Architecture

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

The 2023 Pritzker Prize has been awarded to English architect David Chipperfield “for the rigour, integrity and pertinence of a body of work that – beyond the realm of the architecture discipline – speaks for his social and environmental commitment,” said the jury.
Chipperfield, whose work spans four decades and three continents, is celebrated for revering history and culture while honouring pre-existing built and natural environments.
Jury chair Alejandro Aravena said, “In a world where many architects view a commission as an opportunity to add to their own portfolio, he responds to each project with specific tools that he has selected with preciseness and great care. Sometimes it requires a gesture that is strong and monumental, while other times, it requires him to almost disappear. But his buildings will always stand the test of time because the ultimate goal of his operation is to serve the greater good. The avoidance of what’s fashionable has allowed him to remain permanent.”
Chipperfield’s work ranges from civic, cultural and academic buildings to residences and urban planning. He has had a particular focus on museums, with significant works including the Neues Museum and James-Simon-Galerie in Berlin, Turner Contemporary and Hepworth Wakefield in the UK, as well as the Inagawa Cemetery Chapel and Visitor Centre in Japan.

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Inagawa Cemetery Chapel and Visitor Centre by David Chipperfield. Image:

Courtesy of Keiko Sasaoka.

“At once architectural and museological projects, in Chipperfield’s hands museums as institutions and buildings offer a transformation of the urban life of the cities where they are located. Generous outdoor spaces make them not fortresses but connectors, places for gathering and observing, such that the building itself is a gift to the city, a common ground even for those who never enter the galleries,” the jury citation reads.
“In short, his buildings embody a commanding balance of the seemingly contradictory notions of being complete in and of themselves as architectural designs where every detail is conceived as a carefully studied part of a whole, and at the same time create interconnections to the city and to the society in such a way as to fundamentally transform a whole district.
“The career of David Chipperfield is marked by a long term, rigour and consistency in a body of work that has seamlessly integrated and balanced both terms of that equation.
“Always characterized by elegance, restraint, a sense of permanence, as well as clear compositions and refined detailing, his buildings each time exude clarity, surprise, sophisticated contextuality and confident presence.”
Tom Pritzker, chairman of award sponsor the Hyatt Foundation, said that Chipperfield “is assured without hubris, consistently avoiding trendiness to confront and sustain the connections between tradition and innovation, serving history and humanity. While his works are elegantly masterful, he measures the achievements of his designs by social and environmental welfare to enhance the quality of life for all of civilization.” More

On International Women’s Day, the Australian Institute of Architects awarded the 2023 Paula Whitman Leadership in Gender Equity Prize, recognizing exceptional female leadership in the industry in areas of gender equity. Emma Williamson, West Australian Fellow of the Institute of Architects and co-founder of The Fulcrum Agency, has been recognized for her longstanding commitment to […] More

Seek Australia has released its advertised salary index, indicating the changes in advertised salaries over time for jobs posted on the site. For the year up to January 2023, Seek reports that advertised salaries in design and architecture recorded the second highest hike over the past year of all industries recorded in the survey. Architecture […] More

Melbourne practice Agius Scorpo Architects has designed and intricate seven-storey addition at the rear of an 1880 gothic revival brick bank in South Melbourne.
“BVIA on Bank” was commissioned by Anne Michaels, director of female-led developer She Built. The project, Michaels’s first solo endeavor, has been entirely facilitated by an all-female team intending to promote, empower and encourage female leadership within the building and design industry.
“The key element in the client’s brief was that it had to be glamourous,” said architect Claire Scorpo. The modern restoration and extension is made from curved glass and inscribed concrete, providing a contemporary counterpoint to the bank’s formal Gothic facade.
The project involves the partial demolition of the bank’s rear 1970s extension, while leaving the 1880s building intact. Upgrades and retrofits are being carried out to the heritage building, which was recently vacated by ANZ and will house independent retail, while the new rear building will house commercial offices, complete with an underground basement.
“A lot of care was given to creating the building as a singular form,” said Scorpo. “Most of the offset strategies requires wedding cake setback forms and we were concerned that something with a lot of parapets and levels was going to distract from the heritage building.”

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The facade is designed from curved glass and inscribed concrete, providing a contemporary counterpoint to the bank’s formal Gothic facade. Image:

