Evelyn Reynolds

John Wardle Architects has designed three towers for a riverfront site in Brisbane’s Toowong that has sat empty for more than a decade.
The site at 600 Coronation Drive previously belonged to developer Sunland, which had engaged Zaha Hadid Architects to design a trio of towers shaped like champagne flutes that would have reached 24 and 27 storeys in height, well above the 15 storey limit for the area.
Sunland abandoned its proposal in 2018 after a series of drawn-out legal challenges and it sold the site to new developer Consolidated Properties Group in March 2021.
The 1.5 hectare site was formerly home to the Brisbane headquarters of the ABC, whose buildings have since been demolished. Only the historically significant Middenbury House and two associated weeping fig trees remain on the site.
John Wardle Architects’ proposal retains the 1866 house and trees with a design inspired by the natural topography of the site.

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Proposal for 600 Coronation Drive by John Wardle Architects.

“The design for 600 Coronation Drive has emerged from the remnant natural qualities of the site,” the practice said in a design statement. “It imagines how the site’s topography can be repaired to create a new landscape that connects the river’s edge to the heritage fig trees of Coronation Drive. Within this garden are set three new residential towers around the historic Middenbury House.”
“The siting and form of the towers responds to two key influences – the river, and Middenbury House.
“[The river’s] soft geometry of bends and curves, ripples into the footprint of the towers, and they jostle as if they are part of the river system. Early design studies also referred to images of circling fish and translated some of their qualities to the plan.
“The towers set within a new landscape expand the experience of the riverbank to Coronation Drive. This also provides a garden setting around the historic Middenbury House. The house was originally set upon a natural high point that afforded its inhabitants an imposing view of the river from its deep veranda. Our approach is to reintegrate the house into its landscape, so that it is connected to the public realm and gardens rather than remaining aloof and detached. The topography of the new landscape resolves the divergent levels in a convincing manner.”
The three tower forms take their cues from Middenbury House by using the plan proportions of the house to create a “village of smaller footprints.”
The south-east corner of the site has also been identified by the City of Brisbane as the preferred site for its Toowong to West End pedestrian and cycle bridge, which means that the proposal’s south-east tower is in doubt if the council proceeds with the green bridge location. The proposal includes pedestrian and cycle paths through the site which would connect with the green bridge. More

The Victorian Pride Centre has won the 2021 Architeam Medal, the top honour in the Architeam Awards, which recognize the work of small, medium and emerging practices.
The LGBTQI+ community building is located in St Kilda and was designed by two small firms based out of that suburb: Brearley Architects and Urbanists and Grant Amon Architects. The Architeam judges said the building had created a civic presence through its exciting facade and active edge. “The focus on community, sustainability, connectivity and co-existence allows it to surpass stereotypical beauty to experience the sublime journey beyond cultural labels,” its citation reads.
Other major winners include The Hutt 01 Passivhaus – A Beacon of Hope by Melbourne Design Studios, winner of the Sustainability Medal, and Spencer’s Slope by Cloud Dwellers, winner of the Small Project Medal.
Thinking Paddock House by Open Creative Studio won the People’s Choice Award.
This is the fourteenth year of the Architeam Awards. The judges are: Ray Cheung (chair, Krisna Cheung), Mary Featherston (Featherston), David Welsh (Welsh and Major), Melody Chen (Ateliler Chen Hung), Fleur Watson (Open House Melbourne), Isabelle Toland (Ailleen Sage); and Ross Brewin (Gilby and Brewin).
The winners are:
Architeam Medal
Victorian Pride Centre – BAU+GAA (Brearley Architects and Urbanists and Grant Amon Architects
Sustainablity Medal
The Hutt 01 Passivhaus – A Beacon of Hope – Melbourne Design Studios (MDS)
Small Project Medal
Spencer’s Slope – Cloud Dwellers
Residential Alterations and Additions: $1m +
Award
Arcadia – Architecture Architecture
Commendation
Open Shut House – WALA
Residential Alterations and Additions: $500k – $1m
Awards
Gantry House – OOF! Architecture
Vivarium – Architecture Architecture
Commendations
Terrace House 1 – Dreamer
Mosman Minka – Downie North Architects
Residential Alterations and Additions: Up to $500k
Award
Engawa House – Inbetween Architecture
Commendations
Norwood – Architecture Architecture
South Yarra Apartment – Rosanna Ceravolo Design
Spencer’s Slope – Cloud Dwellers
Innovation and Contribution Award
Award
Plan Rand – Regional Design Service
Commendations
Jenny Edwards – Light House Architecture and Science
Mini Maddern – Public Realm Lab
The Cobargo Santa Project – Breathe
Residential New: $1m+
Award
The Hutt 01 Passivhaus – A Beacon of Hope – Melbourne Design Studios
Commendation
Judo House – Nervegna Reed
Residential New: Up to $1m
Award
Corner House – Archier
Commendation
Macdonald Road House – Philip Stejskal Architecture
Commercial, Community and Public
Awards
Quakers Stage 2 – pH architects and Nervegna Reed Architects
Victorian Pride Centre – Brearley Architects and Urbanists and Grant Amon Architects
Commendation
Narrandjeri House – Public Realm Lab
People’s Choice Award
Thinking Paddock House – Open Creative Studio
Brickworks Materiality Award
Mainview Boulevard – Canvas Projects
Passive House Scholarship
Passive Hourglass – Aaron Cody of Reserve Studio More

