Architecture

An award-winning Paddington townhouse, designed by late Sydney architect Ken Woolley as a home for him and his wife, has been added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register.
Known as the Woolley Townhouse or Paddington House, the residence at 8A Cooper Street was completed in 1980 and served as the home of Woolley and his wife, Virginia Braden Woolley, for seven years. It is the third and final residence that Woolley designed for personal use.
From the street, the house appears as a walled compound, but from the rear garden, a dramatic round tower soars the full height of the three-storey structure. The house is regarded as a love letter to Woolley’s wife, its sinuous form inspired by her love of the grand piano and her dream of becoming a concert pianist.
In August 2025, the Heritage Council of NSW announced the house was under consideration for state heritage listing, describing it as “an early demonstration of his [Woolley’s] capacity to combine postmodern characteristics with Sydney School design.” As a result of this process, the council has granted the listing, recognising the project as “an outstanding example of postmodern domestic design” and “a testament to Woolley’s enduring legacy.”
Sally Barnes, chair of the Heritage Council of NSW, said the heritage listing ensures the conservation and proper recognition of the townhouse’s beauty and distinct character.
“From office towers to civic squares, churches to townhouses, Ken Woolley’s range was extraordinary. His talent is on full display in the home he created for Virginia,” said Barnes.
“Beyond its eye-catching design lies a story of love and creativity. I hope this listing inspires architects – both emerging and established – to look beyond the drafting table and think outside the box when imagining their project.”
In a 2020 Revisited article for Houses, Peter Salhani spoke with Ken Woolley’s eldest daughter, Anna Woolley, who shared fond memories of the home. “The bedrooms had a cosy cubby-house feel to them. They weren’t big, but you felt incredibly safe. There was nothing at all showy about the house but it was very interesting. That’s a reflection of Dad’s quiet nature and his brilliant attention to detail,” Anna said. More

Bates Smart and Richards and Spence’s proposal for a three-tower development for Aria Property Group in South Brisbane has been greenlit for development by Brisbane City Council. According to Bates Smart director Mathieu le Sueur, it is the first project to be approved under Brisbane City Council’s new height limits for the suburb.
Across three towers ranging in height from 24 to 50 storeys, the project will deliver 678 new dwellings, a 216-room hotel and 21,000 square metres of retail space. Over the past few years, the architects had developed several iterations of the proposal, including one with three 12-storey towers and another featuring a single 17-storey tower.

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At almost 7,300 square metres, the consolidated site at 164 Melbourne Street has three street frontages, with two heritage-listed places at either corner. These include the former Bond’s Sweets Factory, a 1951 Art Deco building at the Manning Street corner, and Malouf’s fruit shop and residence, built in 1913, at the Edmonstone Street corner.
The approved development will involve the restoration and retrofit of these two buildings into retail and hospitality tenancies. In addition, small-scale high-street retail will be located along the site’s edges. A network of pedestrian laneways, which includes a “dry route” between unflooded evacuation points in times of flooding ­– will permeate the podium, leading to a central “urban meadow” and amphitheatre, as well as various other courtyards and further retail and dining.

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Le Sueur said the project “represents an evolution of density and ground plane activation in the South Brisbane neighbourhood.”
Co-founder of Richards and Spence Ingrid Richards added, “By incorporating publicly accessible private spaces throughout the precinct, residents and visitors alike are offered places for relaxation, recreation, and connection.”
“The masterplan balances density with generosity – increased height enabling an enriched ground plane of activity and openness, where a network of laneways, vibrant landscaping, public art, and retail together create a layered and adaptable public realm,” she added.

