Architecture

The iconic domed former headquarters of Forestry Tasmania in Hobart is set to be transformed into a learning spaces for the University of Tasmania, under a development proposal submitted to the city council.
The multi-award-winning building on Melville Street comprises two original 1930s warehouses with a 22-metre-diametre glass dome designed by Circa Morris-Nunn Chua Architects in 1997. The restoration project received the RAIA Tasmania Recycled Buildings Award in 1998 and is also now listed on the state heritage register.
Forestry Tasmania vacated the building in 2017 and the building was almost partially demolished under a Tasmania Police proposal to alter the premises for its own headquarters. The University of Tasmania purchased the site in 2018.
Woods Bagot are working closely with architect Robert Morris-Nunn on new designs to restore the building, which includes plans to replant an urban forest that once stood underneath the dome.
“Seeing the building fall into disuse over the last few years has been really sad, so to know that the University is planning to restore it, and even reinstate the forest under the dome, is amazing news,” Morris-Nunn said.
“The dome was built in the 1990s, added on to an existing structure that dates back to the 1930s, and that dome has been deemed to have enough merit that it is now included in the overall heritage listing for the building.
“It’s the first time anything I’ve built has been heritage listed. So it’s nice to know that legacy is now going to be preserved and given new life.”

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The proposed refurbishment of the former Forestry Tasmania headquarters for the University of Tasmania, designed by Woods Bagot. Image:

Courtesy University of Tasmania

The refurbished building will form part of the Midtown precinct of University of Tasmania’s plans to move its campus to the Hobart CBD. It will be home to students and staff of law, business and economics.
“We are creating a very sustainable and beautiful building by retrofitting an existing space with a low carbon and circular design that makes extensive use of timber,” said Phil Leersen, University of Tasmania’s executive director of campus transformation.
“The design celebrates Hobart’s architectural heritage, scale and character. The building will provide great contemporary learning spaces for students that support our mission to make higher education more accessible.
“We are delighted to be restoring community access to an iconic Hobart space for everyone to enjoy. By bringing a major disused building back to life we will bring vitality and character to this part of the city.”
The redevelopment plans also include extensive green spaces linking inside and outside.
“The garden was always part of the intention for the space as I designed it, and to see it brought back to life to be enjoyed by the community will be wonderful,” Morris-Nunn said. More

Las Palmas, Byron emerged from an exceptional set of circumstances, embedded in the rolling hills of the Byron Bay hinterland and linked to the iconic Fenner House in Canberra, designed by modernist architect Robin Boyd. With such an enviable brief, Sydney architecture firm Duo Architects in association with Davis Architects aspired to create a home […] More

The full speaker line-up has been revealed for The Architecture Symposium, returning to Brisbane as part of the 2022 Asia Pacific Architecture Festival in March.
The symposium is exploring the overall theme of the festival, “Co-operate, co-design, co-exist,” and will include nine speakers from the Asia Pacific region, appearing both physically and remotely.
“We consider how architects and designers can leverage the myriad opportunities of working collectively – with other built environment professionals as well as with those working outside the industry,” say the organizers.
The speakers are:
Daniel Boyd, artist (Sydney, Australia)
Sanitas Pradittasnee, Sanitas Studio (Bangkok, Thailand)
Elisapeta Heta, Jasmax (Auckland, New Zealand)
Benjamin Mendoza, BAAD Studio (Makati, Philippines)
Amanda Sturgeon, Mott MacDonald (Sydney, Australia)
Marina Tabassum, Marina Tabassum Architects (Dhaka, Bangladesh)
Luke Hayward, Atelier Luke (Byron Bay, Australia and Kyoto, Japan)
Erika Nakagawa, Erika Nakagawa Office (Yokohama, Japan)
Song Yehao, SUP Atelier and School of Architecture, Tsinghua University (Beijing, China)
The symposium will be held at State Library of Queensland on Friday 18 March. For further information and to purchase tickets, head here.
The Architecture Symposium is a Design Speaks program presented by Architecture Media, publisher of ArchitectureAU. More

A $187 million “tourism and lifestyle” precinct surrounding an artificial surf lake has been given the green light by Livingstone Shire Council.
The Surf Lakes resort, designed by specialist aquatic architecture firm Liquid Blu and Place Design Group, will be built on a 37-hectare site between Yeppoon and Rockhampton, with Baga National Park as its backdrop.
Around the already existing artificial surf lake, the development will deliver accommodation, restaurants, cafes and bars, a surf shop, a scuba hole, a skate park and a solar farm.
The approved first stage of the project includes the delivery of a caravan park with cabins and camping sites, while a 75-room hotel is planned for a subsequent stage of development.

