Evelyn Reynolds

The developer behind the proposal to demolish and replace the modernist MLC office building in North Sydney is pushing ahead with the plan, despite the NSW arts minister’s decision to place the building on the state heritage register in 2021.
Oxford Investa Property Partners resubmitted a development application to the North Sydney Council on 17 December 2021, with a letter from heritage consultant firm Vault Heritage Consulting positing that the demolition of the building remained an appropriate development outcome, despite the heritage listing.
Vault director Malcom Elliot writes that demolition is warranted “because consideration of the heritage impacts cannot be evaluated in isolation and must be balanced against other planning considerations, including the relevant considerations and objectives of the EP&A Act, which promote the orderly and economic use and development of land.”
When demolition was first proposed in 2020, the 1956 building, designed by Bates, Smart and McCutcheon, was only listed on the local heritage register. The proponents argued at the time that refurbishment would not be economically viable, and that the condition of the building meant it would essentially need to be re-built as a “fake replica.”
Bates Smart, also the architect of the building’s proposed replacement, a 27-storey office tower, noted at the time that it had worked with the owner of the building for more than a decade to find a way to refurbish it, but the plan was eventually deemed unviable.

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Proposed MLC replacement in North Sydney, designed by Bates Smart.

“Bates Smart are highly aware of the importance and legacy of this pioneering piece of architecture,” the firm said in planning documents. “Our aim is to design a building in the spirit of MLC that is as pioneering for the 21st century as MLC was for the late 20th century, creating a new legacy for North Sydney in the 21st century.”
But the proposal caused an uproar, with heritage advocates including the National Trust and Docomomo Australia launching a campaign to save the building.
On 2 June 2021, NSW arts minister Don Harwin accepted recommendations from the Heritage Council of NSW and the Independent Planning Commission to heritage list the building. The planning commission had earlier found that cost estimations for the refurbishment of the building were likely an overestimate and that refurbishment would not create a fake replica, but would rather keep the building’s heritage significance at state level.
The resubmitted development application currently before North Sydney Council largely restates the reasons for demolition given in the original application.
The letter from Vault Heritage Consulting notes that, “The state cultural heritage significance attributed to the MLC Building…particularly in relation to the ‘curtain wall façade and terracotta glazed bricks’ will be reduced as the heritage fabric will likely need to be wholly replaced with new building fabric should be being be retained.”
The letter also notes the substantial changes made to the original building fabric and “the competitive commercial office market extant within North Sydney and the apparent deficiencies of the c.1950s design of the MLC Building against more contemporary commercial offerings in terms of environmental performance, occupant facilities etc.”
For these reasons, Vault says, demolition is supportable subject to conditions, including that certain architectural features are preserved and that full photographic archival recording is undertaken before demolition.
The resubmitted development application is viewable here. More

The owner of the early 20th century Shelbourne Hotel at 200-202 Sussex Street, Sydney is proposing to build a 150-metre tower above the heritage pub, with architecture practice Turner preparing concept drawings. In an application to the NSW planning department, Ethos Urban, on behalf of Towncorp, notes that the development could re-establish the hotel as […] More

The Asia Pacific Architecture Festival (APAF) returns to Brisbane from 12 to 25 March 2022 with the theme “co-operate, co-design, co-exist.”
Through a program of exhibitions, installations, symposia, lectures and workshops, the festival will explore collaborative approaches to design and architecture in the region.
“A rich collage of cultures, the Asia Pacific is also a collective with shared histories and challenges,” the theme description reads. “How can co-operative approaches to design celebrate its myriad traditions, environments and trajectories?”
Curated by Cox Architecture director Christina Cho and Architecture Media associate editor Georgia Birks, the festival will be based in Brisbane with satellite events in Queensland’s regions. For the first time, there will also be events held further afield in the Asia Pacific.

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the Tapestry Design Prize for Architects 2021 Finalists Exhibition will show as part of the festival.

Highlights include The Architecture Symposium, featuring leading voices in architecture from Thailand, the Philippines, Japan and Bangladesh; the Environments of Tomorrow speaker session, presenting a range of perspectives on the state of India’s built environment; Paul Memmott’s lecture on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Housing in Queensland; Tim Ross and Kit Warhurst’s “Man About the Poole House Sherwood” show; and the Tapestry Design Prize for Architects 2021 Finalists Exhibition.
APAF is a collaboration between the State Library of Queensland and Architecture Media, publisher of ArchitectureAU. The annual festival celebrates architecture’s contribution to the culture, sustainability and economy of the Asia Pacific region.
Architecture Media editorial director Katelin Butler said this year’s theme spoke to the necessity of collaboration between architects, designers, clients, cultural representatives and technical experts.
“It will take a myriad of minds to unlock ways to deepen cultural understanding, alleviate environmental destruction and address the globe’s greatest challenges,” she said.

