Evelyn Reynolds

Tadao Ando’s MPavilion is set to remain in Melbourne’s Queen Victoria Gardens until June 2025, after City of Melbourne approved a request from the Naomi Milgrom Foundation to extend the temporary structure.
Each year the MPavilion installations are dismantled after a summer season of programming and relocated elsewhere in Melbourne.
Ando’s pavilion comprises two right-angled concrete walls, offset from each other to form a square with two entrances, and an interior reminiscent of a Japanese walled garden with a reflection pool. A 14.4-metre-wide aluminium-clad parasol supported by a circular concrete column partially shelters enclosure.
“It’s the only piece of [Ando’s] architecture that’s in Australia, so that in itself is remarkable and deserving of extension of its presence in our city,” said lord mayor Sally Capp, who moved the motion to support the extension at a meeting of the Future Melbourne Committee on 9 April.
“[The pavilion] has had so many challenges to it being built and to it being dismantled. In fact, in its current form, it will never, ever appear again. So giving Melburnians and this city and our community an opportunity to continue to value and utilise this extraordinary space is important and deserving of support.”

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A large-spanning parasol supported a concrete circular concrete column partially shelters the enclosure. Image:

Rory Gardiner

Deputy lord mayor Nicholas Reece also commented on the “extraordinary design,” and added that “the build quality is absolutely world class.”
In its request to the council, Naomi Milgrom Foundation include several testimonials of support from Melbourne’s architecture and design elite, include the Victorian government architect Jill Garner, Australian Institute of Architects CEO Cameron Bruhn, architect Peter Maddison, garden designer Paul Bangay and architectural photographer John Gollings.
Jill Garner wrote, “I consider [Ando’s’ pavilion to be an extraordinary work of architecture that works as a ‘place’ both with and without programming. The renowned qualities of his architecture – simplicity, beauty and spatial experience, are all quietly present in this year’s MPavilion.”
Cameron Bruhn also expressed the Institute’s interest in partnering with the Naomi Milgrom Foundation in activating the pavilion during the upcoming Australian Architecture Conference.

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The interior of the pavilion is reminiscent of a Japanese walled garden with a reflection pool. Image:

Rory Gardiner

While support for the extension was recommended by City of Melbourne’s General Manager Infrastructure and Amenity, Rick Kwasek, his report to the Future Melbourne Committee also expressed some concerns, including that the design community is divided on the retention of the pavilion and that the design is not consistent with best practice gender equity place principles.
It also raised concerns about the ongoing safety and security of the structure, including that “design precludes through views and movements across the site. This presents potential risks to the structure, public safety and City of Melbourne’s reputation.” The report also stated that the concrete walls are climbable and susceptible to tagging and graffiti.
The Naomi Milgrom Foundation will be responsible for the safety, security and maintenance of the pavilion during the one-year extension at no cost to council, as well as the dismantling and repurposing of the pavilion when the extension ends.
The report also pointed out that retention of the pavilion “could invite public scrutiny on heritage impact and suitability of this arrangement for the site” and that “supporting the extension could be viewed as opening the door for further advocacy on permanent retention.”
Queen Victoria Gardens is both listed on both the state and national heritage registers as an ornamental garden and a fragile environment that does not support permanent structures or regular large events.
Councillor Rohan Leppert, who “wholeheartedly” supported the one-year extension stressed that it did not equate to wholehearted support for a permanent extension.
The Naomi Milgrom Foundation’s extension request only applies to one year.
While City of Melbourne councillors voted unanimously to support the extension, it is subject to further approval from Heritage Victoria and the Department of Energy Environment and Climate Action. More

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AJC Architects have been named the winners of an invited City of Sydney Design Excellence Competition for affordable housing buildings in Alexandria, with the winning scheme revealing buildings broken up into “intimate neighbourhoods.”
AJC Architects was one of three architecture practices invited to participate in the design competition, alongside SJB and Embece. The project, developed by City West, proposes the delivery of 246 affordable apartments across eight buildings of seven to 12 storeys at a corner site on Botany Road.
The winning practice used a multi-core design strategy to break up the building massing into a series of connected “neighbourhoods.” These neighbourhoods enable natural light and ventilation to be drawn through the building into rooms often unable to access these elements.

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The design of the facades responds to the robust masonry forms located within the urban context. Image:

Virtual Ideas

The facade will respond to the robust masonry forms located within the urban context, while activated street frontages have been proposed through the establishment of retail offerings.
One third of the site, about 2,400 square metres, will be dedicated to communal shared space. Occupants from each neighbourhood will be encouraged to interact through a series of connected, shared landscapes. Landscape design has been undertaken by Peter Ireland, with shared landscapes recognising the Traditional Custodians of the land – the Gadi, Merooberah and Kamay clans – by incorporating a selection of materials and plants that will reference the wetlands and sand dunes, which previously existed in the area.
Two-storey entry lobbies provide additional spaces for socialisation, along with visual connections to the internal gardens and streetscape.

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The design prioritises natural light and ventilation. Image:

Virtual Ideas

AJC studio lead Lee Collard said the practice used findings from their own studies to inform the design. “We’ve been developing and refining the multi-core model as part of this project, along principles from our Urban Backyard study, which, combined will deliver outstanding amenity, and also help cultivate community among residents,” Collard said.
“The multi-core breaks down the development into more relatable communities. In this scheme, it’s up to a maximum of four apartments per floor, which gives it a neighbourly feel. That’s well below the Apartment Design Guide (ADG) stipulation of 8–12 per floor (maximum) for optimal harmony among residents. The multi-core design also provides opportunities for windows where typical apartments wouldn’t have – kitchens, bathrooms, laundries, etc, and we’ve been prototyping the model to solve access issues sometimes associated with multi-core buildings.”
Work on the development application process will begin in early 2024. More

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