Evelyn Reynolds

The City of Melbourne will soon introduce draft guidelines for voluntary design competitions as part of its Design Excellence Program.
The draft guidelines are part of a package of measures endorsed by councillors, which include a continuation of the Melbourne Design Review Panel, following a 12-month trial, and updated terms of reference for the Design Excellence Advisory Committee.
The endorsement of the draft competition guidelines mean that they will now proceed to community consultation.
The guidelines, prepared by the council’s City Design studio, outline equitable and transparent processes for all participants as well as remuneration and intellectual property requirements.
In its report to councillors, the City Design studio said that design competitions are “a design excellence procurement strategy to test ideas and potential teams, grow partnerships with designers and developers and lift design quality across the City of Melbourne.”
“In Melbourne, the worst design outcomes occur on the largest development sites,” City Design stated. The studio also said that design competitions could improve equity of access to city-shaping projects.
“The majority of city shaping projects are designed by a small cohort. Five architecture firms account for 25 percent of planning applications referred to City Design.
“This limits design diversity and innovation, and opportunities to invest in and nurture Melbourne’s design talent pool.
“Design competitions are a proven mechanism for enabling design diversity and quality.”
The draft guidelines outline a two- or three-stage competition structure with two options for the first stage: an expressions of interest option for the assessment of proposed teams, relevant experience, capability, and task appreciation; or, the second option, a blind expressions of interest with design ideas.
Where appropriate, a third stage of interviews would also be employed.
City Design also proposed a voluntary 18-month design competition pilot program to trial incentives and establish a pathway for mandatory design competitions.
The pilot would include three projects – a City of Melbourne development, a private development and a state significant site – which would be determined through an expressions of interest process. More

The City of Melbourne’s Future Melbourne Committee has unanimously voted in favour of a proposed student accommodation tower designed by Jackson Clements Burrows. The purpose-built student accommodation tower has been approved for an amalgamated site at 166-176 Bouverie Street and 183-187 Grattan Street in Carlton, near the University of Melbourne. It is designed to cater […] More

Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has announced the state government’s support for a Paralympic Centre of Excellence at the University of Queensland’s St Lucia campus.
The facility is intended to help participation and training for para-athletes in the lead to the 2032 Olympic Games and beyond. The state government will dedicate $44 million towards the establishment of the centre and is asking the federal government to match support.
Preliminary renders indicate the proposed centre will be connected to an adjacent Health and Recreation Centre at University of Queensland. Construction is forecast to begin in 2025–26, for completion by 2027–28. An architect has not yet been appointed for the project.
The facility will include an international standard sports venue, a wheelchair and prosthetics workshop, and a dedicated testing facility, and will cater for 20 out of 23 listed Paralympic sports. As well as providing a paralympics training facility, Palaszczuk said the facility will have with long-lasting benefits for the community long after the games. It will also provide placement and study opportunities for the University of Queensland’s students in sports sciences subjects.
According to sports minister Stirling Hinchliffe, the Paralympic Centre of Excellence facility will be the first Centre of Excellence of its kind anywhere in the world, combining leading research, sports technology and rehabilitation under one roof.

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Preliminary artist’s impressions of Paralympic Centre of Excellence – not indicative of future design. Image:

Courtesy of the University of Queensland

The Queensland government stated that of the 4.3 million Australians living with a disability, around one in four participates in sport, while 75 percent would like to. Hinchliffe hopes the centre will set a new benchmark for sports inclusion, creating grassroots opportunities for community activities through to the Paralympics.
Vice-chancellor of the University of Queensland Deborah Terry said the partnership with the Queensland government and Paralympics Australia provides an opportunity to deliver a “world-leading” Paralympic facility in Brisbane. “The centre will be a lasting legacy, supporting more people with disabilities to access sport and strive for gold beyond 2032,” said Terry.
President of Paralympics Australia Jock O’Callaghan said the project was an “overwhelming demonstration” that the Brisbane 2032 Olympics can deliver tangible outcomes for for the community that will outlive the games.
“This proposed development can not only produce future Paralympic champions and develop world-leading sporting expertise, but importantly, provide a range of opportunities to improve the lives of Australians living with a disability,” said O’Callaghan. More