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The architectural language of the podium draws on that of the heritage buildings, with a contemporary brick facade designed to provide a flexible framework as well as a fine-grain street character. Above, the tower forms are designed to be articulated with ventilated corridors, planted facades and climate-appropriate shading devices. The towers will each host a series of communal recreation spaces and rooftop amenities, including a suite of pools, private and shared dining spaces, hot and cold spas, saunas, a gym, a half-court, a multi-purpose room, a cinema, and treatment areas.
In Richard’s words, “Melbourne and Manning demonstrate the capacity for a private commission to deliver public value.” More

Big Glow by Studio Truly Truly
Constructed from non-woven wool and plant- based compostable fibre, Big Glow is both a sculptural light and acoustic feature. Designed and manufactured in Victoria, the panels are formed under heat and the soft wadding is transformed into translucent panels, which create a diffuse glow. Visit website.
Acerbis Lokum tables by Sabine Marcelis
Crafted with smoky blown glass, the Lokum collection by Dutch designer Sabine Marcelis evokes ethereal charm. Tables are available in square or rectangular forms and two tonal finishes, each piece reflecting the designer’s refined control of material transparency and minimalist design. Visit website.

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Gelato portable lamp by Carlo Nason
Originally a 1960s wired table lamp, Gelato is now a cordless, dimmable LED light reimagined by Carlo Nason and Established and Sons. Charged via magnetic USB-C, it combines coloured blown glass with haptic dimming and comes in four finishes: Spritz (pictured), Mint, Azure and Smoke. Visit website.

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Lola sun lounger by Alta × Stephen Baker
The Lola sun lounger is a collaborative piece by Alta Interiors and Melbourne-based artist Stephen Baker. Inspired by a painting from Baker’s personal collection, the piece blurs the line between utility and art. Lola features a UV powdercoated aluminum frame that ensures durability while remaining lightweight. Visit website.

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Neva Fade carpet from Tsar Carpets
Neva Fade by Tsar Carpets features a horizontal gradient with an earthy tonality that shifts from deep brown to grey. Hand-tufted from New Zealand wool and tencel, the 7–9 millimetre pile combines loop and cut textures. Sizing and colour personalisation is also available to complement any room. Visit website.

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Collette lounge chair by Adam Goodrum
Collette, meaning “collar” in French, is a chair distinguished by its prominent collared back, with a form that evokes the elegance of traditional Vietnamese script. Crafted from ash timber in a range of stains, it features a meticu- lously upholstered leather seat. The range is designed by Adam Goodrum for District Eight. Visit website.

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Twill Table from Design By Them
The Twill Table features colour-matched powdercoated aluminium legs and flint-finished laminate tops with a rounded-square silhouette. Conceived by Australian design duo Gibson Karlo for Design By Them, the table is available in rust red, pale eucalypt, soft white, silk grey and black. Visit website.

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Class Collection by Sebastian Herkner
Inspired by the classic lamppost, the Class Collection of outdoor lights features fluted glass tubes set in black aluminium shafts. Designed by Sebastian Herkner for Vibia, they emit a diffuse, ambient glow. The timeless form reinterprets twentieth-century design with updated materials and soft illumination. Visit website.

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Anni Oat Floor Rug from Baya Living
The Anni Oat Floor Rug comprises a hand- tufted 100 percent wool base with alternating cut and loop pile to create tactile linework. Its neutral tonality, plush 18 mm pile and offset linear texture deliver warmth and bring a sense of understated luxury to all contemporary interiors. Visit website.

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Loden Collection by Vico Magistretti
Initially produced by Gavina in 1961, Vico Magistretti’s Loden armchair and sofa have been reissued by Kettal. The timber frame, curved armrests and upholstered seat recall the restrained elegance of the ’60s. The name and material reference Magistretti’s fondness for Loden wool and its cultural cachet. Visit website.

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A state significant development application has been lodged for a $2.2 billion masterplanned community featuring eight residential towers in Sydney’s Inner West.
The proposal would deliver 1,336 new homes across towers ranging from six to 37 storeys on a 3.14-hectare site at 1 King St, Concord West, adjacent to the Concord West Train Station. Currently occupied by a single large warehouse, the site was identified for redevelopment in the NSW Department of Planning’s Parramatta Road Corridor Urban Transformation Strategy.
Named Concord Central, the project is being developed by Billbergia and joint venture partner Metrics Credit Partners, and was masterplanned and designed by executive architect Group GSA with additional architecture by Fitzpatrick and Partners, Carter Williamson and Lachlan Seegers Architect, and landscape architecture by McGregor Coxall.
According to a communique from Group GSA, the public domain is set to be activated with retail outlets, a supermarket, food and beverage offerings, medical facilities and a childcare centre at ground level. The plans also accommodate 8,750 square metres of open space, including a 4,130-square-metre central park and a green network that runs through the community. Play areas, community gardens and 316-metre pedestrian and cycle link also form part of the proposal.