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The Surf Lake pavilion by Liquid Blu with Place Design Group. Image:

Liquid Blu

The major built component of the first stage is the entry pavilion, which will function as a welcome space for the surf lake, housing a series of programmable “pods” to support lake operations.
“The Pavilion roof creates large indoor/outdoor public areas and generous levels of shade whilst appearing to float above the pods,” a design statement reads. “Pods provide opportunities for informal gathering, flexible navigation and a more seamless experience. Further, orientation and arrangement improves site lines and views of the lake and allows for greater integration into the site over a traditional solid building mass.”
The pavilion and the accommodation cabins will be designed to complement each other, with both formed of timber and tin.
“The use of timber is extensive and assists in grounding both the pavilion and cabins in their natural environment providing buildings with an environmentally sensitive natural aesthetic whilst maintaining an extremely low embodiment of energy,” the design team note.

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The existing surf lake with Baga National Park in the background.

Livingstone mayor Andy Ireland said the development would be a drawcard for locals, interstate, and international visitors.
“The Surf Lakes project has continually been unfolding and developing in recent years and today’s meeting marks a major step forward in bringing this fantastic tourism drawcard to life,” he said of the decision to approve the project.
“Council understands the hugely positive impact this development would have on the Livingstone Shire region, placing us on the national and international map for world-class tourism facilities, while also providing a massive economic benefit with job creation during construction and once in operation.”
The project will require further planning approvals as the development proceeds. More

City of Melbourne councillors have unanimously supported an amended proposal for a 130-metre tower in Melbourne’s Southbank. The council has previously twice rejected proposals for the site at 344 City Road, before the state planning minister approved a scheme by Hayball in 2016. The new proposal, designed by Warren and Mahoney, seeks to replace the […] More

The developer behind the proposal to demolish and replace the modernist MLC office building in North Sydney is pushing ahead with the plan, despite the NSW arts minister’s decision to place the building on the state heritage register in 2021.
Oxford Investa Property Partners resubmitted a development application to the North Sydney Council on 17 December 2021, with a letter from heritage consultant firm Vault Heritage Consulting positing that the demolition of the building remained an appropriate development outcome, despite the heritage listing.
Vault director Malcom Elliot writes that demolition is warranted “because consideration of the heritage impacts cannot be evaluated in isolation and must be balanced against other planning considerations, including the relevant considerations and objectives of the EP&A Act, which promote the orderly and economic use and development of land.”
When demolition was first proposed in 2020, the 1956 building, designed by Bates, Smart and McCutcheon, was only listed on the local heritage register. The proponents argued at the time that refurbishment would not be economically viable, and that the condition of the building meant it would essentially need to be re-built as a “fake replica.”
Bates Smart, also the architect of the building’s proposed replacement, a 27-storey office tower, noted at the time that it had worked with the owner of the building for more than a decade to find a way to refurbish it, but the plan was eventually deemed unviable.

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Proposed MLC replacement in North Sydney, designed by Bates Smart.

