Architecture

The National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) has unveiled the second round of murals adorning the 2022/23 architecture commission, a Parthenon look-alike structure by NWMN.
This most recent round of flourishes includes five new murals by Melbourne-based contemporary artists Aretha Brown, Creature Creature, Manda Lane, Chuck Mayfield, and Resio. Artworks have been inspired by “Greek mythology and diverse connections to culture and nature,” the NGV said.
For the installation, Brown, a Gumbaynggirr artist and screenwriter, created a monochromatic mural depicting young Aboriginal people imploring their Elders for guidance. Artistic duo Creature Creature have depicted five figures from Ancient Greek mythology, including Pegasus the winged horse and the serpent Amphisbaena.
Resio’s contribution celebrates the vibrancy of Mediterranean culture, evoking Greek food, dance and song. Mayfield invites audiences to consider the effect that individual and collective perceptions have on the experience of the commission structure. Finally, Lane continues her work from phase one of the murals, portraying the growth behaviours of plants and their interactions with human interventions.

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2022 NGV Architecture Commission: Temple of Boom, designed by Adam Newman and Kelvin Tsang, on display at NGV. Image:

Sean Fennessy

NGV director Tony Elwood said the second stage of paintings “honour” the architects’ vision to create a work of architecture that evolves over time.
“In dialogue with the existing murals, these five works invite visitors to discover some of the visual languages shared through Melbourne’s diverse contemporary art scene,” said Elwood.
The first round of artworks, debuted at the commission’s opening in November 2022, included murals by Melbourne street artists Drez, Manda Lane and David Lee Pereira, exploring themes of gender and sexuality, and the interactions of the natural and manmade worlds.
Temple of Boom is on display until August 2023, and the third and final phase of artworks to adorn the structure will be revealed in May. More

A new building on the Campbelltown Hospital campus opened in February 2023 as part of the stage two $632 hospital redevelopment designed by Billard Leece Partnership (BLP).
The 12-storey, 450-bed project involves the refurbishment of the existing building and the addition of new facilities including an emergency department; an intensive care unit; women’s health services and maternity suites; a paediatric wing; operating theatres; and a mental health unit.
The redevelopments effectively double the size of the existing Campbelltown Hospital campus. The project has been instigated to suit the needs of Western Sydney’s growing population and increased need for more holistic health care.
BLP said the architectural response to the redevelopment involved creating a “calm and welcoming” atmosphere, making ready use of natural light, comfortable furnishings and designated recreation zones.
The new mental health unit covers seven storeys, providing care for patients of all ages, with sensory rooms, de-escalation spaces, and light-filled courtyards. In addition to the introduction of new facilities, the upgrades were designed to improve patient flow with intuitive wayfinding and navigation devices.
One key addition was the introduction of “Hospital Street” – a lofty indoor avenue lined with artworks, connecting the new and existing hospital facilities.

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Image:

Brett Boardman

BLP principal and health lead Tara Veldman said the height of Hospital Street helped to negotiate the level changes between the new and existing sites. Moreover, future additions can be plugged in along the spine, future-proofing the building to service generations to come.
“The central walkway scales three levels and it travels all the way through the centre of the site. This spine provides connection to future buildings so that you can extend the facilities in the coming decades,” said Veldman.
Hospital Street also serves as an “uplifting arrival point”, filled with considered design choices and artwork selections. BLP used organic materials, such as the timber cladding defining the main reception desk, and soothing colours to engender a sense of calm. Nature-inspired illustrations by Erica Seccombe depict native flora and fauna on the walls of Hospital Street, and a feather-like sculptural work by Indigenous artist Nicole Monks hangs suspended from the ceiling.

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Erica Seccombe’s drawings of Australian flora and fauna line the walls of the hospital. Image:

Anson Smart

“We did a lot of work with the local Indigenous Elders, going for walks in the bushland of Cumberland Plains,” said Veldman. “With Erica Seccombe, we worked with the community, the design team and the hospital, drawing flora and fauna from the Cumberland Plains that we’d seen and picked. Erica then used those images in the artworks through the building.”
“Art has a healing benefit of helping people to feel calmer when going into medical treatments,” she continued.
BLP worked extensively with local Elder and 2021 Campbelltown Citizen of the Year Uncle Ivan Wellington to help design a space that was culturally sensitive to Indigenous and non-Indigenous patients alike. A Welcoming Stone was included in the outdoor space, “a beacon of safety for First Nations People,” inspired by the sacred birthing stone, and a yarning circle has also been integrated into the landscape, said Veldman.
“It’s really important that people feel comfortable and included in the building,” said Veldman. The Campbelltown Art Centre was also instrumental in engaging the local Dharawal People, facilitated and initiated some the community workshops.
Stage one of the hospital redevelopment, which cost $134 million, was completed in 2016. Stage two will consolidate stage one developments, with completion expected late 2023. More

