Architecture

Brickworks’ new range of GB Vertico Split Face masonry by GB Masonry offers a linear appearance and natural texture with a tactile quality. A contemporary reimagining of the traditional split face finish, the GB Vertico Split Face block has a distinctive style that fits seamlessly across a vast array of architectural styles, from mid-century projects […] More

The Herman Miller Aeron has set the benchmark for ergonomic seating since 1994, when it was designed by Bill Stumpf and Don Chadwick. The classic Aeron has been remastered to incorporate the most up-to-date and advanced ergonomic knowledge and materials. Its latest update offers not only a better chair for the user but also the environment, introducing the use of ocean-bound plastic to the body of the chair.
Living Edge will be the first Australian dealer of the Aeron task chair. The design aligns with its sustainable initiative, Living On. Since the inception of Living On in 2008, Living Edge has become a leader in sustainability within Australia’s high-end furniture market, and continues to reduce its environmental footprint through partnering with like-minded businesses such as Herman Miller.
With an estimated eight million tons of plastic entering the ocean each year, plastic waste in oceans is a growing cause for concern. Herman Miller partnered with Next Wave to play an active role in the ocean plastic issue by transforming this waste into a recyclable material used within the Aeron chair.

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The Aeron chair has been re-engineered to contain ocean-bound plastic, which is categorised as abandoned, mismanaged waste found 50 km off a coastline. By redirecting and reforming this material, Herman Miller is estimated to save 150 tonnes of plastic from entering and contaminating oceans each year.
Sourced from India and Indonesia, ocean-bound plastic is collected, ground, washed and pelletized before being sold to manufacturers who then incorporate this new material into product designs.
As a result, this sustainability initiative creates a supply-chain for ocean-bound plastic within these local communities, ultimately encouraging the collection of waste and creating employment opportunities.
The new updates to the Aeron task chair are part of Herman Miller’s Next Wave plastics membership, its ongoing commitment to sustainability, and long-term goal to increase recycled content to at least 50% by 2030.
“The unwavering alliance between Living Edge and Herman Miller highlights our unanimous commitment to protecting the environment through conscious and sustainable design,” says Living Edge CEO Aidan Mawhinney.
“From becoming the first Herman Miller dealer in the world to offset transportation emissions in 2009, to now being the first stockist nation-wide to feature the next generation of ocean-bound plastic Aeron chairs, Living Edge is incredibly proud of the relationship we have cultivated with Herman Miller through our shared values and passion for authentic, original and sustainable design.”
The Aeron chair comes in four distinct tonal colourways inspired by elements of the Earth. Onyx is an ultra-black shade, offering a modern edge to the classic shape. Graphite is a quintessential darker grey with a textured finish, while Carbon is a neutral stone colour that adapts to both warm and cool environments. The last and lightest shade is Mineral, which highlights Aeron’s finer details.
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Mode and HSPC Health Architects have prepared designs for a eight-storey private hospital at Mundoo Boulevard, Maroochydore on the Sunshine Coast, with plans submitted to the Queensland government. The $100 million development will include surgical facilities as well as allied medical and teaching facilities. Developer Barwon Investment Partners said that the University of the Sunshine […] More

The Victorian planning minister Richard Wynne has taken the fate of Melbourne’s heritage-listed Shell House, designed by the late Harry Seilder, into his own hands after calling in a development application to constructed a new tower on the site of the existing northern plaza.
The proposed 33-storey tower designed by Ingehoven and Architectus would be taller than the existing Shell House and would require the partial demolition of the building.
Heritage Victoria refused the permit application in August 2021. The executive director of Heritage Victoria, Steven Avery said the demolition of the northern plaza “would permanently and irreversibly demolish original fabric and spaces, and would significantly diminish the legibility of Harry Seidler’s original concept and design of the place.”
The proposed tower “would dominate the north section of the place and almost entirely block views to the north elevation of the tower,” continued Avery, who considered the proposal to be “an overdevelopment of the heritage place.”
In September, the proponents requested a review of the executive director’s determinations. The minister informed Heritage Council of Victoria he would call in the application on 11 November and, as such, a scheduled Heritage Council hearing to review the determination has been cancelled.

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A proposed second tower on the site of 1 Spring Street designed by Ingenhoven and Architectus.

The Australian Institute of Architects Victorian chapter took the unusual step to make an objection to the application, when it was advertised earlier in 2021, warning the construction of “a second tower on the site “would result in irreversible damage to a significant heritage place that actually helps define the high quality environment of Melbourne.”
The National Trust also objected to the application. “It would have an adverse and irreversible impact on the heritage significance of the place, and … this impact is not justified by the case for reasonable or economic use,” said Felicity Watson, the National Trust’s executive manager, advocacy.
Shell House was completed in 1989 and won the 1991 RAIA National Award for Commercial Architecture as well as a state award. It was added to the Victorian Heritage Register in 2017.