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Two To The Valley is a photographic exhibition featuring the work of former Brisbane city councillor and now painter David Hinchliffe. Image:

David Hinchliffe

“As we strive for a more sustainable and inclusive future, it’s imperative our architects and designers commit to looking through an alternate lens. Collectively, their impact can and will be stronger and more powerful.”
State librarian Vicki McDonald said the theme aligned with State Library’s commitment to collect, preserve and make accessible an inclusive picture of Queensland’s diverse history and people.
“State Library is a cultural institution of global influence, committed to sharing and celebrating the authentic stories of all Queenslanders now and into the future,” she said.
“With its impressive open spaces and striking façade, our award-winning South Bank building is a hub for ideas and possibilities.”
“We’re pleased to partner with Architecture Media to welcome globally renowned architects and designers as they share their insights on the benefits of cooperative and collaborative design.”
The curators of the 2022 APAF program are:

Christina Cho, director, Cox Architecture; board member, Queensland’s Institute of Modern Art; adjunct professor and advisory board member, University of Queensland School of Architecture
Georgia Birks, associate editor, Architecture Media; member, Australian Institute of Architects First Nations Cultural Reference Panel and the City of Melbourne’s Design Excellence Advisory Committee.

See the program here. More

A pair of architects have launched a bid to heritage protect a 1970s university building built among the bush on Griffith University’s Nathan Campus in Brisbane, which the university plans to demolish.
Completed in 1977, the Australian Environmental Studies Building was designed by John Simpson, the then Brisbane-based director of the architectural practice John Andrews International. It was home to Australia’s first degree in environmental science and was distinguished architecturally by the way it responded to its natural setting.
The university is planning to demolish the building to make way for a $200 million, eight-storey building catering to 3,500 students. Now architects Laurie Jones and Jim Gall, who both studied at the university, have submitted an application to the Queensland Heritage Council to have the building listed. They argue it is significant as an example of accessible and interconnected campus design, marking a turning point from the closed “sandstone” universities of the past to the open “plate-glass” universities, where the teaching style aligned with the tenets of modernist architecture.

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The Australian Environmental Studies Building today. Image:

Jim Gall

“In both plan and section, the design encouraged connection spatially and socially within the building and with other campus buildings,” Jones and Gall write in their submission. “It facilitated broad social accessibility to education and encouraged informal interactions between teaching and research.”
Simpson, the design and project architect for the building, had previously worked with Scottish architect Basil Spence on the University of Sussex campus, which was a key inspiration as a university which embraced its natural setting and an inter-disciplinary style of teaching.
Jones and Gall say the Australian Environmental Studies Building was a “building ahead of its time,” part of a generation of buildings that have provided a “robust ground” for subsequent phases of development on Australia’s bush campuses – “a late-modernist counterpoint to the iconic, brand-focused buildings now in favour.”
Speaking to the Brisbane Times, Simpson said he was furious at the university’s plans for the building he designed. “If Griffith University itself is doing what it is doing, then clearly it has no idea of the value of buildings and the potential heritage value of the buildings they initiated many years ago,” he said.
He also noted the building’s relationship with its setting had deteriorated with subsequent development. “It has been hemmed in by other, in my view, rather undistinguished and insensitive buildings. My original concept… has been totally destroyed.”
The university says it will work through heritage assessment processes before plans for the new building are finalized. More

Kerstin Thompson Architects‘ long-awaited “art bridge” for the Bundanon Trust in the Shoalhaven region of New South Wales will open on 29 January.
The project, designed in collaboration with Wraight and Associates, Craig Burton and Atelier 10, adds a creative learning centre and accommodation for 64 guests as well as café and dining facilities to a 1,100-hectare property established by the late artists Arthur and Yvonne Boyd in 1993. The landscape of the property heavily influenced the paintings of Arthur Boyd.
Kerstin Thompson Architects’ design consists of two parts: a 160-metre-long, 9-metre-wide bridge-like structure, and a subterranean art museum and collections store.
“The design is driven by Bundanon’s main imperative, as established by the Boyd family, to foster an appreciation for and understanding of landscape and art,” said Kerstin Thompson. “We have placed the site’s ecology at the centre of the design with the new suite of buildings and landscapes responding to Bundanon as both subject and site of Arthur Boyd’s work, seeking to heighten the visitor’s appreciation for the sights, sounds, textures, and ecological workings of the landscape. Both the Art Museum and Bridge respond to current and future climatic conditions, with inspiration drawn from rural Australia’s trestle flood bridges.”

