Architecture

The Sydney Opera House has unveiled the completed transformation of the iconic concert hall – the largest and final project of its 10-year renewal program ahead of the building’s 50th anniversary in 2023.
Designed by ARM Architecture and a team of acoustic, engineering, heritage and theatre consultants, the project combined restoration and technological innovation that transformed the acoustic properties of the venue, allowing the concert hall to host a range of performances from classical symphonies to contemporary music and theatre.
Inside the concert hall, 18 new acoustic reflectors have replaced the former acrylic doughnut-shaped reflectors on the ceiling. ARM Architecture designed these new petal-shaped reflectors in collaboration with German acoustic engineers Müller BBM. They are made from composite fibreglass by racing yacht manufacturer Shapeshift and Waagner Biro.
The semi-gloss magenta colour of the reflectors matches the upholstery on the audience seats in Peter Hall’s design for the concert hall interior.

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The renewal works included 18 petal-shaped composite fibreglass acoustic reflectors finished in semi-gloss magenta to match the upholstery of the seats. Image:

Getty Images

Elsewhere, special acoustic diffusion panels were added to the timber box fronts of the concert hall, which allow for more balanced, true sound in classical orchestral mode.
The Sydney Opera House concert hall had been plagued with acoustic issues since its opening in 1973. A 2011 Limelight magazine survey of performers and critics found that the concert hall ranked 18th out of the 20 listed classical music venues around Australia.
“Every great orchestra around the world has a symbiotic relationship with their home venue they become synonymous with the space. The place that an orchestra performs in is just as important as the instruments and musicians that are on stage – it shapes the way we sound and how an audience experiences live performances with us,” said Sydney Symphony Orchestra concert master Andrew Haveron.
“The extraordinary acoustic improvement of the Sydney Opera House concert hall, which has far exceeded any of our expectations, means that finally, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra can be heard at its finest!”
A new sound system for amplified mode has been installed, as well as automated stage risers, automated draping system, and new theatre flying system for lighting and scenery. The original stage has also been lowered by 400 millimetres to improve sightlines to the stage.
The renewal works also included improved accessibility with a new lift and passageways, doubling the number of accessible seating positions.
More than 90 percent of the demolition waste from the construction has been recycled. Timber salvaged from the former stage was made into 60 pairs of clapsticks for Indigenous composer and performer William Barton. More

A development application has been submitted for a $700 million, 28-storey tower in North Sydney designed by FJMT Studio.
The site is situated at 173-179 Walker Street and 11-17 Hampden Street, in an area known as East Walker Street Precinct. The design consists of a four-storey podium and six terrace houses fronting Walker Street.
The plans for the tower comprise 189 residences, which represents a 29 percent reduction from the initial proposal for a 226-residence tower. The resident parking has also been reduced by a third, from 339 to 228 parks. Five existing residential buildings will be demolished to make way for the development on the amalgamated site.

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Proposed designs for a 28-storey tower in North Sydney. Image:

FJMT Studio

The proposed building features a unique design with the upper storeys cantilevered over the podium in a receding scale. In the design concept submission to the local council, FJMT Studio said the unusual massing had been inspired by the “character of a freshwater gully stream eroding its way through this place of ceremony”.
“The tower and podium forms of Hampden Street suggest horizontally stratified and eroded undercrofts typical of the sandstone escarpments of the harbour and the subtropical gullies of the North Shore,” the report continues.
“With the brick terraces of Walker Street offering sympathetic scale, structure and contemporary reference to the typologies of our post-colonial past.”
The building has been designed within planning controls to maximize access to sunlight and views over Sydney Harbour Bridge, Opera House and the Harbour Heads for residents and neighbouring buildings.
The development application represents a wider trend of development initiatives in North Sydney. In its “Vision for the North Sydney CBD”, North Sydney Council estimates there will be an additional 20,000 workers in the area by 2036.
There are currently 19 government projects reinforcing Miller Street as North Sydney’s civic spine, joining its new network of parks, plazas, laneways and entertainment precincts. More

Organizers of the World Architecture Festival have revealed the shortlist for the 2022 Inside World Festival of Interiors Awards. Among the 65 projects shortlisted globally, eight projects are Australian, half of which are in the Workplace (Large) category. WAF program director Paul Finch said, “We reviewed everything from the fabulous to the austere, and found […] More

