Architecture

Cumulus’s Hobart studio has designed Tasmania’s newest whisky distillery on the site of a 19th-century flour mill.
The Oatlands location was formerly the site of an illegal distillery, built and owned by publican John Vincent in 1837, who milled grain and produced bootleg whisky on the premises.
Located just north of Kempton in an historic town in the state’s Heartland regions, the Oatlands mill precinct reopened in 2010 as part of a restoration project, consisting of the six-storey Lincolnshire tower mill, the piggery and barn, the grainary, and the miller’s hut.
The new facility took two years to design and construct, adapting the 1830s flour mill to house a state of the art hub for whisky making. Founder and former property developer John Ibrahim’s vision for the distillery was inspired by the heritage buildings onsite, resulting in a respectful silhouette that acknowledges the site’s heritage as one of the oldest Georgian settlements in Australia. This was not Ibrahim’s first foray in whisky distilleries: he previously purchased Dysart House in Kempton in, which came to house Redlands Distillery in 2012, now the Old Kempton Distillery.

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The Callington Mill and Distillery, designed by Cumulus. Image:

Adam Gibson

The material palette of the new facility was influenced by the local heritage code requirements for masonry cladding, referencing the area’s preserved Georgian sandstone edifices. “The predominant brick has a soft and chalky patina that references the sandstone of the surrounding buildings,” a spokesperson for Cumulus said.
The gabled form of the new distillery is also derived from historical precedents, resembling the simple forms of rural sheds quintessential to the area. “The design navigates the need to house the industrial manufacturing requirements of a working whisky distillery while providing the immersive visitor experience of a traditional cellar door,” Cumulus said.
The interiors have been designed to reference the rich tones of the grain spirit, incorporating Tasmanian oak joinery, brass fittings, low lighting, and amber-hued marble finishes.
The Callington Mill and Distillery officially opened in October 2022 and is now the biggest whisky distillery in Tasmania to date. Ibrahim said the new distillery will help to put Tasmanian single-malt whisky on the world map, harnessing Tasmanian’s clean air, water, and premium local barley with a modern facility that can keep up with international demand.
Tasmanian premier Jeremy Rockliff said the Callington Mill and Distillery is one of the “best-known landmarks of Oatlands” and investment is already providing valuable employment opportunities and a tourist destination for the region. More

Dulux has announced the finalists for its 37th annual Colour Awards, recognizing the innovative use of colour in the built environment. “This year’s finalists demonstrate the capacity for colour to be a fundamental and versatile design tool,” said Dulux colour and communications manager Andrea Lucena-Orr. Comprising 113 entries from across Australian and New Zealand, the […] More

A new mutual recognition agreement (MRA) between Australia, the United Kingdom (UK) and New Zealand will begin on 25 May 2023, making it easier for architects to register across the three countries. The agreement has been signed by the Architects Accreditation Council of Australia (AACA), the UK Architects Registration Board, and the New Zealand Registered […] More

The Naomi Milgrom Foundation has selected 1995 Pritzker Prize Laureate Tadao Ando to design the tenth MPavilion, which will be installed in Melbourne’s Queen Victoria Gardens. “I have long admired how Tadao Ando responds to and incorporates the particularity of a place into his design, and his belief that architecture can shape a society,” said […] More

An additional $97.6 million has been committed to Perth Concert Hall redevelopments, the WA government announced. The funds nearly triple the total funding for the project, which is now valued at $150 million. WA premier Mark McGowan said issues around structural maintenance had emerged during the project’s design phase and added that now-funded works would […] More

Lyons and EJE Architecture have designed a new campus in Gosford for the University of Newcastle.
The $58 million building to be built on the site of a former Mitre 10 store will be made using mass timber and will be the first of its kind in the Central Coast city.
The project will establish a new health, innovation and education campus and will be a “stepping stone” development in the Gosford Urban Design Framework.
“The Central Coast Campus aims to provide teaching connected with [the Health Innovation cluster], as well as outreach programs to connect Gosford to other innovative and unique academic programs provided by the University,” reads a design statement for the project.
The building will incorporate teaching and learning spaces, a large community engagement space, an innovation hub, meeting and event spaces, and accessible outdoor spaces designed by McGregor Coxall.

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The University of Newcastle’s proposed Gosford campus designed by Lyons and EJE Architecture. Image:

Lyons and EJE Architecture

Conceived as “a sandstone block”, the building’s mass will be “eroded” away at the corner of Beane and Mann Streets to create a sheltered gathering space. The concept connects to local Indigenous stories about “the importance of the saltwater edge, oyster collecting, food gathering and general social places that formed along the waterways and inlets of the entire region.”
The building will be made using materials that reference Gosford’s natural ecology and industrial history. The design targets a 6-star Green Star rating.
The project is funded through three-way partnership between the state and federal governments and the University of Newcastle.
“We know that young people on the Central Coast want more opportunities to study at university without leaving the region. Our new campus will mean that they will be able to study, live and then work here on the Central Coast – providing a major boost to this region’s revitalization,” said University of Newcastle vice-chancellor Alex Zelinsky when the funding partnership was announced in June 2022.
“We expect to build to more than 900 students studying at the Gosford campus within its first decade of operation, with identified courses in allied health, bioscience, digital transformation, law, business and innovation.”
Designs have been submitted to the NSW planning department for assessment. The campus is expected to be complete in 2025. More

Melbourne School of Design student James Urlini has won the Robin Boyd Foundation’s residential design competition. Open to students from around Australia, the Walls Around Us competition challenged entrants to reimagine the site of Robin Boyd’s Walsh Street House by exploring Boyd’s ideas and interests through a contemporary lens. “Robin Boyd’s book ‘The Walls Around […] More

Grimshaw has completed a 27-storey commercial office tower in Sydney Circular. Located at 210 George Street, the tower is a new addition to the Alfred, Pitt, Daley and George Streets (APDG) precinct. Designed with a “sculptural form”, the tower, dubbed Poly Centre, is composed of three parts: an eastern core, a west-facing central tower, and […] More