Architecture

A state significant development (SSD) application is currently on exhibition with the NSW government for the transformation of the historic MLC building at 105 Miller Street in North Sydney, which was originally designed by Bates, Smart and McCutcheon in 1952 and completed in 1957. While plans prepared by Bates Smart and filed with North Sydney Council in December 2024 sought adaptive reuse of the existing structure into a commercial office complex, the new proposal from FJC Studio proposes that the building be transformed into a tertiary education campus.
According to the exhibited environmental impact statement by Beam, the two schemes have been pursued by property developer Investa “due to the uncertainty in relation to leasing and the need for the landowner to take some action with the site.” The development application for Bates Smart’s commercial proposal is currently under assessment with North Sydney Council.
FJC’s architectural design report notes that the two firms have adopted a “coordinated design approach,” which has guided FJC Studio’s campus plans since being commissioned in 2024 by property developer Investa. “While each proposal includes elements specific to its intended function, the two schemes share a common architectural language,” their report reads.

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Despite now being recognised on the North Sydney local environment plan (LEP) and state heritage register, for the past five years the MLC building has been the subject of a dispute between Investa and members of the public seeking recognition of the building’s historical significance, in part to avoid the demolition initially proposed by Bates Smart’s July 2020 proposal.
In response to this context, both proposals seek retention and refurbishment of the building’s Miller Street wing. The Denison Street wing, however, would be replaced with a new 22-storey building.
FJC notes in the report that being “now over 67 years old, the MLC Building requires significant renewal to support its next phase of use.” According to the practice, “A purely restorative refurbishment may retain the building’s original aesthetic, but it would not meaningfully improve its civic performance.”
“The education scheme […] proceeds from a position of respect – proposing adaptive reuse that honours the site’s architectural lineage while enabling a new public use and civic presence within North Sydney,” the report reads.
Developed with stakeholder engagement from the Heritage Council of NSW, North Sydney Council and the North Sydney Design Excellence Panel, FJC Studio’s design “retain[s] the heritage character of the Miller Street wing, while introducing new educational infrastructure that responds to programmatic needs. These include efficient and flexible teaching spaces, improved vertical and horizontal circulation, and the integration of active public interfaces across the podium.”
The form and language of FJC’s design for the new Denison Street wing is informed by mid-century towers such as Bates, Smart and McCutcheon’s ICI House (1958) in Melbourne and Skidmore, Owings and Merril’s Lever House (1952) in New York while ensuring the restored Miller Street wing retains “architectural primacy within the overall composition.”

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All three of the site’s public interfaces – on Miller Street, Denison Street and Brett Whitely Place – are reimagined to introduce public seating and retail spaces with an emphasis on accessible, all-weather pedestrian wayfinding connected with Sydney Metro and activated frontages to enhance visibility at the building’s threshold.
Drawing upon the site’s original landscape design by Ilmar Berzins, as well as its pre-colonial heritage, as investigated by WSP Australia, the ground plane, podium and roof terrace are imagined as an integrated architectural and landscape experience with the aid of landscape architecture practice 360 Degrees.
The application for the adaptive reuse of the MLC building into an education campus is on exhibition with the NSW government’s major projects hub on the planning portal. More

The Queensland government has declared a new priority development area (PDA) at North Harbour in Moreton Bay, 40 kilometres north of Brisbane, which will see the delivery of 3,700 homes, including 200 dwellings fast-tracked through an early release area within the precinct.
The $2.74 billion North Harbour masterplan, led by Mas Architecture Studio, also includes a “world-class” 400-berth marina, and tourism and retail precincts, along with “the biggest riverfront parkland in Southeast Queensland,” the architecture firm notes. A communique from the practice describes the vision for the site as “a booming new waterfront hub.”

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The site in Burpengary East is currently home to 4,000 residents and a 280,000-square-metre business park. Under the proposed masterplan, the new residential and mixed-use development would be met with over 1,000 acres of open space parkland adjacent to the Caboolture River, host to a heritage park and mountain bike trail.
Director of MAS Architecture Studio Nick Symonds welcomed the Queensland government’s designation of the North Harbour PDA as a sign of action in the current housing climate.
“The North Harbour precinct will meet urgent housing needs, but it also represents the future of bayside living in Southeast Queensland,” Symonds commented.
“We’re not just building homes. We’re designing a place that’s sustainable, well connected, and built for a modern Queensland lifestyle. With the Olympics approaching, this puts Moreton Bay in a prime position to shine nationally.”