“Bates Smart are highly aware of the importance and legacy of this pioneering piece of architecture,” the firm said in planning documents. “Our aim is to design a building in the spirit of MLC that is as pioneering for the 21st century as MLC was for the late 20th century, creating a new legacy for North Sydney in the 21st century.”
But the proposal caused an uproar, with heritage advocates including the National Trust and Docomomo Australia launching a campaign to save the building.
On 2 June 2021, NSW arts minister Don Harwin accepted recommendations from the Heritage Council of NSW and the Independent Planning Commission to heritage list the building. The planning commission had earlier found that cost estimations for the refurbishment of the building were likely an overestimate and that refurbishment would not create a fake replica, but would rather keep the building’s heritage significance at state level.
The resubmitted development application currently before North Sydney Council largely restates the reasons for demolition given in the original application.
The letter from Vault Heritage Consulting notes that, “The state cultural heritage significance attributed to the MLC Building…particularly in relation to the ‘curtain wall façade and terracotta glazed bricks’ will be reduced as the heritage fabric will likely need to be wholly replaced with new building fabric should be being be retained.”
The letter also notes the substantial changes made to the original building fabric and “the competitive commercial office market extant within North Sydney and the apparent deficiencies of the c.1950s design of the MLC Building against more contemporary commercial offerings in terms of environmental performance, occupant facilities etc.”
For these reasons, Vault says, demolition is supportable subject to conditions, including that certain architectural features are preserved and that full photographic archival recording is undertaken before demolition.
The resubmitted development application is viewable here. More

The owner of the early 20th century Shelbourne Hotel at 200-202 Sussex Street, Sydney is proposing to build a 150-metre tower above the heritage pub, with architecture practice Turner preparing concept drawings. In an application to the NSW planning department, Ethos Urban, on behalf of Towncorp, notes that the development could re-establish the hotel as […] More

The Asia Pacific Architecture Festival (APAF) returns to Brisbane from 12 to 25 March 2022 with the theme “co-operate, co-design, co-exist.”
Through a program of exhibitions, installations, symposia, lectures and workshops, the festival will explore collaborative approaches to design and architecture in the region.
“A rich collage of cultures, the Asia Pacific is also a collective with shared histories and challenges,” the theme description reads. “How can co-operative approaches to design celebrate its myriad traditions, environments and trajectories?”
Curated by Cox Architecture director Christina Cho and Architecture Media associate editor Georgia Birks, the festival will be based in Brisbane with satellite events in Queensland’s regions. For the first time, there will also be events held further afield in the Asia Pacific.

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the Tapestry Design Prize for Architects 2021 Finalists Exhibition will show as part of the festival.

Highlights include The Architecture Symposium, featuring leading voices in architecture from Thailand, the Philippines, Japan and Bangladesh; the Environments of Tomorrow speaker session, presenting a range of perspectives on the state of India’s built environment; Paul Memmott’s lecture on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Housing in Queensland; Tim Ross and Kit Warhurst’s “Man About the Poole House Sherwood” show; and the Tapestry Design Prize for Architects 2021 Finalists Exhibition.
APAF is a collaboration between the State Library of Queensland and Architecture Media, publisher of ArchitectureAU. The annual festival celebrates architecture’s contribution to the culture, sustainability and economy of the Asia Pacific region.
Architecture Media editorial director Katelin Butler said this year’s theme spoke to the necessity of collaboration between architects, designers, clients, cultural representatives and technical experts.
“It will take a myriad of minds to unlock ways to deepen cultural understanding, alleviate environmental destruction and address the globe’s greatest challenges,” she said.

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Two To The Valley is a photographic exhibition featuring the work of former Brisbane city councillor and now painter David Hinchliffe. Image:

David Hinchliffe

“As we strive for a more sustainable and inclusive future, it’s imperative our architects and designers commit to looking through an alternate lens. Collectively, their impact can and will be stronger and more powerful.”
State librarian Vicki McDonald said the theme aligned with State Library’s commitment to collect, preserve and make accessible an inclusive picture of Queensland’s diverse history and people.
“State Library is a cultural institution of global influence, committed to sharing and celebrating the authentic stories of all Queenslanders now and into the future,” she said.
“With its impressive open spaces and striking façade, our award-winning South Bank building is a hub for ideas and possibilities.”
“We’re pleased to partner with Architecture Media to welcome globally renowned architects and designers as they share their insights on the benefits of cooperative and collaborative design.”
The curators of the 2022 APAF program are:

Christina Cho, director, Cox Architecture; board member, Queensland’s Institute of Modern Art; adjunct professor and advisory board member, University of Queensland School of Architecture
Georgia Birks, associate editor, Architecture Media; member, Australian Institute of Architects First Nations Cultural Reference Panel and the City of Melbourne’s Design Excellence Advisory Committee.

See the program here. More