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    The other-worldly architecture of Rudolf Steiner

    The first Goetheanum (1913–19), an odd mix of temple, dance hall and conference centre, was a double-domed timber and concrete structure looking like a hilltop observatory. Steiner’s philosophic-religious system, anthroposophy, was intended to be expressed through art and movement; its dance, eurythmy – then a massive fad – was fundamental to its practice. The Goetheanum’s halls, intersecting like a compressed figure eight, were designed to accommodate these theatrical movements; the dome of the first building was a garish multi-coloured globe, as if the heavens were awash in a dancing spectrum. That building burnt down, mysteriously, in 1922. Steiner immediately set about designing a more ambitious, more solid structure. Even before it was completed – in 1928, three years after he died – it became a sensation. Visiting architects were awed by this radical structure shrouded in complex scaffolding, its emergent form visible within.The second Goetheanum building in Dornach, Switzerland, designed by Rudolf Steiner after the first Goetheanum burnt down in 1922, and completed in 1928. Photo: Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images More

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    Laminex debuts new September colour collection

    Laminex has welcomed 14 new additions to its expansive colour range for September in its largest product update for 2022.
    New decors include additions to solid colours, woodgrains and matte collections, all of which relate to the Australian natural environment. Decors each feature a touch of black and reduced colour strength to boost versatility, ensuring they seamlessly blend with any existing colour collection.
    Laminex sales manager Sacha Leagh-Murray said the new collection captures the “wildly diverse palette of Australia’s natural landscape,” taking cues from the rich ochre colours of the earth to the blue tones of the ocean.
    “Striking the perfect balance of vibrancy and tranquillity, the new decors reconnect us with the freedom and beauty of nature,” said Leagh-Murray.

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    Golden Wattle, Porcelain Blush, Surround Demi-Round, Peruvian Clay. Image: Laminex

    Laminex’s new decors include four highly-saturated additions to its popular Living Pigments range, welcoming two warm yellow shades including the softened, organic “Golden Wattle” yellow, and the yellow-orange “Coastal Sunrise”.
    Harnessing the expressive power of the sea, “Portsea” is a cool mid-toned ocean blue, while “Otway” is Laminex’s green partner to its famed French Navy decor.
    Laminex has also welcomed four new schemes into its woodgrain range, capturing the authentic colours, textures and fibre details of natural timbers in a highly durable laminate form.
    New additions include “Chestnut Woodland”, a warm, chestnut brown with a beech structure comprising long, linear grain detailing, and “Weathered Pine”, with fine structural details that suggest a distressed or rustic surface.

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    Portsea, Moroccan Clay, and Marmo Grigio. Image: Laminex

    The “Absolutely Matte” range is beloved for its velvety smooth finish and superior functionality, and has also expanded to include six new additions: “Aries”, a neutral grey-white; “Spinifex”, a soft, organic blue-green; “Paper Bark”, a mid-grey with green undertone; “Otway”, a deeply blackened green-blue; “Moroccan Clay”, a strongly blackened red with yellow undertones; and “Kalamata”, a pure, blackened bold red.
    The new additions to Laminex’s colour collection are now available in-store and online at www.laminex.com.au. More

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    Site selected for new Adelaide aquatic centre

    A site has been selected for a new $80-million Adelaide aquatic centre, with South Australian premier Peter Malinauskas revealing the new location in early September. The new centre, designed by JPE Design Studio and Warren and Mahoney, will be built just south of the existing parklands site, North Adelaide, on an oval in the south-western […] More

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    Long-awaited Parramatta civic hub opens

    Parramatta council has opened its $135 million civic hub, designed by Manuelle Gautrand Architecture, Designinc and Lacoste and Stevenson.
    Dubbed “Phive” after its address, 5 Parramatta Square, the civic hub is the centrepiece of the $2.7 billion project to transform the historic centre of Sydney’s western city.
    The building houses council chambers, community meeting rooms, visitor service as well as a new library with a dedicated children’s section, maker space, tech labs and sound studios.

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    Flexible spaces inside Phive Parramatta by Manuelle Gautrand Architecture with Australian firms Designinc and Lacoste and Stevenson can be hired out by local businesses, such as a wellness studio. Image:

    Michael Bell

    “Parramatta’s dazzling new building has been years in the making, and we are so delighted Phive is now open for everyone to enjoy,” said lord mayor of Parramatta Donna Davis. “This space has been designed with and for our communities in mind – to connect, collaborate and enjoy cultural experiences.”
    The French-Australian consortium of architects won a design excellence competition for the building in 2016.

