Evelyn Reynolds

The Victorian Department of Transport and Planning has approved a $1.7 billion project to create three towers adjacent to Melbourne’s Queen Victoria Market.
To be known as Gurrowa Place, the project is part of the largest urban renewal project undertaken by the City of Melbourne, which will revitalise a 3.2-hectare site south of the heritage market.
Designed by NH Architecture, Kerstin Thompson Architects, 3XN Australia, Searle × Waldron Architecture, Openwork, McGregor Coxall, Lovell Chen and Urbis, Gurrowa Place will comprise three towers, a Market Square, a cultural and civic building, new car parking and the restoration of the Franklin Street Stores.
The three towers will comprise a 125-metre-tall commercial office building, a 162-metre-tall residential building with 15 percent of the net floor space allocated to affordable housing, and a 183 metre-metre-tall student accommodation building.

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City of Melbourne councillors have unanimously supported the development plan for Gurrowa Place. Image:

NH Architecture, Kerstin Thompson Architects, 3XN Australia, and Searle × Waldron Architecture.

Developer Lendlease also announced it has executed contracts between the City of Melbourne and student housing provider Scape.
Across the development there will be approximately 560 build-to-rent apartments, 80 affordable homes, and 1,100 student residences.
Lendlease and the City of Melbourne will also collaborate on a 1.8 hectare public park on the site.
“Gurrowa Place will become home to thousands of new residents, attract more market customers and boost business for traders – while unlocking one of the largest open spaces in the CBD,” said lord mayor Sally Capp.
“We’re one step closer to starting work to enhance the traditional market experience Melburnians and visitors know and love.”
Lendlease CEO Tom Lombardo added, “The $1.7b Gurrowa Place project represents an enormous opportunity to revitalise one of Melbourne’s most-loved precincts with new public space, retail, office and housing.”
The project is expected to be completed in the 2028 financial year. More

Brimbank City Council in Melbourne’s north west has agreed to sell a parcel of land to the Vietnamese Museum of Australia, paving the way for the construction of a nationally significant cultural museum.
In December 2023, the council entered into a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Vietnamese Museum Australia for the sale of a council-owned car park site near Sunshine station, for the establishment of the cultural building.
Following a period of community consultation, the council has now confirmed the sale.
A pre-existing design for the museum by Konzepte Melbourne incorporates elements from both Vietnamese and Australian culture, with a wave-like facade representing the journey overseas, and bamboo exterior details symbolising the use of bamboo as a main construction material in Vietnam. A warm and earthy colour palette has been proposed to reference Australia’s red-coloured soil.

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Vietnamese Museum Australia (VMA), designed by Konzepte Melbourne. Image:

Konzepte Melbourne

Once constructed, it will become one of six cultural museums in the Multicultural Museums Victoria Network.
Residents with Vietnamese ancestry make up 17 percent of the population of Brimbank, make it the largest cultural cohort in the area.
Brimbank City Council said it will create a “welcome plaza” on council land adjacent to the proposed museum site that will celebrate all refugee and multicultural communities in its municipality.
“Brimbank prides itself on its diversity. We’re one of Victoria’s most culturally diverse municipalities and this museum will be a significant drawcard for our city,” said Brimbank mayor Ranka Rasic. “As mayor of a council with one of the largest Vietnamese communities in Victoria, I look forward to the construction of this significant cultural centre in the very heart of our diverse community.”
The proposed museum will add to the transformation of Sunshine, with a number of project, including the airport rail, and a 90-bed hotel, in the pipeline.
“It’s time for the Melbourne Airport Rail, including Sunshine and Albion Station works committed to by State and Federal Governments, to start. We need this infrastructure to support large numbers of people who will want to come, visit and stay in Sunshine if we are going to make the most of this exciting opportunity.” More

The City of Bankstown-Canterbury has unveiled the winning design to transform an under-utilised park in Bankstown.
Collins and Turner, Jane Irwin Landscape Architecture and WSP Indigenous Specialist Services won the municipality’s first-ever design competition which generated more than 100 submissions, and four shortlisted teams.
The project will create a large, multi-purpose hall for up to 200 people and kitchen facilities, a meeting room for 40 people with a kitchenette, external covered spaces, and internal and external toilets, as well as upgrades to the surrounding green space with a rain garden, playful spaces and new footpaths.
“Griffith Park knits into Bankstown centre’s framework of streets and places to host diverse activities and opportunities – cultural and commercial, bringing the life of the street through the precinct,” said the design team.
“A series of rills, pools and wetlands structure the park, linking it to past connections to Salt Pan Creek and a strong First Nations heritage and identity.
“The community centre forms a soft welcoming southern edge. Spaces for movement, gatherings, meetings and learning are unified beneath a dramatic sweeping roof.
“A contemporary veranda conceived as a richly coloured three-dimension tapestry, a celebration of one of Western Sydney’s most vibrant and multicultural communities.”

