Architecture

An architect is among seven recipients to be awarded the Marten Bequest Travelling Scholarship – a prize that allows young artists for the chance to explore, study and develop their talents interstate and abroad.
Cave Urban co-founder Jed Long was selected for the architecture category of the award, along with six other recipients across the fields of acting, ballet, painting, prose, sculpture and singing.
Long’s practice has created large-scale public works for events and organisations such as the Sydney Biennale, Art and About, and the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA). Cave Urban sits at the intersection of art and architecture, creating civic gestures for the private and public sectors.
The scholarships, administered by the Australia Council for the Arts, are valued at $50,000 each, payable in quarterly instalments over two years, and provide financial support for successful applicants.
Australia Council chief executive Adrian Collette said the scholarships offer “life-changing opportunities for young people to pursue education and training and develop their creative talents.”
Long said he intends to use the scholarship to undertake research, engaging with leading institutions, designers and companies interested in developing laminate bamboo products for architectural application.
Bamboo is a strong, flexible and sustainable material that retains less water than its traditional counterparts, making it both light and durable, and takes only three to six years to reach maturity, making it an extremely sustainable building material. Long is curious about investigating the translation of tranditional bamboo construction into contemporary building practice.
Long is interested in design with an emphasis on sustainability and community engagement, and with his scholarship, he also plans to undertake a series of mentorships in Indonesia.
For more information on the Marten Bequest Travelling Scholarship, visit the Australia Council website. More

Entries for the 26th Victorian Premier’s Design Awards will open soon, showcasing excellence from talent across the spectrum of design disciplines. Submissions are welcome from applicants across architecture, product design, communications, design strategy, fashion, digital, service design, and as well as tertiary design students. Minister for Creative Industries Danny Pearson said the awards provide the […] More

First designs have been released for Mandurah Common Ground – a 50-apartment facility designed for members of the community who are sleeping rough, experiencing chronic homelessness or who suffer from financial instability.
The concept design, led by local architect Gresley Abas, has been informed by feedback following targeted stakeholder engagement. Funded by the state government, the $28.1 million facility will provide housing alongside intensive wrap-around supports to assist in sustaining user tenancies and building independence.
Mandurah is located on the southwest coast of Western Australia, and the city has been recognized as an area with a relatively high number of the population experiencing precarious living situations.
Mandurah Common Ground will be situated at 81-87A Allnutt Street, and comprise self-contained apartments with indoor and outdoor communal areas and onsite support services. Evidence from previous Common Ground sites across Australia has shown that proximity to public transport, local amenity and a range of public services is imperative to the success of the initiatives. The Allnutt Street site was selected as the most suitable location based on these factors.

View gallery

The proposed facility is designed to be environmentally sustainable and culturally safe, with considered access for people with disability. Image:

Gresley Abas

The proposed facility is designed to be environmentally sustainable and culturally safe, with considered access for people with disability. Homelessness Minister John Carey said the contemporary facility delivers a high priority project and key initiative supporting the state’s dedicated strategy for targeting homelessness.
“The Common Ground facilities are a key pillar of our long-term response to addressing homelessness in Western Australia, and it’s fantastic to be able to unveil the first concept design for the Mandurah facility,” Carey said.
“The design itself looks fantastic and I know the architects have been working with key stakeholders in the development, including those with lived experience of homelessness.”
The state government is investing $2.4 billion in social housing and homelessness services over the next four years. Construction on the Mandurah Common Ground facility is expected to begin in the first half of 2023, with the site ready to welcome residents in 2024.
For more information visit the Western Australian government’s website. More

Aboriginal designer and curator Alison Page, together with Breville, has announced a partnership between First Nations People and the National Museum of Australia to create products that celebrate contemporary design and reflect 65,000 years of ongoing Australian Indigenous culture.
A decade in the making, these products combine ancient stories with contemporary design. Breville’s profits will go towards the National Indigenous Culinary Institute’s work to create employment opportunities for aspiring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander chefs; the “Indi-Kidi Program” by the Moriarty Foundation to support childhood nutrition and sharing Indigenous Food Culture; and Indigenous scholarships and initiatives at the University of Technology Sydney to create pathways for employment in engineering, technology and design.
The limited series of six Breville products features works by Western Desert artists and members of the original Pintupi Nine, Yalti Napangati, Yukultji Napangati, Warlimpirrnga Tjapaltjarri and Sydney-based artist and Yuwaalaraay woman Lucy Simpson.
Curator Alison Page is a Wadi Wadi and Walbanga woman of the Yuin nation. Page is an adjunct associate professor in design at the University of Technology Sydney, founder of the National Aboriginal Design Agency and a member of several cultural boards, including the National Australia Day Council, The Art Gallery of South Australia and the National Australian Maritime Museum.
“An Aboriginal Culinary Journey is an ambitious initiative to tell stories of our country using products as canvas. The artists had the brief of combining ancient artistic techniques with current design acumen and an eye toward the future. Our artists, Yalti, Yukultji, Warlimpirrnga and Lucy, embraced this project so effortlessly and intuitively and imbued so much story and meaning to each piece. I am so proud to be part of this rich and important chapter in Australian design and culinary history,” said Page.
The National Museum of Australia will feature the limited series in an exhibition – An Aboriginal Culinary Journey: Designed for Living – focusing on the continuity of cultural mark-making associated with Indigenous food culture. The exhibition will pair First Nations traditional tools for living alongside the six modern kitchen objects richly marked with signs of Country and culture.
“Living in the heart of people’s homes these once-everyday objects, now wrapped in Country, become cultural ambassadors. This is what makes the Aboriginal Culinary Journey collection so significant – it’s more than just a product, it’s a piece of our culture and Country in the same way we buy art on canvas for our homes. We have always made marks of meaning on our tools for living, so this idea is just keeping up with the times,” added Margo Ngawa Neale, head of the centre for Indigenous knowledge, senior Indigenous curator and advisor, The National Museum of Australia.
To ensure that the project had the highest cultural and legal integrity, Breville partnered with Dr Terri Janke, a Wuthathi/Meriam woman and international authority on Indigenous cultural and intellectual property who is known for innovating pathways between the non-Indigenous business sector and Indigenous people in business.
“As an Australian company, we are proud to share these stories belonging to the world’s oldest living culture and to weave them together with our own 90-year history of innovation,” said Jim Clayton, CEO of Breville Group. “An Aboriginal Culinary Journey is more than just a collection of products; it’s an invitation to immerse yourself in a deep and vibrant culture, and we’re honoured to provide this unique opportunity to bring these art objects into your home.”
The exhibition will run from May 27 to August 7 at the National Museum of Australia – before a global exhibition tour to London, Paris, Berlin, Brussels, Toronto and Los Angeles.
Breville More

