaces.

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Central Barangaroo will provide a “bridge” between Barangaroo Reserve and the commercial district of Barangaroo South. Image: Aqualand

Plans for the precinct reveal a mid-rise development, with provisions for a tower around 20 storeys above the train station. It includes “campus-style offices” that open onto a waterfront park, as well as a limited number of residential apartments at the northern end of the precinct with views over the harbour.
According to Aqualand project director Rod McCoy, Central Barangaroo will link the Barangaroo Reserve with the commercial district of Barangaroo South.
Accessibility is one of the key tenets informing the Central Barangaroo development, McCoy said, with Central Barangaroo providing a new major stepping-off point for the developed Sydney Metro Station.

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The precinct will include campus-style offices and a new cultural venue. Image: Aqualand

“The delivery of the new metro station, the new ferry wharves on the Barangaroo foreshore, new pedestrian links to Millers Point, Walsh Bay and the Rocks, and the connections back into the city through Wynyard Walk and Gas Lane, will make this precinct one of the most accessible and connected places for workers, residents, and visitors in Australia,” he said.
The development has been a source of friction between the state government, local residents and the City of Sydney council, for the scale of the development and its “privatization” of the public foreshore. The latest plans from Aqualand include improved public amenity.
“Central Barangaroo will feature a new two-hectare waterfront park for visitors and locals to enjoy and delivers on the long-held promise that more than half of the Barangaroo precinct is accessible public open space,” said McCoy. The remaining half will comprise workplaces, apartments, commercial spaces, cultural venues and a metro station.
Plans also include a new lifestyle and cultural precinct at Nawi Cove, which McCoy said will “serve as a lifestyle and cultural gateway that celebrates arrival into the city and into Sydney’s western harbour foreshore”.
McCoy added, “Our goal is to create a truly exceptional precinct that is beautiful, welcoming to all, with a variety of well designed indoor and outdoor public spaces that can be enjoyed at all times of the year.”
Central Barangaroo is being delivered under the massive Barangaroo foreshore redevelopment. Previously a disused shipping container terminal, the development seeks to radically transform the foreshore into a cultural, residential, business and civic hub.
According to Aqualand, the planning application for Central Barangaroo is expected to be placed on public exhibition by the NSW Department of Planning and Environment shortly.
Central Barangaroo developments are due to be completed after the opening of the Barangaroo Sydney Metro station, scheduled to open in 2024. More

Sydney’s Waverley Council has proposed a multi-million dollar refurbishment of its Bondi chambers building, designed by Lahznimmo, with Antelope and landscape architects Black Beetle. The original council chambers was built in 1913 and throughout the past century has had a series of ad hoc alterations and additions. The council says the building is “at the […] More

A petition to the Australian parliament’s House of Representatives seeks free or affordable access to essential standards that govern the safety and consistency of products services and systems, including design and construction.
In many instances, adherence to Australian Standards is mandated by legislation, however, access to the standards are often cost prohibitive, particularly to small business and sole traders.
Principal petitioner Andrew Gardso, an electrical engineer, states, “This in essence will force small organisations and sole traders out of business or necessitate services being performed without having access to these standards.”
Standards Australia offers to small business that, for example, can cost more than $2673 for three years’ access to the National Construction Code set of standards.
Association of Consulting architect supports the call for free or affordable access to Australian Standards.
“There are 140 Australian Standards referenced in legislation relevant to construction, but accessing these costs many hundreds of dollars each,” ACA national president John Held wrote in 2019.
“The lesson learnt from the National Construction Code (NCC) is that moving from a paid model to a free model has a huge impact on getting the message through – NCC subscribers increased from 4,000 to 200,000 with free access.”
In an email to members, the ACA said, “Australian Standards are essential to ensure the safety of our infrastructure, buildings and the communities we serve,” the ACA said. “In the architectural profession, a number of these Standards are mandated to ensure compliance and adherence to specific requirements. However, Australian Standards come at a high cost, which is particularly prohibitive for smaller practices who have to purchase new versions of these standards as they are constantly being revised.
“The lack of accessibility and affordability inevitably leads to compromising standards due to the prohibitive costs involved, posing a significant risk to building confidence and safety.”
The petition requests “stronger oversight and/or mandates to the organisations controlling access to Australian Standards to make these readily available for free or at a reasonable cost to all people in Australia who require these standards to perform their duties.”
At the time of publication, the petition has had more than 13,000 signatures. The closing date for signatures is 27 April. View the petition on the Australian Parliament House website. More

A survey of the Australian Institute of Architects members has found the majority of architects consider climate change and emissions reduction a crucial issue in the upcoming federal election. “This is our decisive decade when our choices will determine the fate of future societies. Australia has to act with future generations in mind,” said the […] More

A 49-storey twisting office tower designed by Danish practice 3XN and executive architect BVN has been completed in Sydney’s Circular Quay. Described as “jenga-like” by the architects, the tower design comprise five volumes, each stacked slightly askew on top of each other, which seeks to break down the scale of the building into five more […] More

The NSW government has opened a new flagship campus for plant science at the Australian Botanic Garden in Mount Annan, south west of Sydney.
Designed by Architectus in collaboration with Richard Leplastrier and landscape architect Craig Burton, the $60 million National Herbarium of New South Wales has been built for the preservation of more than one million plant species, previously held in the Robert Brown Building at the Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney.

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The six rammed earth vaults of the Herbarium protect the collection from extreme weather events, including bushfires. Image: Architectus

The design concept for the building is inspired by the protective casings that surround seed pods. Just as s pod’s hard shell protects the seeds inside, the six rammed earth vaults of the Herbarium protect the collection from extreme weather events, including bushfires. It also has multiple layers of protection with an internal insulated box that provides precisely controlled climate and quarantine conditions to safeguard the specimens from insects and degradation.
Above the vaults, a 36-metre long “fly roof” shades the facility and external terraces for visitors. It also supports an array of solar panels that generate energy for the facility and collects rain water for irrigation.

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A 36-metre long “fly roof” shades the facility and external terraces for visitors. It also supports solar energy generation and rain water collection. Image: Architectus

“The Herbarium is an environmentally remarkable project as plants are central to our planet’s habitability and sustainability.” said Luke Johnson, principal of Architectus. “The research and visitor interaction with the facility’s extensive botanical collection will open the door for positive environmental and societal outcomes well into the future.”
Architectus collaboratively designed the work spaces with the staff at the Australian Institute of Botanical Science to create a well-lit, open plan office that connects to the surrounding gardens. The opening of the Herbarium also coincided with first anniversary of the institute.

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Architectus collaboratively designed the work spaces with the staff at the Australian Institute of Botanical Science to create a well-lit, open plan office. Image:

Brett Boardman

The Herbarium joins the Australian Plant Bank at Mount Annan, designed by BVN, as part of the Australian Institute of Botanical Science and its extensive Living Collection of native plants specimens.
“Herbarium specimens are essential for informing decisions about the conservation of our natural environment and the new state-of-the-art facilities will help our world-class experts better utilise the collection to lead vital plant science and research on a local, national and global scale,” said Denise Ora, chief executive of Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust. More