Lysaght has announced the winners of the annual Lysaght Inspiration Design Awards (LIDA), with the major prize taken out by Jackson Teece Architects for their curved roof on The Waterhole Cafe at Taronga Western Plains Zoo. The awards are open to Australian-based architects, building designers, and architectural or design students. This year’s award groupings included […] More

Dark roofs will be banned on all new houses in New South Wales and large commercial buildings will need to meet net-zero carbon emission standards, the state’s planning minister has announced.
The government announced a ban on dark roofs in key development areas back in August but will now move to formalize the ban across the state.
In a speech to the Committee for Sydney, Rob Stokes cited University of NSW and University of Sydney research that shows that dark roofs could be lifting ambient urban temperatures by up to 2.4 degrees.
“There are no practical reasons why we shouldn’t be ditching dark roofing on new homes permanently to ensure that future communities of Sydney’s west don’t experience the urban heat that many communities do now,” he said, according to media reports.
“This would have an enormous impact on the urban heat island effect in our city, and I will be asking the Department of Planning to implement this as part of our ‘net zero cities’ approach.”
The kind of development seen in Sydney’s sprawling suburbs, particular in the city’s west and south-west, has long been criticized as inappropriate and unsustainable, with a lack of green infrastructure and dark-roofed houses built to the edge of blocks exacerbating the urban heat island effect.
Discussing the UNSW and University of Sydney research into building materials and urban temperatures, lead researcher Mattheos Santamouris noted that low-quality housing can have a marked influence on temperature and energy use.
“The temperature difference between Eastern and Western Sydney during summer, for example, is up to 10 degrees. In a distance of 60 kilometres, that’s tremendous,” he said.
“This has a tremendous impact on the quality of life of people in Western Sydney. They spend almost 100 percent more energy on cooling. They have much higher mortality rates.”
Committee for Sydney chief executive Gabriel Metcalf welcomed Stokes’s announcement of the ban, The Guardian reports.
“Of all the things that can be done about the problem of living with extreme heat in western Sydney, the easiest is requiring light coloured roofs,” he said. “This makes all the sense in the world.”
Stokes also said that the BASIX certification system which assesses the energy performance of housing will be updated, with the required rating lifted from 5.5 stars to 7 stars for new dwellings. Office towers, hotels and shopping centres, meanwhile, would be required to have their energy usage running at net-zero emissions from 2022.
Net zero targets for buildings are often criticized as they can exclude embodied carbon and rely on sometimes-dubious offsetting schemes.
Stokes said the proposed changes would have real effect. “Our proposed changes will save another 150,000 tonnes of carbon a year, helping achieve net zero by 2050,” he said. More