The Victorian government has opened expressions of interest for the design, construction and maintenance of a new hospital in Melton, to meet the growing healthcare demands of Melbourne’s western suburbs.
Located at 245–267 Ferris Road, Cobblebank, the project will be funded through a public-private partnership, with $900 million coming from the 2022/23 Victorian Budget. The hospital will be delivered by the Victorian Health Building Authority in partnership with Western Health, which will operate the facility once it is constructed.
The successful consortium will deliver Victoria’s first hospital to be powered entirely by renewable energy, with a minimum of 274 beds, an intensive-care unit, maternity and neonatal services, mental health services, radiology services and outpatient care. The government is seeking candidates from “suitably qualified and experienced consortia,” with shortlisted practices invited to prepare detailed proposals later this year.
The 24-hour facility will have the capacity to treat 130,000 patients a year, the Victorian government said, and almost 60,000 in the emergency department alone. Health minister Mary-Anne Thomas said the hospital will help locals get better care closer to home. “Melton is one of the fastest-growing communities in Australia and that’s why we’re building a world-class hospital and finding the right consortium to get it done,” Thomas said.
Conveniently located close to the Western Freeway, Melton Hospital will service the communities of Caroline Springs, Rockbank, Melton and Bacchus Marsh. The community will be engaged to help shape the project, with a community consultative committee holding its first meeting in February.
Enabling construction works are now underway, with major construction expected to start in 2024 for completion in 2029.
For information on the EOI, visit the Buying for Victoria website. Applications close at 2 pm on 2 March. More

Last October, Danish design brand Hay opened its flagship Melbourne store courtesy of Australian partner Cult Design.
Since 2002, the Hay brand has been supplying the Danish market with aspirational, bespoke and contemporary designer products – including furniture, glassware, lighting, clothing and accessories – at an attainable price point.
Cult partnered with Hay in 2005 and lunched Hay Sydney in 2015 – the first fully-operating retail store under the Cult brand. The introduction of the first bricks-and-mortar store in Melbourne was slated to coincide with the Danish store’s 20th anniversary.
Cult founder and managing director Richard Munao was confident that the store’s Melbourne location – Fitzroy, an eclectic and bohemian suburb in the city’s inner-north – would fit with the Hay DNA, finding a kindred audience in the neighbourhood’s discerning locals.
Munao said Melbourne was already primed for Hay’s arrival, with many online sales from the Sydney store, once Hay’s sole Australian retail venue, shipped to local buyers. But were those sales indicative of a lasting appetite for the products, or were they “just” a temporary side effect of the city’s long lockdowns?

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The exterior is wrapped in a colourful mural by local artist Jasmine Mansbridge. Image:

Amy Hemmings

“Three months on, and the sales [are] continuing to give Sydney a run for its money,” Munao says.
While the store’s open-plan, apartment-like 160-square-metre layout emulates that of the Copenhagen flagship, Hay has incorporated Melbourne’s design culture into the venue. A vibrant, geometric mural by Jasmine Mansbridge treats passers-by to architectural shapes and vivid colours; those who walk in will spot a custom retail counter, made in collaboration between industrial designer Adam Goodrum and plastic recycling company Defy Design from old milk bottles.
Munao says these city-specific elements evoke the new location yet remain consistent with the Hay brand. “[The store] feels like it’s meant to be in Melbourne, if you know what I mean, versus taking this Danish store and trying to copy and paste,” he says.
Recent releases to the Hay showroom include the Apollo portable mushroom lamp by Studio 0405, the sleek Palissade range of outdoor furniture by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, and the lush Mags soft modular sofa. More

