Architecture

Chrofi and McGregor Coxall have won a design competition for a village green and community centre in Macquarie Park, Sydney.
The project will sit at the heart of Midtown MacPark, a housing development being built by Frasers Property with designs and masterplanning by Bates Smart, Hassell, Cox and Candalepas Associates.
Along with the open space, the development includes a range of community facilities that will be open to the public.
McGregor Coxall director Philip Coxall said the design aimed to create an inclusive space where the community building, with its pool, gym and range of other amenities, sits comfortably within the landscape.
“Our design creates a dramatic place for people to explore,” he said. “The landscape and architecture amplify the experience of a sunken garden, utilizing level changes throughout the topography to create a destination worthy of exploration.”
The village green will offer a pleasant view to surrounding apartment buildings, while also offering space for community activities such as movie nights, markets and workshops. The green space will be integrated with a 25-metre swimming pool and a 434-square-metre gymnasium, available on a pay-as-you-go basis.
There will also be a mixed-use space containing a community centre, a cafe and multipurpose rooms, all connected by a verandah.
“While providing a unique aesthetic, the site maintains optimal functionality through the plaza and green space’s connectedness to the fitness and leisure amenities in the floor below,” said Coxall. “With shared swimming and exercise facilities, outdoor gardens, seating and a playground for children of all ages, the public domain provides a safe place of equal engagement and treatment for individuals from all walks of life.”
Frasers Property plans to build around 3,300 apartments at Midtown MacPark over the next 10 to 12 years. More

Richards and Spence has designed another building for James Street in Brisbane, which will provide fine-grain retail and hospitality tenancies as well as small and medium office space.
The James Street precinct is home to a number of buildings designed by the local firm, including the Calile Hotel, the Ada Lane dining strip and the West Elm shop at Wandoo Street.
With a development application submitted to council, the latest mixed-use building at 75-85 James Street promises to “mediate the scale of building between the commercial heart of the Fortitude Valley and New Farm residential, acknowledging and supporting both conditions,” according to Richards and Spence.
The five-storey building will be centred around a ground-floor plaza and captured garden, with eleven “high end” retail tenancies, a cafe and a restaurant activating the ground plane.
“Glazed shopfronts are framed by double storey brick portals to create articulation in plan,” Richards and Spence states in planning documents. “Each tenancy is expressed as a separate building as it steps up the length of the street. The public footpath transitions into a landscaped oasis with a comfortable raised level change.”

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75-85 James Street by Richards and Spence.

The site is bounded by James Street, Harcourt Street and Southwick Lane, and a number of internal laneways will create cross-block connections and lead into the central plaza. An existing timber building on the corner of James and Harcourt streets will be preserved as a neighbourhood bakery, while on the western edge a restaurant with external dining will activate the public plaza and back onto a four-metre-wide deep planting zone.
“This mature landscape allows filtered daylight into the plan while maintaining a natural buffer to adjacent residential,” states the architect.
Generous balconies will create articulation along the building’s facade, while solid balustrades will ensure privacy from the street.
The design of the office levels is flexible, incorporating opportunity for subdivision into smaller tenancies.
“Commercial office plates are designed from the inside out as ‘villages’ to optimise occupation,” notes the architect.
“Care has been taken to ensure maximisation of views and orientation with perimeter rooms each celebrating different experiences whether they be city views, northern orientation to the Calile Hotel, views to the Story Bridge and the river.” More

The Australian Institute of Architects will soon launch an online resource designed to help reinforce safety and sustainability in product specifications. The products and materials library will enhance architects’ ability to specify materials that have sustainability certifications and modern slavery registrations. The library will include links to specification documents and BIM files. “Our new Products […] More

The Victorian government has announced the four shortlisted teams that will compete to design a new museum of contemporary art and design for the National Gallery of Victoria.
The exclusively Australian design competition for NGV Contemporary called for proposals for a “global architectural landmark that demonstrates the skill and capability of the local design industry.”
“This design competition offers an extraordinary opportunity to support our country’s local design and architecture sector,” said NGV director Tony Ellwood.
Four shortlisted teams were selected by an international jury for their innovative designs, consideration of sustainability and connection to place. They are:
Angelo Candalepas and Associates: Angelo Candalepas and Associates, Aspect Studios, Carr Interiors, Andy Fergus Design Strategy, BoardGrove Architects, Richard Stampton Architects, Steensen Varming, Mott MacDonald, TTW, Affinity Fire Engineering, Freeman Ryan Design, AX Interactive, and Art of Fact
Field: Architectus, Edition Office, Durbach Block Jaggers, Openwork, Daniel Browning, Karen Milward, Lovell Chen, WSP, Finding Infinity, Surface Design, Speirs Major, and Art Processors
John Wardle Architects: John Wardle Architects, Oculus, Pierce Widera, Searle x Waldron Architecture, Greenshoot Consulting, Hecker Guthrie, Hodyl and Co, Atelier Ten, WSP, Steensen Varming, Fabio Ongarato Design, Phillip Chun, L’Observatoire International, and Mott MacDonald
Open Weave: Grimshaw, Winwood Mckenzie, Baracco and Wright, McGregor Coxall Australia, Foolscap, Relative Projects, 20-20 Studio, Flux Consultants, AECOM, Eckersley O’Callaghan, 2X4 Inc, and Paul Memmott.
To be located at 77 Southbank Boulevard, Southbank, the NGV Contemporary project will create 18,000 square metres of public space dedicated to art, design, fashion and architecture of local, national and international significance in the centre of the city.
“The new gallery is part of Australia’s largest ever cultural infrastructure project that will be at the heart of a reimagined Melbourne Arts Precinct and create thousands of local jobs,” said premier Daniel Andrews. “NGV Contemporary will showcase Australian design excellence to the world and create an extraordinary new gallery for all Victorians.”
The international jury comprised Dutch architect Francine Houben of Mecanoo, Xu Tiantian from DnA Architecture in Beijing, Australian architect Gerard Reinmuth of Terroir, Indigenous artist Maree Clarke as well as NGV director Tony Ellwood, Victorian government architect Jill Garner and architect and NGV trustee Corbett Lyon.
Shortlisted teams will now progress to the second stage of the competition to further develop their designs. The successful design team to be announced in early 2022. More

