Evelyn Reynolds

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    in Architecture

    100 years of Australian steel

    Australian steel building products company Lysaght is this year celebrating 100 years of local manufacturing, an achievement that goes against the trend of offshoring that has prevailed in Australia in recent decades.
    While the current Lysaght range covers roofing and walling, architectural cladding, guttering, fascia and rainwater goods, fencing and screening, steel sections, formwork and framing, patios, carports and structures, it’s corrugated iron that it’s long been known for.
    This steel building product has been used on everything from the roofs and bull-nose verandas of heritage homes, through to shearing sheds and outback dunnies.

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    Corrugating Galvanised Iron at the original Newcastle Works.

    The product’s journey to national icon status can be traced back to Britain, where entrepreneurial Irishman, John Lysaght, began galvanising corrugated steel sheeting in Bristol during 1857. He registered the product under the trademark “Orb,” which continues to be used to this day
    Lysaght turned his attention to export markets, namely Australia, where he saw opportunities arising from the gold rush of the late 1800s. He began exporting to the colony soon afterwards.
    Orb was first sold in Australia through independent merchants until Lysaght established his own distribution company, the Victorian Galvanised Iron and Wire Company, which acted as a central selling agency. The venture worked well and by 1913, some 80,000 tonnes of Orb had been shipped to Australia.
    The next challenge the company encountered was World War I, which saw compulsory redirection of production capacity to assist the war effort, this devastated local supply and highlighted the need for a local production presence in Australia.
    Within three months of the war commencing, the company (now under the direction of John Lysaght’s nephew Herbert Royse Lysaght in Australia) was making arrangements to purchase 24 acres of land in Newcastle, NSW adjacent to a site already owned by Broken Hill Pty. Co. (BHP).

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    John Lysaght.

    By the following year in 1917, John Lysaght (Australia) Pty Ltd was formed with the intent of establishing a manufacturing site in Australia, and approximately four years later in April 1921, the new Lysaght company commenced manufacturing at its purpose-built site in Newcastle.
    Lysaght general manager Peta Renkin said the company was proud of reaching the important milestone.
    “For Lysaght to have reached 100 years of manufacturing in Australia is an extremely satisfying achievement for our company,” she said.
    “It’s proof that there’s viability in local production – Lysaght has worked hard to develop new product lines, to innovate and to make manufacturing processes as efficient as possible while still providing premium quality products and offering superior support.

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    Lysaght Mini Orb.

    “Of course, this achievement would not have been possible without the dedication of Lysaght employees and the ongoing support of our business partners and clients, so to all of you we say ‘thank-you’ and we look forward to the future.”
    Today, Lysaght’s parent company, BlueScope, supplies it with Australia-made steel, with manufacturing (customizing, forming and profiling) of the Lysaght products overseen by skilled production technicians at more than 40 Lysaght branches nation-wide.
    Along with products like Custom Orb – whose heritage can be traced back to Orb – Lysaght has continued to innovate with products including Klip-Lok and Bondek.
    Lysaght More

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    in Architecture

    Pritzker laureates to lead Australian social and affordable housing symposium

    Pritzker laureates Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal are curating the inaugural Rothwell Chair Symposium in April 2021, alongside the University of Sydney’s School of Architecture, Design and Planning. The pair, renowned for their “never demolish” approach, were appointed the university’s inaugural Garry and Susan Rothwell chairs in architectural design leadership in 2020, prior winning architecture’s […] More

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    in Architecture

    Taubmans relaunches campaign to support disaster affected communities

    Taubmans has once again partnered with not-for-profit organization Givit to raise money in support of Australian communities affected by bushfire, drought, and flood. Originally launched in 2020, the In it Together campaign raised $155,000, surpassing its initial goal of $120,000. “The incredible donation was used to purchase essential items and services needed by people and […] More

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    in Architecture

    Council approves Candalepas Associates' Green Square project

    Sydney councillors have given the green light to a pair of buildings in the Green Square development area designed by Candalepas Associates. The two buildings at 12-22 Rothschild Avenue, Rosebery, eight and nine storeys respectively, will house 176 apartments, one retail tenancy and two levels of basement parking. An open courtyard will sit between the […] More

