Architecture

Kingspan has agreed to fund a clean-up mission by Australian clean-tech start-up Seabin, using Seabin’s pioneering technology to collect microplastics and other ocean debris from the water.
Kingspan provides energy-efficient building envelope solutions and high-performance insulation products for buildings, as well as rainwater harvesting, wastewater treatment, and energy storage. The partnership with Seabin is the result of Kingspan’s 10-year Planet Passionate global sustainability program, which includes a commitment to supporting five ocean clean-up projects around the world by 2025.
Seabin has classified Jones Bay Wharf, located in Sydney, as a high-volume marine litter accumulation point. Seabin recently conducted a pilot program in Sydney that collected more than 16 tonnes of marine debris and filtered more than 3.2 billion litres of water for microplastics, plastic, fibres, oil and other contaminants. The partnership with Kingspan will result in almost 1.3 tonnes of marine debris, the equivalentof 31,000 plastic straws, being collected from the Kingspan sponsored Seabin unit at Jones Bay Marina, as part of Seabin’s Sydney Smart City Program.
Seabin is now replicating its model around the world, with the goal of reaching 100 cities by 2050. Commercial partnerships, such as the one with Kingspan, will help Seabin achieve its aims by providing funding for environmental technicians to service and maintain the units, collect data, engage with local communities, and facilitate educational events. Kingspan plans to support a second Seabin unit in Los Angeles in 2022.
Seabin’s 100 Smart Cities Program – Sydney is the second ocean clean-up project to receive support as part of Kingspan’s Planet Passionate commitment. In 2019, Kingspan began a three-year partnership with the ECOALF Foundation to remove up to 150 tonnes of waste from the Mediterranean each year through the foundation’s network of fishermen. Kingspan is using as much of the ocean plastic recovered as possible in its production.
Pete Ceglinski, CEO and co-founder of Seabin, said, “Having a multi-national like Kingspan come on board and support our mission of cleaner oceans is nothing short of inspiring and an example for others to follow. The team and I look forward to working with Kingspan here in Sydney, and over in LA as we scale our operations to increase our positive impact across the globe.”
Bianca Wong, global head of sustainability at Kingspan, said, “Kingspan is delighted to partner with Seabin as part of our Planet Passionate program. Protecting the natural environment is a key focus of this program, and Kingspan is excited to work with Seabin to help improve ocean health and remove pollutants from waterways around the world.”
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Quality building products supplier Brickworks has opened a global flagship design studio on New York’s iconic 5th Avenue. Measuring 1,500 m², the Brickworks New York Design Studio provides architects, designers and homeowners with an upscale, stylish space to collaborate on projects, explore premium products and attend industry-leading events. The state-of-the-art studio offers the architecture and […] More

Corian White Onyx was used for curved elements in the recent clinic expansion of Lumiere Cosmetic Clinic. The medical aesthetic institution is one of the largest in Sydney thanks to the Level 3 addition. Level 3 has inherited some of the original design style – such as the use of timber, white and grey colours, […] More

Chairity Project to relaunch during Melbourne Design Week 2022 Cult’s Chairity Project will return to Melbourne Design Week, with 18 creatives from multiple design disciplines reimagining Hay’s Result chair for two nationwide exhibits and one “chair”-ity auction. Cult founder and director Richard Munao sees the project as a positive step forward from a challenging two […] More

The National Gallery of Victoria has announced a new series of major commissions that will showcase significant work of internationally renowned female designers and architects.
The five-year series, made possible through a significant contribution from cosmetics retailer Mecca, aims to champions and elevate women in art and design.
The gallery made the announcement on International Women’s Day in 2022 and also revealed Mexican architect Tatiana Bilbao has been commissioned for the inaugural exhibition, which will be be unveiled in September. The gallery intends to reveal commissioned designers each year coinciding with International Women’s Day.
“Tatiana Bilbao’s is a compelling voice from outside of the traditional canon of architecture, offering a unique perspective on both its history and its future. A woman from North America, an advocate and a spokesperson for change, Bilbao creates work that is as intellectually rigorous as it is visually dynamic,” said Tony Ellwood, director of the NGV.
Bilbao established Tatiana Bilbao Studio in 2004, based in Mexico City. Her work spans a number of typologies from institutional to residential and low-cost housing, as well as urban planning and landscape design. She has been an advisor in the Ministry of Development and Housing of the Government of the Federal District of Mexico City.
Her studio focuses on challenging historical conventions and making spaces more inclusive and people-oriented. She often collaborates with other architects, artists, communities, as well as business people to enrich the culture and built landscape of Mexico.
She presented at the 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale and her has also been collected by the Centre Pompidou in Paris and the Art Institute of Chicago.