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The community is divided into three neighbourhood precincts. The Station Precinct, designed by Group GSA and Lachlan Seegers Architect, comprises three towers atop a podium that contains the majority of food and beverage outlets, as well as the childcare centre. The Park Neighbourhood, featuring three buildings designed by Fitzpatrick and Partners, accommodates communal and wellness spaces alongside the central park. The Urban Edge, designed by Carter Williamson, offers terrace-style apartments across two buildings.
Group GSA director Lisa-Maree Carrigan said the design was guided by ideals of connection and community. She commented, “We’ve created a series of human-scaled streets and open spaces that link residents directly to transport, green space and the daily amenities that make neighbourhood life vibrant and enjoyable.”
Chairman and director of design at McGregor Coxall Philip Coxall echoed those sentiments, stating, “The landscape stitches the site into the wider community with green links, vibrant pedestrian-friendly streets, parklands and kids’ play, creating an open space for all. Water is captured and infiltrated on-site, supporting a palette of native plants and a canopy of shade trees that create places for people and support the local ecology.”

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The project is being delivered under the Housing Delivery Authority’s Alternative Design Excellence Strategy, a design competition exemption pathway for declared state significant developments aimed at accelerating housing. The proposal was reviewed through a Project-Specific Design Review Panel in line with Government Architect NSW guidelines for involving both emerging and established practices in state significant developments.
The plans for Concord Central have been lodged with the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure and are expected to go on exhibition shortly. According to Billbergia, construction could commence as early as the second half of 2026, with completion of the first buildings slated for 2029. More

The City of Sydney has granted final endorsement to planning amendments that will require new residential buildings, medium to large commercial buildings, hotels and serviced apartment buildings to operate fully on electricity from 1 January 2027.
The council sought public feedback on the proposed amendments in June and July. According to their report, 84 submissions were received during this phase, with the majority said to be in support of the changes. As such, the council approved the changes on Monday 27 October.
In a communique, the council stated that “the new requirements build on indoor air quality provisions adopted earlier in 2025, which restrict indoor gas appliances such as cooktops and heaters in new residential developments,” and “expand to cover outdoor gas appliances such as water heaters in new residential buildings and extend the all-electric requirement to new large commercial buildings, hotels and serviced apartment buildings.”
The rules will apply to large commercial developments such as office buildings over 1,000 square metres, hotels with more than 100 suites and residential buildings with more than 100 serviced apartments. Existing and industrial-use buildings will be exempt from these requirements.
Where a mixed-use development is subject to the planning controls, any food and beverage premises within the development will still able to use gas, provided there is sufficient space and electrical capacity for future electrification.
Lord Mayor of Sydney Clover Moore said going all-electric was a logical response to the challenges posed by fossil fuels. “Relying on gas is bad for the planet, bad for our finances and bad for our health,” said Moore. “Creating more energy efficient, healthier buildings which will meet future energy standards and avoid expensive retrofitting is an obvious next step.”
“The reality is gas is an expensive commodity that is forecast to go up in price. These measures will spare households from being locked into increasingly expensive and outdated gas contracts,” she added.
In its communique, the council said that new all-electric households could save about $626 a year in energy bills compared to gas-connected homes, and using induction cooktops instead of gas can reduce exposure to harmful pollutants.
The approved amendments follow the Victorian government’s announcement that from 1 January 2027, all new homes and the majority of new commercial buildings (excluding industrial, manufacturing and agricultural buildings) will be built all-electric. More