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    in Architecture

    Transformative Newcastle development ‘reinvents’ the city

    Three mixed-used buildings each designed by a different architecture firm have been completed as part of the “transformational” Newcastle East End development.
    The development is located on the Hunter Street Mall on the eastern side of the CBD. The first three buildings – the Perkins and King building designed by SJB, Fabric House by Durbach Block Jaggers and Washington House by Tonkin Zulaikha Greer (with interiors by Turner) – are among 11 buildings in the urban renewal project, to be delivered over four stages. Aspect Studios is leading the landscape design, creating bew shared green space.
    Initially spearheaded by the state government’s Urban Growth NSW development agency, along with co-owner of the land GPT Group, the Newcastle East End project is now being developed by Iris Capital, who bought the site in 2016. It’s being pitched as a catalyst to “bring new life to the neglected centre of Newcastle.” The buildings include retail and hospitality tenancies on the ground levels, with apartments above.

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    Perkins and King by SJB.

    SJB began the process of masterplanning the site in 2013, and were later selected as executive architect in partnership with Durbach Block Jaggers and Tonkin Zulaikha Greer.
    The architects worked with Newcastle City Coumcil’s Urban Design Consultative Group throughout 2017 to reconsider the alignment and form of the buildings from the approved masterplan to better respond to the immediate site and surrounding context.
    For SJB’s Perkins and King building, the height and massing were shifted to allow for an open public space to be created at the centre of the block. Durbach Block Jaggers’ Fabric House had its building envelope adjusted in a way that allowed the new architecture to better respond to the existing 1930s style brick architecture. And at Washington House by Tonkin Zulaikha Greer the building envelope was rotated 90 degrees so that all apartments gain access to light and views and the built form running east-west along Hunter Street Mall that would have otherwise blocked northern light to the central public space could be reduced.
    The firms said the collaborative planning process allowed them to execute design manoeuvres that would have been inhibited by a typical Design Excellence Competition process.

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    Fabric House by Durbach Block Jaggers.

    “To reinvent a city you need to reinvent the processes that bring new buildings to fruition,” they said in a joint statement.
    “Newcastle East End sets a wonderful benchmark for how a collective of architects and local councils can work together to achieve development that is characterful, vibrant, viable and sustainable.”
    Each of the building responds to the heritage context of the area. SJB’s design for Perkins and King employs green-hued concrete, “structural rhythm,” and “decorative geometries” to knit the new building into its surroundings.
    Durbach Block Jaggers’ Fabric House, meanwhile, features a tonal gradient of bricks and curvaceous edges to “honour the brick architecture of the existing building and the iconic heritage buildings in Newcastle’s East End.”
    And Tonkin Zulaikha Greer’s Washington House has a ground floor lobby and retail spaces that celebrate “the old-world glamour of Newcastle’s beloved David Jones department store.”
    A fourth building being delivered as part of stage one, the QT hotel designed by SJB, is still under construction and is expected to be completed in early 2022. The second stage will comprise the Soul and Lyrique buildings by CKDS Architecture with interiors by Turner. More

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    in Architecture

    Terroir appointed to revamp Launceston icon

    The City of Launceston has appointed Terroir to design a new entrance to the historic Albert Hall. The new entrance to the eastern wing is part of a $10 million, three-stage project to upgrade the Launceston icon. Terroir won a competitive tender for the project and the council endorsed the Tender Review Committee’s recommendation at […] More

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    in Architecture

    Snøhetta unveils rammed earth design for Adelaide’s Heysen Art Gallery

    The concept design for a new South Australian art gallery has been revealed. Designed by Snøhetta’s Adelaide studio, the proposed Heysen Art Gallery will be a purpose-built at the Hans Heysen Foundation’s property, The Cedars, in Hahndorf in the Adelaide Hills. It will also include a restaurant, gift shop, and bushfire safe storage for the […] More