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Bundanon Art Museum and Bridge by Kerstin Thompson Architects in collaboration with Wraight Associates, Craig Burton and Atelier 10. Image:

Zan Wimberley

The bridge spans an existing gully and allows flood waters to naturally flow across the site. The project is also designed to be defensive against bushfires.
Solar power, passive temperature control, rain water harvesting, black water treatment, as well as the use of local materials all contribute towards the Bundanon Trust’s net-zero ambition for the project.
The Bundanon collection holds 1,448 works by Arthur Boyd as well Sidney Nolan, John Perceval, Joy Hester and Charles Blackman. The Riversdale property includes a historic homestead complex as well as the Boyd Education Centre, designed by Glenn Murcutt, Wendy Lewin and Reg Lark in 1999. The new additions share an expansive public plaza, which is located near the existing nineteenth century buildings.
The $34 million project was supported by the federal ($22.5 million) and state ($10.3 million) governments. The federal government also announced in the 2020 budget a further $6 million over two years for Bundanon’s operations.
The inaugural exhibition, From impulse to action, will feature works of Boyd’s as well as contemporary artists working in choreography and film, photography and performance, weaving and sound. Some of the artworks incorporate clay from the Bundanon site. More

A hotel and apartment tower proposed for 372 Pitt Street in Sydney, midway between Town Hall and Central, would cater to the city’s burgeoning tech industry, according to a development application. Woods Bagot has prepared concept designs for the proposed tower, which would be up to 57 storeys, the bulk of them dedicated to hotel […] More

The South Australian government has released vision for the planned regeneration of the final stretch of Breakout Creek in Adelaide, where the Karrawirra Parri (River Torrens) meets the sea.
Stage 3 of the Breakout Creek redevelopment is designed by TCL, the firm which kicked off the project to reinstate the riverine wetlands in 1998. It will transform what is now an artificial channel stretching from Tapleys Hill Road to the Torrens Outlet at West Beach into a healthier creek system, which will be opened up for community access.
“The Breakout Creek redevelopment has been a 30-year environmental project, transforming a total of 2.7 kilometres of river stretching from upstream of Henley Beach Road to the Torrens Outlet on the coast,” said SA minister for environment and water David Speirs.
“The project will see 15 hectares of public land unlocked for community use, while delivering significant environmental benefits including improved water quality and wildlife habitat.”
“Not only will the works create a healthier river and habitat for threatened fish and birds, it will also create an improved place to visit, with new paths and river crossings, picnic areas, as well as viewing decks and places for learning about biodiversity and the local environment.”

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Breakout Creek Stage 3 redevelopment by TCL.

The $12 million-dollar project is being delivered by the state government office Green Adelaide, together with the City of Charles Sturt, the City of West Torrens, the South Australian Attorney-General’s Department through the Planning and Development Fund, the federal government (which is contributing $2 million from the Environment Restoration Fund) and SA Water. The government said it was committed to working with the Taditional Owners, the Kaurna people.
Green Adelaide board presiding member Chris Daniels said that the final stage would continue the good work started in the 1990s and early 2000s, and would potentially make the creek habitable by platypuses.
“Since those sections have been improved, we’ve seen more native fish, more native birds and better water quality across the River Torrens system,” he said.
“The completion of the Breakout Creek redevelopment is a big rewilding milestone for Adelaide’s much-loved river.
“We know that the Torrens is and always will be brownish, like most of Australia’s rivers, because of the tannins in our vegetation and soil.
“We also know that there is a strong population of native water rats, or rakali, along the Torrens today, particularly at the revamped sections of Breakout Creek which demonstrates the healthier river environment.
“So, we are now thinking that if the River Torrens ecosystem is supporting these mammals already, platypuses may have a good life in the river too.
“That’s why Green Adelaide is now leading the development of a scoping study to better understand the possibility of bringing platypus back to the River Torrens / Karrawirra Parri.
“This potential reintroduction is an exciting next step in continuing the improvement of the Torrens we all love so much.” More

A small waste-to-energy pavilion idea and an urban proposal to establish an uninterrupted network of green spaces across Sydney have jointly won the 2022 AA Prize for Unbuilt Work.
The AA Prize for Unbuilt Work aims to promote discussion and debate about contemporary design ideas.
“This year’s jury were impressed by the range of proposals that sought to confront our environmental challenges in creative and compelling ways,” said jury chair Katelin Butler.
“The joint winners – Native Networks by Layla Stanley and Gas Stack by Simulaa with Finding Infinity – both present as provocations that promote urban transformations. Native Networks is at the big-picture, strategic end of the spectrum while Gas Stack slots into the macro plan as a smaller-scale experiment that suggests incremental change.”
The jury also awarded one honourable mention and four special mentions.
On the jury were: Julian Anderson, director at Bates Smart (the 2021 prize winner); Justin Hill, director, Kerry Hill Architects; Lee Hillam, co-director, Dunn and Hillam Architects; Mel Dodd, head of the department of architecture, MADA, Monash University; and Katelin Butler, editorial director of Architecture Media.
The winners and mentions are:
Joint winners
Gas Stack – Simulaa with Finding Infinity
Native Networks – Layla Stanley
Honourable mention
A Rare Relation – between Tasmania and Antarctica – Kathrine Vand (personal project), Core Collective Architects
Special mentions
Crying Room – Michael Chapman
House 186.3 – Curious Practice
Puzzling Evidence – Liam Oxlade
Sand Castles – Calum York and William McRoberts
For more coverage, see the January/February 2022 issue of Architecture Australia, on sale 21 January. More