Working with spatial designer and Country-Centred designer Danièle Hromek, the Australian Institute of Architects’ First Nations Advisory Committee (FNAC) has released two new guides to support architects and built environment professionals in their understanding of, and engagement with, First Nations terminology and concepts.
The first resource, titled First Nations Terminology, collates and defines words that are broadly relevant when discussing First Nations Peoples and Country, supporting readers to use language correctly. It includes definitions of over 40 words and phrases, including “Country”, “Colonisation”, “Indigenous”, “Invasion” and “Traditional Custodians”.
The second resource, titled Terms, Concepts and Shared Understandings, lists the meanings of eight architecture and built-environment-specific concepts, which have been collectively workshopped and authored by First Nations built environment professionals and allies.
Some of these terms and their meanings, as defined in the Terms, Concepts and Shared Understandings resource, include:
Country Centred Design:

Country Centred Design integrates relationships, as well as tangible and intangible aspects of Country, in design outcomes. Country Centred Design is a process that enables deep history understandings, care for Country, stewardship activities, kinship, culture and cultural practices, spiritual and Indigenous ways of knowing to be integrated into the design process.
It is a means of ensuring that the design of the built environment happens with Country at the centre of the design, and in doing so, all decisions made in the design process are filtered through a consideration of Country. Country Centred Design stands as a counterpoint to human centred design.
Human Centred Design is a design methodology that places humans at the centre of the design process. It focuses on humans first, involving them in all steps of the process. Human Centred Design works to solve problems for people, seeking to deeply understand the perspectives, needs, experiences and behaviours of humans and caters to their desires and challenges through design.

Designing with Country:

Designing with Country is integrating the process of design holistically with Country through genuine First Nations’ design methodologies, processes and perspectives. To be able to Design with Country you must be of Country. Designing with Country must be First Nations led. It is an approach to design that centres Country informed by First Nations knowledge systems, cultures and ways of being. Designing with Country requires designs to originate and find inspiration from First Nations’ design thinking and the connection to the story, spirit, Ancestral memory, ecology and energy of Country as understood by local communities.
While they may not have always used the term ‘designing with Country’, First Nations Peoples have always designed Country. Designing with Country does not prioritise non-Indigenous methods of design over thousands of generations of experience designing this continent. However, in this context and use of the term, it applies to contemporary built environment practices.
Designing with Country is more than just being a qualified First Nations designer. To ensure genuine Designing with Country, from before the brief has been written, First Nations leadership and design thinking must have been integrated – from authoring the brief, choosing a site, and developing a business case, all the way through the process of design and construction to the point of practical completion and beyond to consider ongoing relationships.
Designing with Country is a sensitive term that risks being commodified and colonised. As a term it was first used in 2020 in a discussion paper by the Government Architect NSW during the development of their Connecting with Country Framework. The definition has been further developed since then to be a term specific to First Nations Peoples practising architecture and design with experience and capacity to influence the entirety of the design process and outcomes.
Non-Indigenous designers cannot Design with Country. They can be culturally responsive in design and undertake co-design, but they cannot fully connect with the foundational epistemological backgrounds, knowledges, or deep understandings of place. Designing with Country incorporates the cultural obligations First Nations designers have to Country and their communities. Non-Indigenous designers may be aware of these obligations, however they cannot be fully aware of the implications. As such, non-Indigenous designers can design with respect for Country. Non-Indigenous architects and designers can use terms such as ‘Culturally Responsive’ as noted in the National Standards of Competency, and ‘Connecting with Country’ as required in NSW when responding to the Connecting with Country Framework.