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    The council chambers of Phive Parramatta by Manuelle Gautrand Architecture, Designinc and Lacoste and Stevenson. Image:

    Michael Bell

    Their “unique and spectacular” design called for a glass building with a wave-like facade as a backdrop for public art projects. The final design has evolved into a striking roof made with 549 unique tessellated panels. Internally, the colour scheme is inspired by Australian flora.
    The building includes a ventilation system that responds to weather conditions as well as other sustainability measures that would allow it to one day be net zero carbon
    “It’s important we have accessible, state-of-the-art facilities to support people who live, work, study or visit Parramatta,” Davis said. More

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    Station plans released for Melbourne Airport Rail

    A new station will be built as part of Melbourne’s new airport rail line, earmarked to open in 2029, connecting the city and the airport for the first time.
    The Victorian government released its business case for an above-ground station for the Melbourne Airport rail link as well as a new station at Keilor East for Melbourne’s growing west, stating the project would generate returns of up to $2.10 for every dollar spent.
    The airport station will provide an alternative transport option between the city and Tullamarine with a projected journey time of 30 minutes, as the “fastest and most direct connection” to the airport from all parts of Melbourne and Victoria, the government said.
    The business case stated the elevated station at the airport would be the “best solution” for passengers, better integrating with the airport precinct with fewer impacts on planned future development.
    Meanwhile, the Keilor East station will link more than 150,000 Mooney Valley residents to Victoria’s rail network for the first time, providing a much-needed transport option for the growing west, said Victorian transport minister Jacinta Allan.

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    Melbourne Airport Rail will provide commuters with the fastest and most direct connections to the airport from all parts of Melbourne and Victoria. Image:

    Courtesy of Victoria’s Big Build

    The line will run through Sunshine Station and the Metro Tunnel, “maximising connections to Melbourne’s booming west and south-east, and Victoria’s major regional centres of Ballarat, Bendigo, Geelong and Gippsland,” the Victorian government said.
    As a result, more than 30 stations across Melbourne, as far away as Cranbourne and Pakenham, will have direct connection to the airport via the Metro Tunnel, while passengers from most other stations in the state will only need to change trains once.
    The airport rail project will also include an upgrades to Sunshine station, a new rail bridge over the Western Ring Road and Steele Creek, a bridge over Maribyrnong River, and a flyover between Sunshine and the Albion rail junction.
    Melbourne Airport Rail is estimated to cost between $8 billion and $13 billion, and the Victorian and federal governments have each committed $5 billion to deliver the new airport link.
    Rail Projects Victoria is responsible for planning and development of project reference design, site investigation, planning approvals, stakeholder management, through to the construction delivery and project commissioning phases.
    Details planning and development work is currently underway, which will yield more detailed cost estimates and scope for the project. Construction will begin in 2022 with a targeted opening date of 2029.
    For more information visit the project website on Victoria’s Big Build. More

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    Perth council approves historic arts strip renewal

    Perth City Council has approved a $160-million proposal to revamp a strip of Barrack Street in a scheme designed by Hames Sharley. The Perth Local Development Assessment Panel (LDAP) voted to approve plans to redevelop six lots covering 3,350 square metres along Barrack Street, between the Murray and Hay street malls. LDAP spokesperson Diana Goldswain […] More

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    New addition to Adelaide's biomedical precinct

    A 28-storey tower designed for the Adelaide’s biomedical precinct will rise from one of the city’s oldest churches.
    Designed by GHD Woodhead, the proposed $450-million development would be named “Trinity City” with a gross floor area of 65,000 square metres, set to host more than 3,000 workers once completed.
    The first four levels will be dedicated to 173 car parks while levels five to 26 will be office space. A mezzanine level will feature a gym, a 70-place childcare centre and a 200-seat auditorium.
    Trinity City has been designed as one of the first post-pandemic buildings for Adelaide’s CBD, prioritising the health and wellbeing of the end user. The building will feature intelligent design advancements such as touch-free entry points, and fresh air access through louvres down the building’s central spine.
    The tower will be built at the rear of Trinity Church Adelaide, and the project will also include restorations to the church building along with two other local heritage buildings. The church, built in 1838, is heritage protected as the earliest surviving Anglican building in South Australia.
    Trinity Church has expressed its support for the development, stating it will rejuvenate the old site and ensure its future longevity.