South Australia Health and Nexus Hospitals have submitted plans to develop a hospital and allied centre in Daw Park, Adelaide, designed by Swanbury Penglase.
The site at 216 Daws Road – opposite Daw House Hospice – falls under plans for a wider Repat Health Precinct announced in 2019. Nexus Hospitals and SA Health penned an agreement to develop the new medical centre on the repatriation hospital site at Daw Park back in 2021.
Nexus was selected as the preferred proponent to build a new facility and provide the necessary surgical and procedural services to serve the community. The joint venture commissioned architect Swanbury Penglase to design the surgery and allied health centre.
“This government has recognized the essential need to reactivate the Repat and return the site to a thriving health precinct to provide better health services, closer to home, for the surrounding community,” said then South Australian premier Stephen Marshall in 2021.

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Designs for a hospital and allied centre in Daw Park, Adelaide. Image:

Swanbury Penglase

Continuing an existing partnership, Swanbury Penglase has worked with Nexus to design the expansion and development of nine hospitals to date. According to the architect, the repat centre project will enable the delivery of public and private surgery, with the public surgery increasing capacity across the state’s public health network.
Nexus will fund the project, which is deemed an essential infrastructure development, estimated to cost $140 million. SA Health will provide Nexus with a 50-year ground lease on the site and will be responsible for any preparatory site works.
The new surgery will include ophthalmology; orthopaedics; plastics and reconstructive; ear, nose and throat; endoscopy and general surgery.
The facility will cater for eight theatre beds, a 30-bed overnight capacity, a 20-chair renal dialysis unit, a GP clinic, radiology, pathology, a pharmacy and a cafe. There will also be dedicated areas for specialist medical and other allied health services, and an integrated 350-space multi-deck carpark.
Demolition works have commenced to make way for the new facility. Construction is expected to start in early 2023 and is forecast to be completed by the end of 2024, for the hospital’s opening in 2025. More

The City of Sydney has announced a new major restoration project to preserve some of the historic relics of Sydney Park. From the early 19th century, brickworks were established in Sydney Park due to the presence of rich alluvial soil and clay beds ideal for pottery and brick making. Today, the brick kilns and chimneys […] More

More than 40 Australian projects have made the shortlist of the 2022 World Architecture Festival (WAF) Awards, with a big contingent in the Completed Buildings – School category.
The awards recognize completed buildings, future projects and landscapes across 43 categories. Around the world, 420 projects from more than 50 countries were shortlisted.
“The number and quality of entries this year has been very encouraging, and we are looking forward to meeting in person to carry out category judging and then our best-in-show awards,” said WAF program director Paul Finch.
The 2022 World Architecture Festival will be held in Lisbon from 30 November until 2 December as the first in-person event since 2019. The festival, organized under the theme “Together”, will include a speaker series exploring how architecture is responding to a post-pandemic world, as well as how it is adapting in the face of climate change.
The shortlisted Australian projects are:
Completed Buildings
Civic and community
Eden Port Welcome Centre – Cox Architecture
Victorian Pride Centre – BAU Brearley Architects and Urbanists and GAA Grant Amon Architects
Culture
Bundanon Art Museum and Bridge – Kerstin Thompson Architects
Mudgee Art Gallery – BKA Architecture
The Hedberg – Liminal Studio with Woha Architects
Display
Australian Pavilion, Expo 2020, Dubai – Bureau Proberts
MPavilion 2021 – The Lightcatcher – Map Studio
Higher Education and Research
School of Design and the Built Environment – John Wardle Architects
University of Sydney Engineering and Technology Precinct – Cox Architecture
House and Villa – (Rural/Coastal)
Bass Coast Farmhouse – John Wardle Architects
Arndt Residence and Artbarn – Chrofi
House and Villa (Urban/Suburban)
Bellbird House, Blackburn – Bower Architecture
Housing
Australia 108 – Fender Katsalidis
King and Phillip Residences – FJMT
Opera Residences – Tzannes
Paragon – Fender Katsalidis
Mixed Use
80 Collins – Woods Bagot
The Eaves West Village ­– Bureau Proberts
Newcastle East End – SJB, Durbach Block Jaggers and Tonkin Zulaikha Greer
Office
Substation 164 – FJMT
Production energy and recycling
Nyul Nyul Packing Shed – SJB
Levantine Hill Estate Winery – Fender Katsalidis
School
Brisbane South State Secondary College – BVN
Geelong College Junior School – John Wardle Architects
Greater Shepparton Secondary College – Gray Puksand
Inner Sydney High School – FJMT
Meadowbank Schools – Woods Bagot
Music House – MCR
Ravenswood Senior Learning Centre – BVN
The Clendon Centre – Architectus
Shopping
Commercial Bay Retail Precinct – Warren and Mahoney, with Woods Bagot and NH Architecture
Merrifield City – NH Architecture
Sport
Barker College Rosewood Centre – Neeson Murcutt and Neille
Eric Tweedale Stadium – DWP Design Worldwide Partnership
Kia Arena at Melbourne Park – NH Architecture with RWA Sports Architecture
Kings Langley Cricket Club and Amenities – Eoghan Lewis Architects
Narendra Modi Stadium – Populous
PEGS Gymnasium – MCR
Future Project
Culture
Australian War Memorial New Southern Entrance – Scott Carver
Education
Brighton Grammar School – St Andrew’s Exchange – Architectus
Infrastructure
North East Link – BKK, TCL, Warren and Mahoney and Greenaway Architects
Masterplanning
Campus to Country: Positioning Strategy – BVN Architecture
Office
York and Co. – SJB
Residential
Ashbury Terraces – SJB
Landscape
Urban
Yuandang Bridge – BAU Brearley Architects and Urbanists More

