Evelyn Reynolds

A 16-hectare arts and environmental precinct has opened in Halls Gap, Victoria, featuring Australia’s first National Centre for Environmental Art (NCEA), alongside the Gariwerd/Grampians Endemic Botanic Garden and Jallukar Native Grasslands.
A Welcome to Country and smoking ceremony, delivered by Paul Kelly of the Eastern Maar Aboriginal Corporation, Uncle Ron Marks of the Gadjin Land Council Aboriginal Corporation and Tya Lovett of the Gunditj Mirring Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation, marked the official opening of the precinct on 5 July.
The Where Art Meets Nature (WAMA) precinct is designed to be a place that highlights and celebrates the intersection between art, science and nature. It features an arts centre building, designed by MvS Architects and Taut Architects, which includes a climate-controlled art gallery, a cafe, a retail space and a multipurpose room for workshops, events and educational sessions.

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Gallery exhibitions will showcase works that reflect, explore or are inspired by nature and the environment. The NCEA’s inaugural exhibition, End and Being by Western Australian artist Jacobus Capone, confronts planetary warming through a documented performance on Europe’s Bossons Glacier. According to the WAMA Foundation, the work presents a powerful contrast to the recent devastating bushfires in Gariwerd/Grampians National Park, highlighting the global scale of the climate crisis.
With a strong focus on the environment, landscape design was a central feature of the precinct. Delivered by Tract, it includes restored native bushland, gathering spaces and pathways, alongside the existing Gariwerd/Grampians Endemic Botanic Garden and Jallukar Native Grasslands.

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In an earlier article revealing the project, director of MvS Architects Jan van Schaik stated, “the building is designed to tie in with the landscape in which it is situated […] the design techniques used give the sense that the landscape is drawn inside the building. It’s part of the mechanism of the landscape, like an outdoor room.” More

An urban, adaptive reuse social housing project, and a regional, First Peoples-led tertiary education facility have been named the joint winners of the 2025 ArchitectureAu Award for Social Impact – an accolade that honours projects, which are public-spirited, prioritise empathy over aesthetics and have made valuable societal contributions.
Jury chair Katelin Butler commented, “This year’s joint winners each respond to two major societal challenges of our time: chronic homelessness […] and the need to acknowledge the past injustices and ongoing inequalities faced by Indigenous Australians.”
“Both projects are equally impressive examples of the shifting mode of practice of architecture, where social value is considered at every stage – from designing from lived experience or via a genuine collaboration with community, to considering long-term outcomes and opportunities for those who use the buildings,” Butler said.
Collins and Turner’s design of Habilis was praised by the jury as “an exemplar of architectural excellence” that challenges traditional notions of social housing with a “deeply humane and sensitive architectural response to one of society’s most urgent challenges: chronic homelessness and mental illness.”
The jury likewise declared Munarra Centre for Regional Excellence by ARM Architecture “a landmark of architectural self-determination, created through a best-practice co-design process led by First Nations community members,” which “reminds us that the best spaces are created by those who will use them.”
Three projects received commendations in the award program, including a remote sanitation project in Nepal, an urban transformation in Sydney and an Indigenous student accommodation facility in Darwin. Butler noted that these projects, along with those shortlisted, continue to showcase “the diversity of ways that social and public value can be determined.”
Read the full jury overview.
The jury comprised Helen Barrie, senior research fellow, Centre for Markets, Values and Inclusion, University of South Australia; Amelia Borg, co-director, Sibling Architecture; Shaneen Fantin, architect and researcher; Rory Hyde (jury convenor), associate professor of architecture, University of Melbourne; Katelin Butler (jury chair), editorial director, Architecture Media; and Philip Thalis, principal, Hill Thalis Architecture and Urban Projects.
Joint winners
Habilis – Collins and Turner
Munarra Centre for Regional Excellence – ARM Architecture
Commendations
Bhattedanda Village Stupa Sanitation and Caretaker Project – Paul Pholeros Foundation in collaboration with Jasper Ludewig, Harry Catterns, David Donald and Shane Marshall
George Street Transformation – City of Sydney
Nungalinya – Incidental Architecture
The ArchitectureAu Award for Social Impact is organised by Architecture Media, and supported by presenting partner Melbourne School of Design and supporting partners Latitude Group and Pepto Lab. More