She Built

The existing two-storey bank building on Clarendon Street was designed by 19th century firm Terry and Oaken from Hawthorn bricks and granite colonettes. It is one of the most enduring examples of English, Scottish and American chartered banks (known as ES&A) constructed in the gothic style.
“The key idea was to make a single facade that wraps around and forms a backdrop to the existing building,” said Scorpo. The new building will sit respectfully behind the bank, with the faceted glass curves of the extension peeling away from the building, made from a bespoke glazed curtain wall and a precast concrete facade. The inscribed pattern on the concrete panels was designed by Alice Springs artist Elliat Rich.
“There are elements that we borrowed from the existing form,” said Scorpo. “The oculus in the new building uses the ‘ox eye’ motif – little circular windows, on the side of the bank.”
Copper-coloured details have been added throughout the building, bordering a large oculus and on the pavement canopy, intended to reference the bronze colour of old one- and two-cent coins.
The main objectives of the project are to promote activation on Bank Street through good design, increasing pedestrian activity and reviving heritage connections, while supporting and promoting women in the building and design sector.
“From the beginning, it felt like a collaborative project,” said Scorpo. “The developer’s vision is unique in that she is a female developer who wants to promote women in the built environment. In some situations, getting a female lead for a team of structural engineers can be difficult ­– there aren’t many female-led practices – but what it allowed was for another female in the team to be promoted into that role, giving someone who may be overlooked a chance to be at the front of a project.” More

“Embrace equity” is the 2023 International Women’s Day campaign theme, which seeks to draw attention to the critical differences between equity and equality, and examine “why equal opportunities aren’t enough.”
“When we embrace equity, we embrace diversity, and we embrace inclusion,” the campaign states.
Ahead of International Women’s Day 2023 on 8 March, we asked a diverse group of women practitioners to share their insights on how architects create more inclusive environments.
Sophie Dyring, director of Schored Projects

Sophie Dyring Image: Supplied

This year, Schored Projects is celebrating 10 years of working in the inclusive and diverse social housing sector. Director Sophie Dyring says, “Inclusivity and diversity in the built environment doesn’t have a tangible look, but you know when it’s been achieved, at least in our public spaces, because people from every walk of life are utilizing and enjoying the space.
“That’s not to say that every aspect of the project relates to or is relevant to everyone; what it means is that women feel secure to walk through the project at night. It means First Nations people feel connected to the place. It means the LGBTIQ+ community feel safe and secure to be themselves. It means neurodiverse people can easily navigate the space. In short, inclusivity and diversity in the built environment is welcoming.
“Architects can foster diversity and inclusively in the build environment through representation. Through our post occupancy research for A Design Guide for Older Women’s Housing, it became clear that the voices of lived experience through the design stages of a project are critical in the success of a project for the future users/occupants. The project typology would guide the necessary representation, but at a minimum, all projects should include the voices of First Nations people, women and people from the LGBTIQ+ community.
“I recently read the term ‘experts by experience,’ and I think there is something in that approach. Architects must listen to these experts. They can participate on a smaller scale through specific focus-groups or on a larger scale through advisory boards and panels.”
Samantha Rich, graduate of architecture and adjunct lecturer at the Yuwaya Ngarra-li Institute of Global Development

Samantha Rich Image: Supplied

“We need diversity in how we design because that’s what our communities look like,” says Samantha Rich, a Wiradjuri woman who is dedicated to embedding a First Nations worldview into the design of buildings and the broader built environment. “A cookie-cutter approach shouldn’t be implemented in any of our built environments. Often, we believe as designers that we know how to design well. But until the designers and the way we design involves a broad array of people, they will only support the people we see in our offices.
“Inclusivity is about a lot of things. It means being involved at all stages of a project; it’s about having a voice, and being in positions where decisions can be implemented meaningfully. As a woman, and as First Nations person, I am taught to fit into this world. Things like: be less emotional, be more passive, don’t be too angry, juggle two worlds.
“For me it is also about making sure that our qualities, experiences and characteristics as people are valued and not seen as burdens or problems to manage. The ability to be open about how we see and feel in the world and that perspective is not seen as a risk or negative. This to me is true inclusivity.”
Rich adds that built environment practitioners should embrace the “lived experience” of the people they are designing for and “allow the community to lead you [and] make the space adaptable and supportive to varying types of people.”
“Don’t make people bend or change to fit into spaces or environments.”
Simona Castricum, postdoctoral research fellow in architecture, musician and producer

Simona Castricum. Image:

Naomi Lee Beveridge

“Architects have a unique place at the design table, working across many sectors and professional silos,” says Simona Castricum, whose PhD research explored gender nonconforming and queer spatial production in the city, in architecture and in public space. “Marginalized groups can benefit from advocacy across these sectors and silos to advocate for change that will enrich civic life.
“Architecture should always interrogate the administrative systems that exclude or cause harm to people in the built environment. We need radical practice to imagine the very futures that will alleviate some of the barriers people face in the built environment.”
Nicole Kalms, founding director of XYX Lab/Gender and Place

Nicole Kalms Image: Supplied

Nicole Kalms, who leads a team of researchers exploring gender-sensitive design practices, says there is still much to be done to achieve true inclusion.
“It is the everyday commitment, accountability and advocacy that will move everyone forward and create radical change in the built environment.”
She says that architects should “look at best practice, engage experts in gender sensitive and intersectional design. Most importantly, [they shoud] listen to those with lived experience in the communities that will (presumably) benefit from the work that you do.” More