Flooring company Godfrey Hirst Commercial has achieved Climate Active Carbon Neutral certification via two key projects that have offset over 17,500 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions. The Carbon Conscious Carbon Capture Project is a reforestation mission across 5,700 hectares in Western Australia. The project has seen more than 6 million native Mallee trees planted in […] More

A Hobart housing complex for vulnerable youth designed by Liminal Architecture is moving forward, with the Tasmanian government calling for construction tenders.
The development will deliver 26 independent residential units for people between the ages of 16 and 24 years, along with an “urban community hub” where support and education services will be available to both residents and non-residents.
To be known as the Hobart Youth Foyer, the project is part of the state government’s Youth 2 Independence (Y2I) Program, which combines housing and training to break down structural barries affecting young people at risk of homelessness.
Liminal’s design responds to the “layered” urban context ans surrounding heritage masonry.
“Located in a transitional position between commercial and city precincts, the site holds a bookend status and acts as a ‘marker’ within the larger city context,” the practice notes in a design statement.
“The building is made up of modular housing units that are pushed and pulled to create individual expression and serve to open up social areas, break-out nooks and green spaces, enabling natural elements to perforate the circulation spaces.
“The translucent, light-weight skin that ‘cloaks’ the building adds a layer of vibrancy, picking up on the red and orange hues of the contextual palette while also offering shading and privacy for the building’s occupants.”
Housing minister Michael Ferguson said the Hobart facility will be located near Tas TAFE, transport and other services. “The Y2I development is an optimal solution for this inner-city site which was originally designed to provide more residential units,” he said.
“Young people transitioning to adulthood coupled with circumstances like family breakdown, trauma and ill health may find themselves disconnected from education, employment, housing and support.
“There are also challenges for our youth finding accommodation through population growth which is putting pressure on housing availability.
“Participants in the Youth2Independence program agree to work with their support providers to develop independence in the areas of: education, employment, health and wellbeing, housing and living skills, community participation and social connections.
“In return, these young people enjoy safe, secure, supported and affordable accommodation for up to two years.”
Rent is capped at 25 percent of income. There are three existing Y2I facilities – Thyne House (Launceston), Eveline House (Devonport) and Trinity House (Hobart) – and another 25-bed facility is planned for Burnie. More

Brisbane City Council has released concept designs for two green bridges linking West End with St Lucia and Toowong, which are being built to make it easier to walk and cycle around the city. Open for public feedback, the concept designs show two quite different styles of pedestrian and cyclist bridges, one with a single […] More

The Victorian government has announced it will allocate an additional $241 million to the now-$1.7 billion transformation of Melbourne’s arts precinct in Southbank.
The first stage of the project, the northern precinct transformation, which includes the refurbishment of the Theatre Building, will soon begin, with the tender to be released on 23 November.
NH Architecture and Snøhetta were appointed to design the refurbishment of the Roy Grounds designed Theatres Building in 2018. The refurbishment will be the most significant revamp of the State Theatre since it was originally built in 1984.
The upgrades will include improvements to accessibility, acoustics, back of house facilities as well as new rehearsal studios, two new loading docks, and an overhaul of its lighting and sound systems that will also enable live streams.
“Restoring this site to its original glory is a wonderful legacy for the people of Victoria and our new restaurants and bars will transform the visitor experience,” said Arts Centre Melbourne CEO Claire Spencer.

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Proposed upgrades to Arts Centre Melbourne designed by NH Architecture and Snøhetta. Image:

Courtesy NH Architecture

There will also be two new restaurants and bars at the northern end of a new 18,000 square metre elevated park, designed by Hassell and So-il, that will become the central hub of the arts precinct. The space will host major festivals and public art and join together the existing buildings with the proposed NGV Contemporary, to be built at 1 City Road.
The upgrades to the Theatres building will also include a new western entrance onto the elevated park.
Victorian creative industries minister Danny Pearson said, “The vital works to the State Theatre will transform the building inside and out, making it more accessible and comfortable, and keeping it at the cutting edge of live performance venues in the country.” More