Through the Adaptive Reuse City Housing Initiative (ARCHI), a program led by the City of Adelaide, more than 150 buildings across Adelaide and North Adelaide have been identified as having potential for conversion into housing.
The project aims to encourage owners of vacant buildings in Adelaide and North Adelaide to consider adaptive reuse opportunities. It is guided by a steering group comprising members from council, state government, universities and built environment professions.
ARCHI firstly focused on identifying vacant smaller-scale, shop-top style buildings with raw potential for adaptive reuse into housing, then expanded to other building uses that could also be converted for residential use. To determine viable buildings, the team gathered information on building vacancies by analysing a range of City of Adelaide datasets, including property rates data and historical audits. They also researched real estate listings. After analysing the datasets, the team then conducted ground-truthing to verify their findings and eliminate buildings unsuitable for residential use – such as those with floorplates that were too small, had accessibility issues or were too dilapidated and aged.
Project manager Ellen Liebelt said their research identified approximately 150 potential buildings, but noted that this figure “represents a point in time as vacancy rates are not static.”
Liebelt described the project as “a beast,” noting that developing the right methodology was a challenge in itself. “Rates data relies on information provided by building owners about how their properties are used, so while it’s a useful indicator, it’s not necessarily a hugely reliable source.” She added that real estate listings proved to be surprisingly valuable resource, helping to identify not only vacant buildings but also providing information on their floor plates.
The list of potential buildings is not publicly accessible but was shared with stakeholders able to influence or drive policy, research and advocacy.
As for the research collated by ARCHI, Liebelt said it is something to be proud of. “This data demonstrates that there are opportunities there,” said Liebelt. “When we began this project, I did some early research to see if similar studies has been conducted in other state or council areas to see what we could learn from others but I couldn’t really find anything comparable.”
Running in parallel to this research is the ARCHI Incentives Scheme, a grant program delivered through the City of Adelaide – with funding from the state government – that incentivises property owners in the City of Adelaide to adaptively reuse existing buildings into housing.
More dwellings would assist the City of Adelaide in meeting its strategic target of a residential population of 50,000 by 2036. As of the 2021 Census, the population of the city was 25,026.
Two funding streams are available as part of the incentives program. The first stream provides up to $25,000 in funding for design and documentation for the development approval process, while the second offers up to $50,000 for construction works.
“During early conversations with built environment professionals, building owners and the project steering group, it was highlighted that the cost of preparing a development application for an adaptive reuse project is higher because consultant input is needed early on. And we really want people to use consultants for these kinds of projects because there is more certainty [of achieving a good outcome]. To encourage that, the scheme provides funding toward design and documentation for the DA process. That funding can help partially cover the fees for an architect, a building designer, a heritage consultant if needed, or any other relevant consultants,” said Liebelt.
“We wanted to encourage people to deliver dwellings at scale. […] So, if you’re delivering one to three dwellings, you can get up to $10,000 for a shop-top. But as your building gets bigger and the supply of dwellings increases, so does the grant. The second funding option supports construction costs and offers up to $50,000, depending on the project type.”
Another form of assistance provided by ARCHI is a series of publicly accessible guidance materials developed in collaboration with Phillips/Pilkington Architects. These materials include input from various project consultants, including building surveyors, acoustic engineers and access consultants, who each provided advice on costs and key considerations for adaptive reuse projects.
Information about the incentives scheme or guidance materials can be found on the ARCHI website. Read a recent article about a group of South Australian architects, builders, academics and regulators – including ARCHI – advocating for national policy reform to prioritise adaptive reuse. More

Following the release of the Workplace Gender Equity Agency (WGEA) 2023–2024 gender pay gap data, Parlour has analysed the broader dataset to provide a more comprehensive picture of gender equity in the workplace – focusing on flexible work, employee support and policies addressing gender-based harassment across architecture and landscape architecture firms.
Parlour has published five articles summarising the data across key subject areas. These include: pay gaps and equal remuneration; gender equality at work; workforce composition; flexible work and employee support; and sex-based harassment and discrimination.
Parlour noted on their website that the reporting and presenting of data promotes transparency and highlights the role of data as a catalyst for action. “It benchmarks where Australia’s largest practices are and provides an excellent map of what else can be done – by practices of all sizes,” the website reads.
Below are snapshots from these articles and the key data they present:

This article presents median and average pay gap data for architecture and landscape architecture practices and organisations with more than 100 employees, along with the formal policies supporting equal remuneration between men and women. Among the reporting practices and organisations, 25 had a formal equal remuneration policy in place, while four – Cottee Parker, Grimshaw, HDR and Silver Thomas Hanley – did not.
Read the full Parlour article for detailed insights into the gender pay gap data, average total remuneration by pay quartile and equal remuneration policies.

This article shares data on the gender equity and equality policies and strategies being implemented across practices. Employees were asked to indicate whether their workplace had formal gender equity strategies or policies across nine areas, such as retention, succession planning, recruitment, performance management and so forth. Nine practices – including Bates Smart Architects, Cox Architecture, FJC Studio, Gray Puksand, Hassell, Hayball, the Buchan Group, Tract Consultants and Woods Bagot – met all nine criteria. Two of the 29 reporting practices and organisations – Silver Thomas Hanley and Clarke Hopkins Clarke – had no overall gender equity strategy or policy in place.

Read the full Parlour article for detailed insights on consultation with employees on issues concerning gender equality in the workplace.

Across the 29 reporting practices and organisations, the overall workforce is nearly evenly split, with 51 percent men and 49 percent women. However, Parlour notes in this article that a “significant factor contributing to the gender pay gap is the disproportionate representation of men in higher-ranking positions and, conversely, the over-representation of women in lower-paid roles.” The data shows that women make up 62 percent of the lower pay quartile and 56 percent of the lower-middle quartile. In the upper-middle quartile, men outnumber women at 54 percent to 46 percent, while in the upper quartile, men comprise 66 percent compared to 34 percent women.

Read the full Parlour article for detailed insights on gender workforce composition, including appointments, promotions and resignations by gender.

This article provides a comprehensive picture on the flexible work offerings, parental and carer leave, and family and domestic violence support offered by reporting practices and organisations. The data in this article reveals significant variation in the amount of leave offered to primary and secondary carers across reporting practices. The minimum weeks offered to primary and secondary carers varied among the reporting practices. Group GSA offers the longest period of primary carer leave at 20 weeks, followed by Tract Consultants with 18 weeks. Rothelowman and Designinc provide the shortest length of primary carer leave, both at six weeks. In the secondary carer category, HDR provided the longest leave at six weeks, followed by Architectus, Lyons and Populous at four weeks. The practice with the shortest length of secondary carer leave is Grimshaw, who provide a week.

Read the full Parlour article for detailed insights on types of flexible work and leave policies offered by reporting practices and organisations.

Reporting practices and organisations were requested to indicate whether their workplace had any sex-based harassment and discrimination policies or strategies across 14 areas, including monitoring of complaint outcomes, expectations of behaviour set out in recruitment contracts and so forth. All but one of the reporting practices and organisations – Hayball – had at least one formal policy or strategy in place relating to the prevention of sex-based harassment and discrimination. Four practices – Bates Smart Architects, Designinc Sydney, FJC Studio and Woods Bagot – met all 14 criteria.

Read the full Parlour article for detailed insights on the types of formal harassment policies and strategies implemented by reporting practices and organisations. More

A state significant development application is currently on exhibition with the NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure for a two-tower “vertical village” within Westmead Health and Innovation Precinct, two kilometres north-west of Parramatta’s CBD.
Designed by Group GSA, the $223.5 million proposal at 93 Bridge Road comprises 549 apartments, 80 of which are designated as affordable housing for essential workers and low-income residents, located across two towers rising 27 and 28 storeys high.
A release from the architect notes that the project, which includes rezoning of an amalgamated 8,663-square-metre site, is one of the first to be selected under the Housing Delivery Acceleration program – an initiative of the state’s Housing Delivery Authority that offers a pathway for concurrent rezoning and SSD assessment in order to fast-track residential development.