Stories and Matters, curated by Studio Juma with a critical note by Walter Guadagnini, takes its name from the homonymous still-life project that Rimadesio entrusts every year to a different photographer, with the aim of deepening corporate stylistic identity through experimental and evocative snapshots.
In this exhibition, still-life snapshots taken by photographers Santi Caleca, Nicolas Polli, Tommaso Sartori, Simone Cavadini and Frank Hülsbömer have been presented in groundbreaking video mode.
“Rimadesio is an open and curious company firmly oriented towards research and experimentation. Its spirit has allowed this project to come to life: the exploration of the expressive potential of the collection’s materials through transparencies, reflections, and infinite variations originating from light. And who better than a photographer – and his artistry in working with light – could help us in this project?
“The quality of the first photographs taken by Santi Caleca back in 2016 convinced us to repeat the experience over the following years. And so the collaboration with different photographers begins. Through their very own experience and sensitivity, they have interpreted Rimadesio’s new materials, year after year.
“An itinerant installation displays the project in new form: the photographs, translated into videos, fill the space as autonomous physical presences, each one of them with its own, unique identity”, said Paolo Mojoli, Studio Juma.
The nine classes of materials (glass, aluminum, fabric, leatherette, leather, wood, melamine, marble and Litech), with their 258 finishes, are at the center of the exhibition, in an interweaving of combinations and juxtapositions that raises concepts of customization, which has always been a founding element of Rimadesio.
The exhibition will remain open until September 30, 2021, then will be moved to the principal Rimadesio showrooms in Europe. More

Paving the way for sustainability in construction and design, Brickworks has achieved a new and important Climate Active Product Certification. An industry first and an immensely exciting feat for the Brickworks team, this opt-in program allows customers to specify and procure any clay brick or paver made in the Brickworks’ Australian facilities as a carbon neutral product.
Offering “in-built sustainability,” this initiative ensures that developers, designers, and builders can work alongside Brickworks to integrate sustainability and conscious construction into their projects. This initiative was made possible due to a comprehensive carbon audit, verified by environmental consultancy agency Energetics. To decipher the embodied energy of their products, Brickworks undertook a life cycle assessment (LCA), that has been built into Brickworks’ carbon calculator.
The process covers cradle-to-grave life cycle analysis, and within this service, the sourcing, manufacturing, delivery, and longevity of each product has been factored into the offset, ensuring an accurate and fair reading of carbon emissions. From here, Brickworks uses pre-purchased carbon credits to offset any footprint, allowing full design flexibility for consumers and designers.
Climate Active is a unique, government-backed program that enables businesses, governments, and consumers to reduce their carbon emissions. Brickworks have been working with Climate Active to examine the sourcing, manufacturing, and delivery of their products. Climate Active certifications are awarded to Australian businesses that have met rigorous requirements to achieve net zero emissions. This requires a business to certify their reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, and further offset any remaining or additional emissions by purchasing carbon offsets.
Brett Ward, general manager of international marketing at Brickworks said of the new initiative, “Brickworks’ ethos is to create beautiful products that last forever. This philosophy is centred around the premise of sustainability and environmentally conscious design. Our Climate Active certification will ensure that our customers and construction partners can lower their carbon footprint in a seamless and straightforward way. This initiative is a first for Brickworks and for the construction industry in general.”
Sustainability is at the core of the Brickworks’ business, and alongside the Carbon Neutral Initiative, Brickworks have an array of sustainable practices that shape their operations. In 2020, Brickworks launched its new sustainability strategy, “Build of Living: Towards 2025.” The strategy sets a clear pathway with measurable commitments to ensure that Brickworks will continue to have a positive environmental and social impact. In terms of carbon neutrality, longevity is key. Backed by a 100-year guarantee, the durability of Brickworks’ products reduces embodied energy by minimizing the need to replace and repair products.
As a part of the Carbon Neutral initiative, Brickworks have partnered with three main organizations. The first is the Tasmanian Native Forest, which protects Tasmanian native forests from logging and agricultural clearing. The second initiative is the Paroo River North Environmental Project, which establishes permanent native forests through assistedregeneration. The third initiative is the Northern Savanna, which is aimed at reducing dry season wildfires. Headed by the Alka Bawar (Kalpowar) Aboriginal Corporation, this organization undertakes strategic burning, with the long-term goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions caused by large-scale bushfires.
Setting the tone for the future of sustainable building and a greener Australian skyline, Brickworks’ Carbon Offsetting program marks the movement towards a more consciously considered construction future, without compromising on quality and style. More

Dubbo Regional Council has awarded the design tender for the proposed Wiradjuri Tourism Centre to Peter Stutchbury Architecture. The centre will be a display and interpretation facility for sacred Aboriginal carved trees. The council sought expressions of interest from architects, who were asked to demonstrate previous experience in the construction of Indigenous cultural centres and/or […] More

The owners of Highpoint Shopping Centre in Melbourne’s west have released a development plan for the transformation of the shopping centre and surrounding precinct over the next 30 years. Prepared by Urbis for the GPT Group, the Highpoint Urban Village plan seeks approval for a mixture of residential and commercial uses, community facilities, green open […] More