Open to both Australian and international practices, “Sydney is Beautiful” is an ideas competition aimed at promoting timeless principles of new traditional architecture and urbanism.
Street Level Australia launched the competition to explore major design issues and the opportunities of the subject site through hypothetical redevelopments.
“The competition is designed to show that better is possible for new buildings,” said Street Level founder Milly Main. “We need to invest in the finest quality of building, particularly for public architecture, including ornament and artistry, so our children have something to cherish and protect.”
The 2022 competition focused on a vacant block at 114 William Street, Woolloomooloo, owned by Transport for NSW, with submissions entailing new schemes for the site that incorporated beautiful, enduring and environmentally sustainable architecture and urban planning. Entries closed 16 January 2023 and winners were announced on 31 January at a ceremony in Glebe.
Sydney-based M. J. Suttie Architects won the competition in a blind jury selection process from a field of 13 entries. The scheme utilised Sydney sandstone masonry, Australian hardwoods, and a selection of other natural and local materials, with a classical vernacular tied to Sydneys architectural traditions.

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Winston Grant-Preece’s scheme received second prize. Image:

Winston Grant-Preece

Second prize went to Winston Grant-Preece for a design that responded to sydney’s climactic conditions, with abundant outdoor space, roof terraces, and shaded pergolas, balconies and covered walkways. The building used language of the Doric order, with double-brick masonry with a rendered finish to allow for external colour.
First prize for the youth submissions went to John Suttie, with second place awarded to Brandon Bosaz, both 16 years old.
NSW minister for infrastructure and cities Rob Stokes launched an exhibition of entries on 31 January where he also awarded a separate Premier’s Commendation Award to Hector Abrahams, and a Youth Commendation Award to John Paul and Joseph Foong.
Judges for the competition included Elizabeth Farrelly, Mike Day (Hatch Roberts Day) and Richard Economakis (University of Notre Dame).
View the full gallery of entries here. More

Located at 34 Hassall Street, plans for the development incorporate two towers, up to 44 storeys, containing 600 residential apartments as well as commercial spaces for retail and workspaces. Parramatta’s population is forecast to increase by nearly 70 percent in the next 20 years. The site is located close to the new Parramatta Light Rail […] More

The Yarra Building at Melbourne’s Federation Square, once destined for demolition, will soon be home to the first dedicated First Nations arts and culture centre in an Australian capital city. The Koorie Heritage Trust, which has until now occupied two floors of the Yarra Building, will expand to all three floors in August 2023. Designed […] More

Perth Concert Hall celebrated its 50th anniversary on 26 January, marking half a century of some of the highest quality performances in the country, and arguably, the world.
Built in 1973 and designed by local architects Jeffrey Howlett and Don Bailey (Howlett and Bailey Architects), it was the first concert hall to be built in Australia after World War II. The hall, which seated 1,891 people, is the primary venue of the Western Australian Symphony Orchestra, but it has hosted a suite of events and performances, from classical ensembles to jazz musicians, comedians, and celebrity chefs.
Highlights over the years have included the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as global artists like Billy Joel, Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone and Sting.
Renowned for its enduring high standards of acoustics, Perth Concert Hall was voted in 2011 as the best venue of 20 major Australian concert halls in a Limelight magazine survey performers and critics. In 2016, the building received the Australian Institute of Architects’ National Award for Enduring Architecture, for its brutalist mid-century architecture.
“What appears to be quite a simple, white, off-form concrete, post-and-beam construction is, upon closer inspection, understood as being completely innovative for 1973. The building is actually hung from itself, creating enormous free spans and all from one beautifully poured material,” the jury said.

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Perth Concert Hall by Howlett and Bailey Architects. Image:

Courtesy of The City of Perth

The Perth Concert Hall was built at a cost of $3.2 million (a remarkably modest budget compared to the Sydney Opera House, which was built for $102 million and completed in the same year). Its auditorium features a 3,000-pipe organ specially commissioned by Ronald Sharp, who was also responsible for the organ in the Opera House).
In 2022, With Architecture Studio and OMA were appointed to design the redevelopment of the building, which will improve accessibility and better preserve the heritage features. The redevelopment is due to begin in 2024.
Culture and Arts Minister David Templeman said the red carpets and winding staircase of the heritage-listed concert hall hold “special memories” for many Western Australians.
“There are too many highlights to mention but I recall the Peony Pavilion taking place inside the hall as part of Perth International Arts Festival in 2000, and Perth Festival’s contemporary music hub set up in the hall in 2020,” Templeman said. “I remember seeing Billy Joel perform a magnificent concert at the Concert Hall which had the crowd whipped up to a frenzy… Here’s to another 50 years of artist and audience enjoyment at our wonderful world-renowned Perth Concert Hall.” More