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“The mixed-use development responds to growing housing demand in Westmead’s Health and Innovation Precinct and aligns with the Westmead Place Strategy, which outlines a vision to transform the suburb into a globally significant hub for health, research and education,” the release reads.
The precinct comprises four major hospitals, four medical research institutes and two university campuses. Group GSA’s communique notes that Westmead is “earmarked as one of Australia’s largest health and biomedical research districts,” and is expected to support over 50,000 full-time workers and more than 10,000 students by 2036.
In order to support this evolution of Westmead, the proposed development is designed to cater to a diversity of household types and needs, comprising 304 one-bedroom, 225 two-bedroom and 20 three-bedroom dwellings.
Group GSA associate principal and project director Noura Thaha said the development has been designed to provide “high-quality, diverse housing for the people who power the precinct – from nurses and students to researchers and emergency services personnel.”
Many dwellings have been designed to the Silver Level Liveable Housing Guidelines, with adaptable layouts to support ageing in place and residents with changing mobility needs.
Group GSA director Lisa-Maree Carrigan commented, “We’ve designed a vertical village that’s walkable, inclusive and future-ready — one that supports long-term liveability and is deeply connected to Country.”
Developed through a Connecting with Country consultation process, the design response embeds Indigenous knowledge in the site interpretation and landscaping, and the selection of “a layered, earthy material palette ingrained in the local context and climate.”

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Along with elevated communal terraces, the top of the textural brick podium is designed to connect residents to sky Country by providing views to Parramatta Park, the Parramatta River and Toongabbie Creek. The proposed ground floor opens up to a network of public walkways, landscaped areas and more than 3,000 square metres of communal open space, as well as a 1000-square-metre public park designed to connect to the creek corridor, featuring nature and water play areas, and Indigenous plantings and storytelling elements.
Above, the proposed tower facades are expressed in light, contrasting tones. The release notes that these forms are punctuated by “vertical forests and pollinator corridors that enhance the natural amenity of communal balconies and shared spaces.”
Subject to planning approval, construction is expected to commence in 2026 and be complete by 2029. The proposal is on public exhibition until 10 July 2025. More

The NSW government has announced the addition of Australian architect Harry Seidler’s Ithaca Gardens complex in Elizabeth Bay, Sydney, to the state’s heritage register. The first apartment building to be designed by Seidler, Ithaca Gardens is described the government as “one of the finest and best-preserved examples of modernist building design.”
Completed in 1960, the 10-storey building marked the start of Seidler’s professional relationship with developer Jozef Dusseldorf, who in 1951 founded Civil and Civic, a construction company that was acquired by Lendlease a decade later.
According to the government’s communique, “This partnership produced some of the most iconic structures in NSW, demonstrating the pair’s collaborative approach to innovative design outcomes.”
Located at 12 Ithaca Road, Ithaca Gardens is one of the earliest modernist apartments in NSW and is situated among a number of Seidler-designed apartment complexes in Sydney’s eastern suburbs including International Lodge (1970), Ercildoune (1966) and Aquarius (1966), as well as numerous notable developments from other architects.
Debates around the heritage status of these buildings have been ongoing for several years. According to a 2021 article in The Sydney Morning Herald (SMH), the City of Sydney classified “Seidler’s unit blocks as detracting from the heritage precincts around Potts Point and Elizabeth Bay in Sydney’s inner east because they’re only 50 to 60 years old.”
The government’s communique notes that the Ithaca Gardens complex “demonstrated a change in the architectural landscape that went on to drive new trends in the 1960s. The design harnessed principles developed in single residential dwellings and office buildings, and applied these to high-density living.”