The Naomi Milgrom Foundation has released designs for its ninth MPavilion by Bangkok-based architecture and design practice All Zone. Led by architect Rachaporn Choochuey, All Zone has designed a “striking canopied” structure made from innovative new materials never seen before in Australia. A tensile membrane, made from layers of coloured nets using architectural fabrics, has […] More

Tickets are now on sale for the 2022 Work Place / Work Life symposium, which examines the influences and changing dynamics of workplace design.
Hosted via the Design Speaks Virtual Portal, the symposium explores the role of design in a post-covid landscape. The workplace is steadily evolving, and after two years of disruption to the work life routine, the forum asks, what role do designers play in ensuring a healthy and functional work environment?
Across three sessions, panels comprising leading practitioners, researchers and experts around Australia will consider how the office responds to changes in on- and off-site trends, shifts in office atmosphere and amenity, and the demands for a more flexible work environment.
The first session, titled “The Reality of Realty: Where’s tomorrow’s office?”, BVN’s Bill Dowzer, Bates Smart director Philip Vivian and CBRE exectutive directo Ada Choi will present case studies, research and insights that indicate the trajectory for office tenancies and how this is reshaping workplace design. The speakers will then be joined by Carr associate director Rebecca Trenorden for a panel discussions.

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KABHQ by Henning Larsen. Image:

Laura Stamer

Session two will examine how a healthy and thriving workplace improves teamwork, raises morale, increases productivity and improves staff retention. In “Peace of Mind: Workplace Design for Culture and Wellness”, speakers Viggo Haremst of Henning Larsen, Adele Wintering from Foolscap Studio and Brigid Carey from Seek will consider how workplace design can foster a successful work culture and cater to the wellbeing of staff. Moderator Dr Libby Sander will then lead a discussion on how the projects and processes are redefining the design brief for workplace structure.
Session three, “Out of Office: Designing for Hybrid Work”, will consider how pandemic-induced change has seen the majority of the workforce move to a new hybrid model of working. Speakers Daniel Davis and Evodia Alaterou from Hassell, Franziska Heuschkel of Space and Pepper, and Elly Dalziel from Mirvac will consider the impact of the flexible model on the design of the office, using people-centred research, projects and frameworks that explore designs that are fit-for-purpose for both individuals and team environments. The moderator for this session is Angela Ferguson from Futurespace.
Sessions will run for two hours each on three consecutive Wednesdays throughout August. Attendees can register for individual events or for the conference in its entirety, and tickets can be purchased until 9 September.
For more information visit the Design Speaks website. Work Place / Work Life is a Design Speaks event organized by Architecture Media, publisher of ArchitectureAU.com. It is supported by Schiavello. More