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Collage by Tatiana Bilbao.

Bilbao often uses collage, drawing and model-making in her work and her commission for the NGV will create a large-scale installation that will combine textiles and architectural structure.
“I am deeply honoured and grateful to have been chosen for the Women in Design Commission by the NGV and Mecca. This is contributing in many ways to advance the discourse of the importance of opening channels for people that have been left out of opportunities. When chosen, I took this responsibility very seriously and I am truly thankful for the opportunity.”
The Mecca x NGV Women in Design Commission will provide a platform for topical and world-premiere works. “The ongoing Women in Design Commission will highlight the ground-breaking work of women in this field from Australia and around the world, as well as strengthening the NGV Collection for future generations,” Ellwood said.
The contribution from Mecca is the biggest the company has made to any Australian cultural institution.
The 2022 Mecca x NGV Women in Design Commission will open in September 2022 and close in March 2023. More

Methven predicts that in 2022 the focus for the bathroom, more than any other room in the home, will incorporate key wellness and self-care trends, with an emphasis on the importance of creating harmony. Focusing on quality items that last and provide comfort above all else will be the priority. Trends for 2022 dictate that […] More

Smart Design Studio has designed an “imaginative” revamp of a heritage-listed former apartment building for a private girls school in Sydney’s Darlinghurst. Wilkinson house at 215 Forbes Street was constructed in 1928 and originally designed by Emil Sodersten (who lends his name to the top award for interior architecture at the National Architecture Awards, of […] More

The site of the former Perth Girls School in East Perth is set to become a vertical residential community, under plans to redevelop the site submitted to Development WA.
The precinct designed by MJA Studio and Nic Brunsdon will see more than 700 residential dwellings across four towers including 500 build-to-rent apartment, 242 build-to-sell apartments and 100 affordable housing units.
The project will also see the former Perth Girls School buildings converted into office spaces for creative industries, restaurants and cafes, art gallery spaces, and a yoga studio in the turret.
A microbrewery and forecourt designed by Cast Studio (formerly David Barr Architects) and Benson Studio will also be created on the site.
The precinct will also include two park, each connecting to adjacent existing public parks. Mala Studio is the landscape architect for the project.
The site is bisected by an existing road – Bronte Street, with two 25-storey towers housing build-to-sell apartments on the south site, which also contains the former Perth Girls School buildings.

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The redevelopment of the former Perth Girls’ School site designed by MJA Studio and Nic Brunsdon.

“Designed as two ‘siblings’, rather than twins, both build-to-sell towers share common traits and mannerisms that help reflect the symmetry of PGS and it’s vertical rhythms,” the architects said in a design statement. “A palette of colours are considerately integrated between both the towers and the PGS, reflects existing colours found within the heritage buildings.”
Two towers housing build-to-rent apartments, 15 and 37 storeys respectively will be built on the north site.
The 15-storey build-to-rent tower to the north will be a breezeway typology, “conceived as a heavy limestone block, with a cleave through its centre, creating a dark, verdant, and lush environment,” the architects said. “It is a space for vertical and horizontal circulation, encouraging incidental interactions and pedestrian movement between floors. It is seen as counter to the hard, and ordered building edges, a more private and cool space bringing small increments of domestic living into this semi-public space.”

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The redevelopment of the former Perth Girls’ School site designed by MJA Studio and Nic Brunsdon.

The facade design of the taller build-to-rent tower will be an inversion of the southern towers. A supermarket will be semi-underground beneath the proposed park on the north site.
The two northern towers will be connected by a podium housing a “mobility hub,” which is currently proposed to contain 400 car parks over three levels owing to Perth’s car dependency, however, the spaces are designed to be adaptable and can be converted in the future into apartments, flexible working spaces, or indoor urban agriculture.
The project will be developed by Australian Development Capital with Assemble and Housing Choices Australia to deliver the build-to-rent and affordable housing. More