Planning approval has been awarded for a proposed 51-storey tower in Box Hill, making it the tallest building in the state outside of Melbourne’s city centre.
Whitehorse City Council approved plans for stage one of a 10-year masterplan to revitalize the Box Hill Central shopping centre and improve public spaces. The application was submitted by developer Vicinity Centres and designs were developed by architect Bates Smart.
In considering the application, the council said the plans would “help create a space for people to work and live while boosting the local area for visitors, shoppers and commuters.”
The masterplan intends to transform 5.5 hectares at Box Hill Central into a mixed-use and retail precinct with a partially enclosed public plaza, with a combined total investment of around $700 million.

View gallery

The new precinct is designed to transform Box Hill Central into a world-class mixed-use and retail precinct. Image:

Bates Smart

The Victorian government has earmarked Box Hill as a “metropolitan activity centre.” As it stands, there are no building height limits in place in Box Hill, and the proposed development is in line with local and state planning policies.
The council held a consultation forum to ensure the opinions of residents were taken into consideration prior to planning approval. Forty local residents objected to the project, identifying issues such as building height, the ensuing increased traffic and parking issues, and impacted bike access.
The 51-storey tower included in the development – which will house around 600 residents and 2,000 workers – is 42 percent higher than any other building in the municipality.
Whitehouse concillor Ben Stennett, who voted against the proposal, said that while there is no mandatory heigh limits in the area “not all development is appropriate in Box Hill.” In a Facebook post, he said the proposed built form was “excessive in its scale” and failed to respond to the surrounding context.
Vicinity’s chief development officer Carolyn Viney said the masterplan would “reflect the site’s rich history” and respond to the community’s aspirations for the Whitehourse council suburb.
Box Hill Central is set to become one of Melbourne’s largest private mixed-use developments. More

The ACT government has signed a contract with Lendlease Building to design and construct the new Canberra Institute of Technology (CIT) campus in the Woden town centre. The announcement was made on 26 May, and Lendlease has selected Gray Puksand as the architect to deliver the design for the new campus, which is set to […] More

Located 200 metres from the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, Herston Private Hospital has been completed in Brisbane’s Bowen Hills.
In recent years, the city’s aging and expanding population has placed greater strain on its healthcare facilities. With public and private operating theatres booked to near capacity, a new private hospital was needed to address lengthy waiting times and an under-availability of beds.
Designed by Thomson Adsett, this ten-storey, $100-million development incorporates innovative green design features, and achieves five stars on the National Australian Built Environment Rating System (NABERS).
The new hospital is located within a Queensland government priority development area. “The trade-off from the state government was it had to be an innovative building, which it is,” said senior architect David Lane.
“It’s a building built for tomorrow: there are two skins to the building, the inner waterproofing skin and then an environmental skin to reduce air conditioning load and support the exterior greenery.”

View gallery

The vertical garden called for strong quality control on concrete density and reinforced steel. Image:

Thomson Adsett

The vegetation sits outside of the waterproof outer skin, and Lane said the design for the vertical garden called for strong quality control on concrete density and reinforced steel to cope with the weight.
At night, a distinctive fluid lighting pattern on the facade, which comprises a series of aluminium hexagons, is designed to partially obscure the five-level car park onto the top floors.
Solar panels have been installed on the rooftop to generate a quarter of the building’s energy needs, and rainwater harvesting facilities will supply 80 percent of the hospital’s non-potable water.
According to Lane, the project required some complex solutions to drill footings into the tough volcanic rock foundation, which is reportedly 226 million years old. But ultimately, the architect was satisfied with the building process and outcome.
“It’s a fantastic location and most innovative to the Herston Precinct and we are very proud of how it turned out,” said Lane.
As the largest tenant in the mixed-used development, Herston Private Hospital was awarded naming rights over the building. Designed to host a day hospital and specialist medical suites, the building is now 70 percent leased, with fertility clinic operator Genea being another major tenant.
The hospital is expected to be operating by mid-July, with other tenants to follow shortly after. More