Hromek commented that “to date, most of the ways of defining what architecture or design means has been decided by non-Indigenous people. However, as First Nations voices rise, so too do the ways they choose to define and decide for themselves what architecture and design means to them.”
“Words have power – otherwise why did colonisers feel the need to forcibly remove our own languages from our tongues? … Authoring a set of terms, concepts and shared understandings provides a shared grounding in which the industry can start to respond,” she said.
The two new resources complement an existing suite of tools available on the Institute’s website, including a Cultural Safety Policy, which provides principles to create a culturally safe environment for First Nations Peoples; a First Nations Resource Hub that features projects which exemplify respect to Indigenous culture; and a guidance note on Protecting Cultural Knowledge and Intellectual Property in Built Environments, which provides an understanding of Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property (ICIP). More

The 2025 Eat Drink Design Awards were announced on 29 October, with the winning projects spanning a wide range of styles, locations and types, from a cave-like Gold Coast restaurant that doesn’t rely on ocean views to a dynamic, genre-bending Japanese cafe and convenience store in Melbourne.
“Every year, the winners and commendations of the Eat Drink Design Awards highlight the excellent standard of Australia and New Zealand’s hospitality design,” said the jury.
“The standout spaces this year were immersive environments that are exceptionally executed, creating interiors that guests want to visit time and time again,” said the jury.
Winners and commendations of the 2025 Eat Drink Design Awards were announced, along with this year’s inductee into the Hall of Fame, an accolade that acknowledges enduring excellence in the design of a hospitality venue that is of more than ten years’ standing. Designed in 2012, The Apollo by George Livissianis celebrates the building’s original architecture, blending raw textures, refined materials, intimate spaces and personal Greek references to create a space of timeless warmth. Read the story here.
The 2025 winners are:
Best Restaurant Design
Norte – J.AR Office
Best Bar Design
Bar Julius – SJB
Best Cafe Design
Palace Coffee – Kerry Kounnapis Architecture Practice
Best Hotel Design
Melbourne Place – Kennedy Nolan
Best Retail Design
Suupaa – IF Architecture
Best Identity Design
Suupaa – A Friend of Mine
Hall of Fame
The Apollo – George Livissianis
Commendations
See the nine commended projects here.
The 2025 Eat Drink Design Awards jury comprises Jean‑Paul Ghougassian (director, Ritz  and  Ghougassian), Callan Boys (national restaurant editor, Good Food), Simone McEwan (director, Nice Projects), Jason M. Jones (founder, Entrecôte and Hopper Joint) and Cassie Hansen (editor, InteriorsAu).
See the full gallery of winning and commended projects on the Eat Drink Design Awards website.
The Eat Drink Design Awards are organised by Architecture Media (publisher of ArchitectureAu and InteriorsAu).
The Eat Drink Design Awards are endorsed by the Australian Institute of Architects and the Design Institute of Australia. More

Four finalists have been revealed as contenders for the City of Melbourne’s 2025 City Design Award, as part of the council’s annual Melbourne Awards program. The City Design category recognises design excellence in architecture, landscape architecture and urban design.
This year’s finalists include:

Melbourne Place Hotel by Kennedy Nolan
Naarm Ngarrgu Library and Family Services – Wurru Wurra Outdoor Terrace by Emergent Studios
Shiel Street North Melbourne, Community Housing Project by Clare Cousins Architects
Wurundjeri Biik Baan by Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation

Last year’s prize was won by the Koorie Heritage Trust Stage II, designed by Lyons, Greenaway Architects and Architecture Associates – a project that involved the expansion and rejuvenation of a First Nations arts and cultural centre in the Birrarung Building in Federation Square. It was praised by the jury for “honouring and amplifying Indigenous art and culture in a contemporary execution.”
The other Melbourne Awards categories are Arts and Events, Knowledge and Innovation, Community, Aboriginal Melbourne – Ganbu Guljin, Sustainability, LGBTIQA+, and Access and Inclusion. Finalists in these categories include Yarra Trams – Welcome to Wurundjeri Country by Little Rocket, a project across the length of Collins Street’s tram shelters that showcases the work of five First Nations artists; EnAccess Maps, an app founded by Sabrina Leung that helps map accessible venues; and OM Signage Film by Other Matter, an alternative to PVC vinyl intended for temporary use across exhibitions, retail and events developed from algae-derived polymers and made in Melbourne.
The winner of the 2025 City Design Award, along with the other category winners of the Melbourne Awards, will be announced at a ceremony on 15 November.
ArchitectureAu is the presenting partner of the Melbourne Awards 2025 – City Design Award. More