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A proposed second tower on the site of 1 Spring Street designed by Ingenhoven and Architectus.

The proponents for the second tower claim that the site is “underdeveloped” and that a new tower is appropriate. However, the Institute argued that “The site is purposefully designed to have a tower sitting amongst two plazas, it does not consider an additional tower and was not envisaged as an underdevelopment of the site, rather it was considered as an appropriate development of all of the site in a holistic vision.”
The application also calls for demolition of a conference centre and theatrette on the lower floors. “The demolition of the theatrette, and other key workplace support spaces to the base of this building is a significant loss to the building’s design vision,” the Institute said. “The theatrette is beautifully designed space that reinforces the design of the approach of the building. It also has a number of signature Seidler design elements such as the curvaceous battened ceiling that link it to other Seidler theatre/auditorium projects of this period.”

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A proposed second tower on the site of 1 Spring Street designed by Ingenhoven and Architectus.

“The new tower will result in the loss of the urban public plaza open to the sky, the loss of the reading of the sinuous geometric form and expressed stairs from the Street, the loss of the theatrette for both private and public use and, critically, the loss of the original design intent.”
The design of the proposed tower has been endorsed by a number of experts, including Greg Holman from Harry Seidler and Associates, architectural historian Philip Goad, and the Victorian Government Architect Design Review Panel.
However, the Institute and the National Trust both argue in separate submissions that support for the current design proposal is “irrelevant.”
“We believe that the correct question to be asked is not how the redevelopment should proceed, but whether it should proceed, with respect to the heritage values of the place, as protected under the Heritage Act 2017,” the National Trust said. “With due respect to the experts that have been consulted as part of this application, including the office of Harry Seidler and Associates, this commentary is therefore of limited value in relation to the fundamental question of whether the development is appropriate.”
The Institute said, “It is the Australian Institute of Architects’ opinion that, irrespective of the quality of the design outcome being proposed, no significant modification to this heritage listed project is appropriate.”
Victorian planning minister Richard Wynne told The Age, “Calling in the application means the heritage permit and development applications can be considered in tandem in a single forum. The Heritage Council will provide a report on the amended application that will inform the decision.” More

HVG has acquired the business of Wilsonart Australia from AICA Kogyo Co Ltd. Wilsonart Australia manufactures low-pressure melamine (LPM) panels and cabinet doors and is located in Somerton, Victoria.
HVG CEO Bruce Rayment said, “We are excited by the growth potential of the business and the opportunities that this vertical integration opens up for us. Wilsonart/AICA have been a partner since 2012, and we look forward to working together, maximizing sales of their brands in the Australian and New Zealand markets into the future. All of the existing staff are being retained and there are opportunities for them to grow in the wider HVG business. For our existing customers, and those that have been dealing directly with Wilsonart Australia, we look forward to continuing to serve them with an expanding product range in the years ahead.”
The current Wilsonart Australia CEO Andrew Janka said, “We could not have found a better business to take over Wilsonart Australia than our long-term Australian partner HVG. They have demonstrated a long-term commitment to the brand in Australia, and they are the right people to drive the business forward into the future.”
The acquisition is expected to be completed before the Christmas break, after which existing direct customers of Wilsonart Australia will be serviced by an expanded HVG Building Pty Ltd sales and specification team.
“The acquisition of Wilsonart Australia is a clear and positive next step in the growth of the Wilsonart Brands and the wider HVG business. This move will ensure stability in supply, improved quality and lead times and a better focused range offer in the products that are manufactured in Australia. It will also ensure that the LPM manufactured by HVG Manufacturing in the future will be from a fully Australian owned company,” Mr Rayment said.
The HVG group of companies are privately owned Australian businesses that import and distribute building facade products, engineered stone, melamine panels, cabinet doors, graphics media, performance fabrics, and decorative building products. HVG distributes across multiple sectors, including residential, commercial and industrial construction, caravan manufacturing, agriculture, print, exhibition and display industries.
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James Hardie has partnered with Nathanael Preston and Daniel Lane of Preston Lane Architects on a conceptual collaboration that explores possibilities for an Edwardian single-fronted, two-storey terrace addition – Zig-Zag House in inner-city Melbourne – using Hardie Fine Texture Cladding and the supporting range of corner and junction accessories. “The experimental nature of this collaboration […] More