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Deputy Premier and Minister for State Development, Infrastructure and Planning Jarrod Bleijie added, “This declaration brings Queensland another step closer to delivering one million homes by 2044.”
“Dedicated maritime industry infrastructure, tourism and hotel precincts are expected to generate nearly 2,000 jobs and add $456 million to the regional economy each year for the region’s long-term prosperity.” More

The Yagara Magandjin Aboriginal Corporation (YMAC) has submitted an application with the federal government for permanent legal protection of Brisbane’s Victoria Park/Barrambin. Together with community-led advocacy group Save Victoria Park (SVP), YMAC has announced that the legal proceedings are part of their “resolve to safeguard the park – one of the city’s most important First Nations sites – against major Olympic stadium development.”
The application has been made under Section 10 of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act, which, according to SVP and YMAC’s joint communique, allows the Commonwealth to declare long-term protection of a significant Aboriginal area under threat of injury or desecration.
According to the media release, “Victoria Park/Barrambin holds thousands of years of stories in its hills and gullies. It is a place where Aboriginal communities lived and thrived, where visitors gathered from all directions to mark seasonal festivals, marriages, funerals, Bora and trade. This continued in diverse ways long after European arrival.”
YMAC spokesperson and Yagarabul elder Gaja Kerry Charlton noted, “For we Goori people, Barrambin is living Country, possessing sacred, ancient and significant relationships within our cultural heritage systems.”
“We know this is a place of great significance and history, not only for Yagara people, but for other First Nations and non-Aboriginal people as well,” she added.

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Despite pre-election assurances that Victoria Park would be spared from development of a new stadium ahead of the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games, Queensland Premier David Crisafulli announced in March that the public parkland would be transformed into “a thriving central games precinct.”
Together with a 25,000-seat National Aquatic Centre and associated Olympic infrastructure, the site is slated for a 63,000-seat oval stadium. Expressions of interest from principal contractors for the master planning of the games precinct have only recently closed.
The joint media release from SVP and YMAC notes that “up until recently, the 60-hectare park had been the subject of a detailed Brisbane City Council Master Plan. As part of this, local elders participated in a four-year consultation process which honoured the rich Aboriginal heritage of the site.”
SVP and YMAC have expressed their opposition to the Premier’s vision for the precinct, which they say has “sidelined widespread community aspirations for the parkland and excluded elders integral to the development of the masterplan.”
Charlton commented, “It was a complete shock when the Premier came out with his stadium plans. He said the park would be protected from stadiums; I thought the park was safe. Now the government wants to destroy it.”
“We are very concerned there are ancient trees, artefacts and very important eco-systems existing there. There may be ancestral remains,” Charlton added. “We stand resolute in our responsibility to protect it.”
The decision lies with the federal government and there hasn’t yet been an official response. More

The first episode of the new Design Speaks Weekly podcast has been released today. Produced by Architecture Media and supported by the Australian Institute of Architects, Design Speaks Weekly explores the biggest stories in Australian architecture and design.

Editorial director at Architecture Media Katelin Butler commented, “Design Speaks is a brand that most people in our industry are familiar with as an event series of symposiums and other smaller seminars. We’re really overwhelmed with the industry’s response to these events […] but we’re also very conscious that there are only a select group of people who are actually in the room at any one of those events.”
“We’ve been thinking about ways to bring that content to a wider audience, and one of those ways is through a podcast. Each episode will take a deep dive into a particular theme, but will always be paired with up-to-date news,” Butler added.
In the podcast’s first episode, host Georgia Birks is joined by Stuart Vokes of Vokes and Peters, and Daniel Burnett of Blok Modular, whose joint project Blok Three Sisters recently claimed the title of Australian House of the Year at the 2025 Houses Awards.
Vokes and Burnett discuss their collaborative journey in modular design and prefabrication, as well as the myriad advantages of this approach, including material and cost control, reduced construction time, and high adaptability. The conversation also delves into how modular design and prefabrication may offer solutions for two of the greatest contemporary challenges: the housing crisis and the climate crisis.
A fresh episode of Design Speaks Weekly will be delivered every Tuesday. You can listen to it on major podcast apps, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and Pocket Casts. More