The Australian Institute of Architects will present its ninth exhibition at the 18th Venice Architecture Biennale, from 20 May to 26 November.
Titled “Unsettling Queenstown,” the exhibition will be a “multifaceted and multi-sensory installation,” exploring the themes of decolonization and decarbonization through the construction of a “Queenstown”.
“There are Queenstowns all over the former British Empire,” the Institute said, referencing Australia, New Zealand, Asia, Africa, and the Americas. “It is a place both local and global.” Led by creative directors Anthony Coupe, Julian Worrall, Emily Peach, Ali Gumillya Baker, and Sarah Rhodes, the exhibition design is inspired by the pervasiveness of the British imperial hangover, with the ubiquity of Queenstowns as “an emblem for decolonial struggle all over the world.”
“Weaving between real and fictional Queenstowns, the exhibition will explore and question the relations between people and the environment under the logics of colonialism and resource extraction, through the lens of a place in which these are brought into sharp focus,” an Institute spokesperson said.
“Unsettling Queenstown” responds to the theme for the 18th Biennale, “The Laboratory of the Future”, chosen by curator Lesley Lokko. The architectural response features depictions of a colonial copper-mining town on Tasmania as well as Queenstown in Port Adelaide, depicted and reimagined through video and voice. A ghostly fragment of colonial architecture – a scale model of the town’s Empire Hotel – is suspended above the installation, accompanied by immersive sound and images.
The exhibition will explore the overwriting of Aboriginal Country, whereby British names and symbols were stamped over Indigenous lands. The pavilion serves to provide an act of “demapping,” revealing hidden stories of pre-colonial Country.
“‘Unsettling Queenstown’ unites decolonial theory and praxis, weaving elements from real places and gleanings from current architectural intelligence ins earch of ingredients to contribute to Venice’s Laboratory of the Future,” the creative directors said.
The exhibition is to be installed in the Denton Corker Marshall-designed Pavilion of Australia in the Giardini. A ribbon cutting ceremony for “Unsettling Queenstown” will take place on 18 May. More

The shortlist for the 20th annual Australian Interior Design Awards includes 38 projects in the Workplace Design category.
“Projects in the Workplace Design category cover a range of small, large and extra-large workplaces, with parallel levels of complexity. Themes relate to expression in plan, section and materials as they relate to workplace values and, ultimately, identity,” said juror Brian Donovan.
“Ideas as they relate to openness, sharing, sustainability and prudence, amongst others, are all evident. When one can theoretically work from anywhere, a critical characteristic of today’s workplace is the ‘offer’ of communal space and engagement.”
On the shortlist are:
181 William Lobby – BVN
255 George Street – Richards Stanisich
6PSQ NSW Government Fitout – Woods Bagot
70 George Street, Cox Sydney Studio – Cox Architecture
A Philanthropic Organisation – Paper
Bridge 17 – Smart Design Studio
Campbell House – Tonkin Zulaikha Greer
Canaccord Genuity – Hot Black
CBA Adelaide – Davenport Campbell
Cornwalls Law and More – Studio 103
Corrs Chambers Westgarth – Bates Smart
Craftworks – Sora Interior Architecture and Design
Darlinghurst Workplace – BVN
IAG Workplace Brisbane – Cox Architecture
JCB Studio – Jackson Clements Burrows
L1 Capital – Made For
MA Financial Group – The Stella Collective
Mecca Support Centre – Studio Tate
Miele HQ – WMK Architecture
MinRes HQ – Milieu Creative
Minter Ellison – Carr
NAB Place – Hassell
Newmont – Rezen Studio
Nux Studio – Sibling Architecture
Onyx – Hiro Design
Private Finance – Bates Smart
Riverlee Workplace – Studio Tate
Sheeth Headquarters – Studio Prineas
Slattery Melbourne – Elenberg Fraser
South Wharf Tower Business Lounge – Craig Tan Architects
Suncorp HQ – Hassell
Sunshine Coast City Hall – Cottee Parker Architects and Comuniti
The Commons George Street – Design Office
The Commons Surry Hills – Design Office
The Grosvenor Business Lounge – Design Office
The Workplace Kane Built – ARM Architecture
Wingate – Axiom Workplaces
Yirranma Place – SJB
The Australian Interior Design Awards is co-presented by the Design Institute of Australia and Artichoke magazine. The Workplace Design category is supported by Laminex. See the full gallery of shortlisted project on the Australian Interior Design Awards website. More

Plans have been submitted for a build-to-rent apartment tower on a site in Woollongabba, covering three lots at 62–68 Carl Street. The site location is south of the Gabba stadium precinct, across the road from Buranda Village shopping centre and in close proximity to the Princess Alexandra Hospital. Designed by Cottee Parker, the 12-storey build-to-rent […] More

Randwick City Council has unveiled a draft masterplan to turn Maroubra Junction into a pedestrian-centred green boulevard. Designed by Group GSA, the draft masterplan attempts to reimagine the town centre, currently dominated by traffic, as a centre that prioritises community space and carless commuters. The 15-year plan proposes to enhance pedestrian access along Anzac Parade […] More

The Development WA board has decided not to proceed with a $218 million proposal to redevelop the East Perth Power Station. The proposal from the Koomba Kalark Joint Venture included a concept design from Kerry Hill Architects, and a later design by Woods Bagot, to transform the heritage-listed former power station into a residential, commercial, […] More