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    in Street Art

    Advice on Mammograms

    Doctors at Weill Cornell emphasize their importance. Also: Immigrant children; flaws in the justice system; graffiti; clothes and memories.More from our inbox:Children at the BorderBetter Ways to JusticeDefaced Art? ‘How Could One Tell?’A New Life for My Mother’s ScarvesA debate persists over screening frequency for breast cancer — the second leading cause of cancer death for women after lung cancer.Njeri Mwangi/ReutersTo the Editor:Re “Breast Cancer Centers Urge Early, Annual Scans, Countering U.S. Guidelines” (nytimes.com, April 6):We take issue with an editorial in JAMA Internal Medicine that said frequent screening of younger women for breast cancer can do “more harm than good.” As physicians who diagnose and treat breast cancer at Weill Cornell Medicine, we seek to minimize the impact of this disease, which continues to kill about 44,000 American women a year.We are especially concerned about the effect of such misinformation on the health of African-American women, who are more likely to receive a diagnosis of breast cancer at younger ages and are more likely to die from breast cancer at all ages.Covid forced us to delay routine screening. The devastating impact of the pandemic on communities of color risks magnifying existing disparities in breast cancer outcomes.We welcome research seeking to improve and personalize breast cancer risk assessment to inform screening. Screening mammography, while imperfect, is the best approach available for early detection and to reduce morbidity and mortality.Lisa NewmanTessa CiglerSilvia FormentiNew YorkChildren at the BorderYoung children were being cared for by older siblings in a playpen area in the border processing facility in Donna, Texas.Pool photo by Dario Lopez-MillsTo the Editor:Re “‘No Place for a Child’: Inside a Packed Tent Camp for Migrant Children” (news article, March 31):Countless Central American families and children have made the excruciating decision to flee acute violence, poverty and danger in their home countries, and now children languish in U.S. government reception centers. There can be no doubt that these are children who, mere weeks ago, would have been callously turned away at the border. But that does not mean we can’t do better for them now.We must ensure that children are swiftly reunified with safe caregivers in the United States and that those who have been trafficked, abandoned, abused or neglected, and those who are seeking asylum, obtain meaningful access to protection under our laws.Vice President Kamala Harris must receive the resources she needs to promote efforts to address the conditions that drive these children north. As children are processed out of places like the center in Donna, Texas, they must be connected with legal services so that they can get protection. We can do better as a country.Mary Meg McCarthyJonathan RyanMs. McCarthy is executive director of the National Immigrant Justice Center. Mr. Ryan is president and chief executive of the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (Raices).Better Ways to Justice  Jim Wilson/The New York TimesTo the Editor:Re “Excessive Punishment” (editorial, March 30):I applaud your suggested property crime reforms alongside other efforts to break our country’s decades-long addiction to incarceration. They should happen immediately.And if we’re serious about ending mass incarceration, we must also acknowledge the abject failure of making punishment, rather than safety and accountability, the bedrock of justice.Our justice system claims that punishment is a one-size-fits-all solution to such a wide array of needs as to be fantastical: healing for victims, accountability, prevention of future harm, rebuilding lives, safety for the community, a sense of justice and more. Inflicting more pain and trauma not only fails at those goals, but it also puts them largely out of reach.True accountability requires an acknowledgment of the harm done, efforts to repair it and concrete change that will prevent future harm and strengthen community safety.We’ll never end mass incarceration — and its egregious racial inequities — until we embrace this common-sense vision of justice that offers real healing and safety for all.Shari SilbersteinNew YorkThe writer is executive director of Equal Justice USA.Defaced Art? ‘How Could One Tell?’  Minwoo Park/ReutersTo the Editor:Re “Defacing a $400,000 Painting, All Because of a Mix-Up” (news article, April 8):JonOne is a graffiti artist, which means that he paints things on other people’s walls, buildings, sign boards and the like. At the site of his work in Seoul (described as a “paint-splattered canvas”), he left paint cans and brushes. Did he truly not expect that this was an open invitation to others to add to the work? Weren’t they simply doing graffiti on another person’s surface?And yet JonOne claims that the couple who took him up on his implicit invitation “defaced” his work, which he likened to defacing a church. Defaced? My response, after looking at the “before” and “after” versions on the Times website, is “How could one tell?”Finally, does he not realize that the couple who added dark green patches were really engaged in performance art?David WinterAlbuquerqueA New Life for My Mother’s Scarves  Catherine Lai/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesTo the Editor:Re “We Wear Memories, Not Just Clothes,” by Chris Vognar (Reporter’s Notebook, Arts pages, April 9):After losing both of my parents within months of each other five years ago, I had to clean out the apartment they shared for almost 50 years.In my mother’s drawer, I found a collection of scarves, which I took, rather than donate it. When I now see my three young granddaughters (one of whom is named for her) dancing around the room or playing peek-a-boo with them, I feel her presence, and I believe that she would be happy.Ronnie SchwartzBaldwin Harbor, N.Y. More