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Winning design for Griffith Park Precinct by Collins and Turner, Jane Irwin Landscape Architecture and WSP Indigenous Specialist Services. Image:

Bankstown Canterbury City Council

The competition was judged by a jury comprising Andy Sharp (director planning CB City), Annabel Lahz (director Lahznimmo Architects), Laura Harding (director, Hill Thalis Architecture and Urban Projects), Oi Choong (consultant landscape architect) and Simeon King (director, Turf Design Studio).
“Some of our most iconic landmarks around Sydney were designed in architectural competitions like this, and I have no doubt Griffith Park will be a talking point destination for our City,” said Canterbury-Bankstown mayor Bilal El-Hayek.
“Choosing a winner was no easy feat and I would like to thank all the competitors for their thoughtful and inspiring entries. This competition has certainly lifted the bar of design in our City.”
The council is seeking feedback on the winning design, which will also be on display at Bankstown Library and Knowledge Centre from 2 to 8 April and Bankstown Customer Service Centre from 9 to 12 April. More

The South Australian government has unveiled designs for the expansion of Flinders Medical Centre (FMC) by Silver Thomas Hanley and ARM Architecture. The proposed seven-storey Acute Services Building, also to be known as FMC Tower, will include 17,000 square metres of new built area and 3,000 square metres of refurbished area that will house a […] More

The Australian Institute of Architects has announced the full program for the 2024 Australian Architecture Conference, to be held in Melbourne from 8 to 11 May. The four-day event includes a two-day symposium on the wellbeing of architects in education and professional practice (separate registration required), followed by two days of the conference. The first […] More

Japanese architecture studio Atelier Bow-Wow has been appointed the 2024 Garry and Susan Rothwell Chairs in Architectural Design Leadership at the University of Sydney’s School of Architecture, Design and Planning. Taking over from French architects Lacaton and Vassal, Atelier Bow-Wow will facilitate programs at the school focusing on connecting urban and rural areas and communities. […] More

Experimentation lies at the heart of all Paola Lenti’s collections, explained Anna Lenti, the CEO of the Italian furniture company. Through the investigation of sustainable materials, the invention of fibres, the weaving of unconventional materials, the exploration of colours and collaborations with artisans, the company pushes the boundaries of furniture design.
During a recent visit to Melbourne and Sydney, Anna Lenti spoke with Adair Winder about the evolution of Paola Lenti and its latest Australian collection, now available at Dedece. Paola Lenti’s affinity for vivid colors and hand woven materials once again emerges in the latest collection through the introduction of new designs, colour variations, patterns, weaving techniques and materials. The range comprises indoor and outdoor furniture and objects.

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Pod slouch chairs and Vespucci 1 lounge by Paola Lenti. Image:

Sergio Chimenti

ArchitectureAU: Firstly, how long has Paola Lenti been collaborating with Dedece?
Anna Lenti: Paola Lenti is now in its 30th year and we have been collaborating with Dedece for more than 15 years. We are both family-run businesses; I run Paolo Lenti with my sister and Dedece is led by brothers. This commonality immediately created a connection between us. Beyond that, we are both similarly aligned and share a common focus for delivering high quality products.
AAU: What can you tell me about the launch of this latest collection in Australia? It has been available in Europe for some time but this is the first time we’re seeing it in Australia.
AL: Our collections always start with material. For this latest collection, [released in Italy in 2023] we really worked on developing new fabrics for our outdoor furniture collections.
We started our first outdoor collection 25 years ago. Since then, we have been producing quality fabrics for outdoor settings, however, these fabrics were not as soft as the fabrics applied to indoor settings because outdoor furniture needs to be more resistant to weather conditions. Now, what we have finally able to achieve was to create a new outdoor fabric that is very thin, it’s very practical and it’s very, very soft. This latest collection features outdoor furniture in a broad variety of colours that is of the exact same quality as indoor furniture.
We are also very proud to have started a new collection made from semi-petrified wood. It’s very ecological and we were actually able to weave the wood.
We always evolve with every collection and last year [2023] we introduced a lot of new patterns and colour variations, as well as new uses for leftover materials. For example, we have released a table crafted from leftover tiles from a different table that we have reused.

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Sciari Mottainai 3 table by Paola Lenti. Image:

Sergio Chimenti

AAU: Sustainability seems to be very important to Paola Lenti.
AL: Sustainability is no longer a choice. For us, it has been very important since the beginning of Paola Lenti. Everything is made from materials that are recycled or can be recycled, even the padding inside of our cushions. Another example: some of our pieces are made from recycled plastic bottles found in the ocean.

Sustainability is also in the everyday operation of the company. We have banned all plastic … such as polystyrene for packaging in the factory. Our goals for sustainability are not just in the products we sell, but in everything we do.

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Tobit Mottainai 2 by Paola Lenti. Image:

Sergio Chimenti

AAU: Paola Lenti collections are often characterised by vibrant, colourful pieces that evoke memories of a European summer. Do these pieces translate well in Australian projects?
AL: Definitely, because we have nearly 100 different shades of colour. We start from a base colour library of about 70 solid colours and then from there we experiment and blend to create different shades. The colours all undergo testing to ensure they are suitable for outdoor environments, particularly in Australia where climate conditions are quite tough.
We are known for bright shades but we also have a lot of neutral colour variations as well.
AAU: What do you think is most appealing about the Paola Lenti brand?
We do not create a single product, we create a lifestyle. And of course, there is our colour range, which is broad, ensuring that we have the appropriate colour for every environment.
Paola Lenti is in the process of developing a new range, which is anticipated to be introduced at Dedece toward the end of 2024. Visit the website to find out more about the collections. More