The Australian Institute of Architects has opened entries for its annual Dulux Study Tour, a prize that connects Australia’s promising emerging architects with respected international sites and studios.
A jury will select five successful candidates to embark on the tour, which is scheduled to depart in May 2026.
The prize is open to Institute members who are within 10 years of graduation from an AACA-accredited master of architecture degree (or equivalent).
Judging will occur in two phases, with first-stage entrants submitting their answers to four nominated questions. Each shortlisted candidate will then be required to submit a resume, employer references and a portfolio of work.
Entrants will be judged not only on contributions to architectural practice, but also education, design excellence and community involvement.
The 10-day tour will visit acclaimed studios, innovative projects and landmark buildings across three countries, which are yet to be decided. Winners will be invited to nominate their preferred sites and practices to help shape the itinerary.
The 2025 tour saw Gumji Kang, Jimmy Carter, Kate Shepherd, Marni Reti and Nicholas Souksamrane embark on a journey through Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Barcelona.
Stage-one entries may be submitted via the online portal until 3 October 2025. Entrants shortlisted for stage two of the competition will be required to submit additional material by 15 November.
To enter, visit the Australian Institute of Architects’ website. More

The NSW government has announced that six reserves and parks along the inner Sydney Harbour have been added to the state’s heritage register in recognition of “their unique cultural, environmental and industrial histories.” According to a communique from the state government, the listing follows extensive consultation with local councils, heritage experts, and community groups.
The parklands are located around the headlands and the water planes connecting the northern and southern shores of the harbour. Collectively, they have been described as “the green necklace” – a term originating from a 2018 cultural landscape study the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects (AILA) NSW.

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The NSW government’s communique notes, “These landscapes represent the ever-evolving nature of land and water use on Sydney Harbour, showcasing the change from undisturbed bush to industrial use to green space preservation.”
“Each park and reserve has its own story that has been shaped by thousands of years of Aboriginal connection and more recent layers of industrial, artistic and community history,” the release reads. “They reflect how people have interacted with, altered, and valued the land over time.”
Minister for Heritage Penny Sharpe also noted, “They are not only green spaces but living archives of Sydney’s cultural and industrial evolution, and a reminder of the rich and enduring Aboriginal history we are surrounded by.”

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The heritage-listed parks include:

Badangi Reserve, encompassing Berrys Island Reserve and Wollstonecraft Foreshore Reserve
Ballast Point Park, a park built on a former Caltex Oil site in Birchgrove
Balls Head Reserve in Waverton, “a rare surviving natural headland” that was declared a public reserve as the result of an environmental campaign in the 1920s and 30s.
Berrys Bay (Carradah Park) in Waverton, the former site of a BP refinery
Yurulbin Park and Foreshore in Birchgrove, an early example of the transformation of industrial land to public use that recaptures the qualities of an Indigenous landscape and was also the 1994 launch site of the Australian government’s Local Government Reconciliation Program.

According to the communique, the protection of the parklands is also intended to retain the harbour’s “natural beauty for generations to come.”
“Listing these landscapes means their heritage value will be safeguarded into the future, in a context where Sydney’s built environment is fast growing. The listing is a shift away from traditional listings such as physical buildings and instead recognises the importance of a cultural landscapes and the environment in NSW’s rich history,” the release notes.

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Shape commented, “I want to acknowledge the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects for starting this listing process many years ago, and congratulate them on the wonderful outcome of their work and advocacy.”
AILA NSW president David Moir commended Sharpe’s foresight in protecting the landscapes.
“These iconic landscape elements, integral to the internationally significant Sydney Harbour setting, are foundational to the city’s identity as a global destination,” Moir said.
“Through visionary landscape planning and design, once-derelict industrial sites have been transformed into inclusive public spaces where communities can connect with nature in an increasingly urbanised environment. Their inclusion on the State Heritage Register and the commitment to their ongoing conservation reflect enduring community values and a deep respect for our shared landscape legacy.” More