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An article in The SMH reported last year that the council had decided to pursue heritage protections for nine unit buildings, despite facing backlash from owners of Seidler’s Ithaca Gardens. Residents and owners expressed concerns that the protections would make it challenging to proceed with necessary upgrades to their units.
At the time, the Ithaca Gardens owners’ corporation chair Jim Carroll told The SMH, “Ithaca Gardens is not a museum, a place of worship, an office tower or an individual residence – it is home to more than 60 people.”
“Owners […] love and respect the building,” Carroll said, but “want to retain flexibility to meet the[ir] needs and expectations […] while retaining the design integrity of Ithaca Gardens, as we’ve [the owners’ corporation] done for 65 years without the need for heritage listing.”
The complex, which won the Architecture and Arts Award the year it was completed, is described by writer Lucy Moloney as one of Seidler’s “pioneering medium-rise projects […] which introduced European apartment design characteristics to encourage light and cross-breezes from either side.”
In addition, the building is distinguished by the NSW government for its “creative use of concrete to provide function and emulate art, as demonstrated in the folded concrete canopy and garage structure.” Blond brick, aluminum window frames, railings and awnings, and internal coloured glass and timber cabinetry also feature.

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NSW Minister for Heritage Penny Sharpe commented, “Ithaca Gardens holds huge cultural and historical significance, showcasing Harry Seidler’s evolution as an architect and his lasting impact on Sydney and other parts of NSW.”
“It is an early example of ‘density done well’ and shows some of the earliest Australian examples of outstanding apartment living,” Sharpe said.
Echoing these sentiments, architect and wife of Harry Seidler Penelope Seidler recalled fond memories living within Ithaca Gardens at a celebration of the one hundredth issue of Houses magazine.
“We moved to Ithaca Gardens which was the first major apartment building that Harry built in Elizabeth Bay and we lived there for seven years, and I just loved it, I just loved being in an apartment,” she said.
The government’s release notes that Heritage NSW has worked closely with property owners to tailor the heritage listing, allowing site-specific exemptions to ensure regular works such as individual apartment renovations can go ahead without specific heritage approvals.
Sharpe noted, “Adding Ithaca Gardens to the State Heritage Register will recognise and preserve this architectural gem for generations to come.” More

Melbourne has welcomed the Australian-first instalment of an international exhibition on the design of playgrounds. Charting what the exhibition’s organisers describe as a “a unique chapter” in art, design, urbanism and activism from the late nineteenth to the early twenty-first centuries, The Playground Project is aimed at bringing to life the history of the playground from the 1930s to the present day.
The newly opened exhibition, commissioned by Moonee Valley City Council (MVCC), guest curated by Swiss urban planner and political scientist Gabriela Burkhalter, and designed by Melbourne-based practice Board Grove Architects, is located at Incinerator Gallery in the city’s west.
Mayor of MVCC Ava Adams said, “Playgrounds are the setting of formative childhood experiences, and we are proud to spotlight the creative and social forces that shape them.”

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The travelling show comes directly from the Kunsthalle Zurich, following several major presentations abroad, including at the Carnegie International in Pittsburgh, the Baltic in Newcastle, the Garden of Unaccompanied Children at Serra dei Giardini in Venice, the German Museum of Architecture in Frankfurt and Konsthall in Lund.
Burkhalter said this iteration of The Playground Project is set to be uniquely Australian. “At the beginning of the playground movement, community groups in countries such as the US, England, Germany and Australia responded to the challenges of growing urban environments. Playgrounds were introduced to offer children safe spaces for activity, learning, and social connection and increasingly linked to creativity, nature, and the benefits of unstructured exploration.”
“The Playground Project in Melbourne celebrates the importance of children’s play while reimagining the design of our public spaces and neighbourhoods,” she added.
Large-scale playground installations located inside and outside the Incinerator Gallery space are designed to immerse young visitors in an art and design experience, while older attendees are encouraged to examine how designers, educators and planners collaborate to create public spaces, where children can gather, learn and grow.

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Exhibition designers Holly Board and Pete Grove commented, “Through the design of the exhibition, we aimed to make a captivating experience for children and adults alike that complimented the sensibility of childhood play and imagination – fun, surprise, curiosity and otherworldliness.”
“The story of the playgrounds is displayed at varying scales from billboard size to small images. Large format images create occupied backgrounds to playgrounds with children playing and are democratic in that they are visible for all ages. Other images are hung low and scaled to the size of small children making them feel connected and immersed in the exhibition. There is an intentional lively colour presence to the exhibition, with the tones shifting through the exhibition to connect the imagery and historical play periods to the wider spatial experience.”
The project presents a creative collaboration by Australian visual artist Simon Terrill and UK-based architecture studio Assemble, titled The Brutalist Playground, which was originally commissioned by the Royal Institute of British Architects to be “part sculpture, part architectural installation, all play,” the release notes.
An instructional artwork with a modular social seating element, titled Round Table, also features. Conceived as a gathering space and a play sculpture, the work is a collaboration by interior designer Mary Featherston and artist Emily Floyd, the latter of whom also presents a selection of screenprints from her Ripple series.