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    Entrance via the heritage piazza with access to the landscaped grounds. Image:

    GHD Woodhead

    The project will form a key part of Adelaide’s $3.8 billion biomedical city precinct – the largest life sciences precinct in the Southern Hemisphere – as the first commercial building on North Terrace.
    It joins institutions such as the Royal Adelaide Hospital, the Women’s and Children’s Hospital, the University of Adelaide Health and Medical Sciences building, the University of South Australia’s Health Innovation Building.
    Trade and investment Nick Champion said the developer had undertaken “extensive consultation” with Heritage SA and local authorities.
    “Trinity City will be the perfect addition to Adelaide BioMed City, as South Australia emerges as a global leader in data driven precision medicine,” said Champion.
    Construction is slated to begin in 2023 with completion forecast for the end of 2025. More

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    Architecture recognized in 2022 Good Design Awards

    The Good Design Awards were announced on 16 September at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre, celebrating the best of local and international design and innovation.
    A team of local and international judges selected projects showcasing the best in architectural design among 10 other disciplines.
    The Fulcrum Agency was among the top winners on the night receiving the Michael Bryce Patron Award for its work on the Groote Archipelago Housing Program. The award recognizes a design product, service or project that has the potential to transform future social, environmental, cultural and economic aspects of the planet.
    “This was an inspiring example of human centred-design in practice,” Brandon Gian, Good Design CEO and chair of the awards said of the project. “The evidence of the engagement of people from the community, and the persistence of the team should be an example for future projects of this type. The design-led approach led to a deep understanding of the complexities of creating culturally sensitive housing in remote Australia, and as a result, an extraordinary outcome of which both the team and the community can be proud.” The project also received Best in Class in the Social Impact category.
    Elsewhere in the awards, five projects received Best in Class in the architectural design categories, with a further 12 projects receiving gold, 35 others recognized for good design.
    The jury said the architectural category of the awards showcased a diversity of talent, with projects ranging from heritage, commercial, to public installations.

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    Brookfield Place Sydney by Make Architects.

    Brookfield Place Sydney by Make Architects was one project awarded Best in Class for its highly complex response to a mixed-use project. The judges said this undertaking of a complex project, unifying four separate site in Sydney, was a “world-class” mixed-use tower project harnessing heritage and sustainability elements.

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    Coopworth by FMD Architects. Image:

    Adam Gibson

    Located in the rural landscape of Bruny Island, Tasmania, Coopworth by FMD Architects also received Best in Class for its contemporary interpretation of a country farmhouse. The jury commended the architects on their playful experiment in form and inventive approach to materials that “tactfully converses” with the ever-changing landscape.

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    ANZ Breathe. Image:

    Tom Ross

    Breathe’s carbon-neutral bank branches designed for ANZ earned it Best in Class for its ingenious use of modular parts that come together to form a new benchmark for corporate Australia, that considers its impact on the community and the planet.

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    Grampians Peak Trail by Noxon Giffen with McGregor Coxall. Image:

    Shannon McGrath

    McGregor Coxall with Noxon Giffen and OPS Engineers was awarded the accolade for its landscape-led collaboration on Grampians Peak Trail. The jury said the design team’s doctrine for conservation, protection and celebration of the Victorial wilderness helped it achieve the highest possible grade of environmental sensitivity.

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    Made and Mycelium for Seed and Sprout in collaboration with Swinburne University. Image:

    Seed and Sprout

    The fifth and final project to receive Best in Class in the architectural design categories is Made and Mycelium – a popup store designed for eco brand Seed and Sprout through a collaboration with Swinburne University of Technology. The design reflects the company’s sustainable ethos and places an emphasis on product life cycles and the philosophy of upcycling.
    The 12 projects to receive gold in the Good Design awards are as follows:

    Grampians Peak Trail – Noxon Giffen with McGregor Coxall
    Ferrars and York – Hip V. Hype, Six Degrees Architects, SBLA Studio
    Fish River Ranger Accommodation – University of South Australia, Design Construct
    Australian Pavilion Expo 2020 Dubai – Bureau Proberts
    Parramatta Escarpment Boardwalk ­– Hill Thalis Architecture and Urban Projects
    Hughes Street Car Park ­– Collins and Turner Architects
    Imatra Electricity Substation – Virkkunen & Co Architects
    Terrace House – Austin Maynard Architects
    Goyder Square – Hatch Roberts Day, Turf Design Studio
    Sub Base Platypus – Iahznimmo Architects, Aspect Studios
    Cheltenham Early Education Centre – Alexandra Kidd Design
    The Princess Theatre – JDA Co.

    For the full list of winners visit the Good Design Awards website. More