A modular island home designed by Blok Modular with Vokes and Peters has been honoured as the Australian House of the Year at the 2024 Houses Awards.
Blok Three Sisters, which also won the category award for Apartment or Unit, was praised by the jury “as an example of successful experimentation not only in design, but also in procurement, assembly and – most importantly – the ways an extended family can live alongside each other.”
“Each unit is an example of the minimum needed to get the most out of this coastal location. The project is pragmatic and shows that architecture doesn’t need to be flashy,” the jury citation reads.
“Australia needs more examples of stealth density that demonstrate how our freestanding residences might gradually evolve. […] The jury felt this terrace-like, modular design was not only a successful response to this laid-back coastal setting, but also a worthy and replicable model for co-living that could be readily adapted.”
Winning the New House over 200 square metres category was Studio Bright’s Hedge and Arbour House – in the words of the jury, “an intriguing yet rigorous built form interlaced with landscaped spaces” situated on the edge of suburbia and bushland. The award for New House under 200 square metres was bestowed upon Sawmill Treehouse by Robbie Walker, which was described by the jury as “a beautiful sculpture, perched on slender columns among the trees.”
The full list of winners are as follows:
Australian House of the Year
Blok Three Sisters – Blok Modular with Vokes and Peters
New House over 200 square metres
Hedge and Arbour House – Studio Bright

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New House under 200 square metres
Sawmill Treehouse – Robbie Walker

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House Alteration and Addition over 200 square metres
Cloaked House – Trias

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House Alteration and Addition under 200 square metres
Carlton Cottage – Lovell Burton Architecture

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Apartment or Unit
Blok Three Sisters – Blok Modular with Vokes and Peters

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Small Project
Window, Window, Window – Panov Scott

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House in a Heritage Context
Mess Hall – Architecture Architecture

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Sustainability
Cake House – Alexander Symes Architect

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Emerging Architecture Practice
Ellul Architecture

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Commendations
See the 28 commended projects.
Houses Awards are organised by Architecture Media, supported by Artedomus, Blum, Brickworks, James Hardie, Roca, Fulgor Milano, Architectural Window Systems, The Heritage Council of Victoria and Latitude. More

The Queensland Chapter of the Australian Institute of Architects has announced that nominations are open for both their 2025 Dunbar Fellowship and their 2026 Philip Y. Bisset Planning (Architecture) Scholarship.
Established in honour of the late Jennifer Taylor – an architectural scholar, critic and educator – the Dunbar Fellowship supports Queensland architects and graduates to pursue research in Asia and the islands of the South Pacific (excluding Australia and New Zealand).
According to a communique from the Institute, the $30,000 award enables architects to undertake one year of structured study or research that reflects Taylor’s vision for a more outward-looking Australian architecture – one deeply engaged with the cultures, traditions and material wisdom of our nearest neighbours. The successful applicant’s findings are expected to be presented to the public and published in a report accessible to practitioners, educators, policy-makers and the wider community.
Executive director of the Queensland Chapter Anna Svensdotter commented, “This Fellowship is about expanding the field of architectural thinking and ensuring that the profession continues to evolve in response to the diverse cultures and climates of our region.”
“It’s a chance for architects to step away from project delivery and engage with deeper questions of place, heritage, ethics and innovation — and to share those learnings for the benefit of the broader public,” she said.
Open to final-year Master of Architecture students in Queensland, the Philip Y. Bisset Planning (Architecture) Scholarship supports research and travel related to planning, public architecture and civic life, with the aim of generating ideas for how the built environment can improve the lives of Queenslanders.
“The Bisset Scholarship invests in the next generation of architects as civic leaders,” Svensdotter said. “It enables students to ask bold questions about how architecture can support healthier, more inclusive, and more sustainable communities.”
Established in honour of Philip Y. Bisset, a Queensland public servant and advocate for better planning and design outcomes, the $15,000 scholarship has previously supported students’ research into community housing in Indigenous communities, post-disaster urban recovery and the transformation of waterfront public space. Presentations from the 2024 Philip Y. Bisset scholars are expected in September–October this year.
Applications for the 2025 Dunbar Fellowship and their 2026 Philip Y. Bisset Planning (Architecture) Scholarship are open until 30 September 2025. More