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Outside, Board Grove Architects’ The Ringtales Playground offers a site-specific and yet relocatable playground exploring nature play while paying tribute to the architecture of Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin, designers of the original incinerator.
Board and Grove note that their concept celebrates sand and water – elements that “have a long history in children’s play spaces, dating back to the 1800s when Fredrich Frobel, widely considered the creator of the kindergarten, promoted the benefits brought by playing with sand in the open air. Then in the early 1900s the coupling of water with sand play was embraced in Scandinavia with many landscape playgrounds appearing.”

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The resulting playground combines three tales, each from different historical periods and conceptual positions, to comprise a sand and water-based experience inspired by the character of the Maribyrnong River.
Incinerator Gallery notes that one of the highlights of the exhibition is the Lozziwurm Playground by Swiss artist Yvan Pestalozzi, which has been acquired by the gallery as a permanent work that will remain for children to play on after the exhibition concludes. MVCC has also commissioned a First Nations playable public art sculpture by Edwina Green that will take up residence alongside the Maribyrnong River in September.
The exhibition is open from 28 June until 12 October, and includes a variety of public programs. More

In partnership with the Land Art Generator Initiative (LAGI), the village of Marou in Fiji has proudly announced the joint winners of the LAGI 2025 Fiji Design Competition. According to their communique, the two projects are “artworks in the landscape […] designed to generate energy and water while reflecting the hopes of Marou residents for a future grounded in environmental stewardship and cultural identity.”
The global competition invited designers from around the world to respond to the challenges of this remote South Pacific village. From 205 submissions representing 45 countries, two winning proposals were chosen by a local and international jury for their ability to listen to the land, climate and community.
Australian architect Young Kang was awarded joint winner for a submission titled Ligavatuvuce (Hands that Offer and Uplift). The project draws from Fijian tradition, rising from the landscape as a gesture of open palms offering yaqona (kava). Designed to be built collectively from local craftsmanship, the structure would generate 120 megawatt hours of electricity and provide 4.5 million litres of water annually if built. The proposal also includes a shaded ceremonial space, which is designed to support both community life and sustainable tourism in Marou village.
The joint prize was also awarded to The O, by Italian-born, Danish architect Alberto Roncelli – a 40-metre wide pavilion that is designed to generate 150 megawatt hours of electricity and 1.2 million litres of filtered water annually while providing a flexible space for cultural gathering beneath a timber canopy.

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“We never imagined that people from across the world would be designing with us in this way,” said acting chief (sau turaga) of Marou village Ilisari Naqau Nasau. “These solutions for energy and water systems will not only benefit us today, but will also support our future, and the futures of our children and grandchildren.”
Kang reflected, “LAGI 2025 was an incredible opportunity to create something deeply connected with the Marou community, while advancing sustainability-focused art through concepts rooted in cultural traditions that link present and future generations.”
Kang holds a Bachelor of Environmental Design and a Master of Architecture from the University of Tasmania, and has worked globally in Melbourne, Taipei, Beijing, New York, London and currently in Dubai. Kang notes that, throughout his work, he drives a “commitment to architecture that inspires and serves the greater public interest.”
Each winner will receive $100,000 USD to create prototypes of their ideas that will be exhibited in Suva in early 2026, with one project ultimately selected for full-scale construction in Marou village.
“These projects establish a new model for the co-creation, implementation, and operation of renewable energy and freshwater systems,” said LAGI co-founders Elizabeth Monoian and Robert Ferry. “Once operating, the pilot project will provide electricity and water, generate economic opportunities, and serve as a replicable model for other coastal communities across the Pacific.” More