Architecture

The Australian Urban Design Research Centre has launched an ideas competition looking for a future Australian city “that embodies a new Australian Dream for the 21st century.” The Business as (Un)usual competition is open to students and recent graduates. There is a prize pool of $10,000 on offer. “The COVID-19 pandemic … has dramatically reshaped […] More

The federal government has announced it will build a $316.5 million Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural precinct on the shores of Lake Burley Griffin on Ngunnawal Country in Canberra.
The precinct, to be named “Ngurra,” will be located at Commonwealth Place in the Parliamentary Triangle, designed in 2002 by Durbach Block (now Durbach Block Jaggers) and Sue Barnsley Design.
The government will hold an architectural design competition for the precinct and the structures within it “to develop an iconic design fitting for the location and that reflects Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ aspirations, achievements and deep connection to Country.”
An independent jury will judge entries and make recommendations to the government. Further details will be announced in the future.
“Ngurra is the realization of a long-held desire to have a home for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and histories at the heart of our nation,” said the Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
“It will be a national landmark of the highest order, standing proudly for us all to celebrate, educate, reflect and commemorate.
“This new world-class facility will contribute to our continuing journey of reconciliation, where Indigenous Australians can tell their stories, in the way they want, for all visitors to have a greater understanding of our shared history.”
The precinct will be made up of two parts. First, a learning and knowledge centre with education, exhibition, and gallery spaces that will tell the stories of 65,000 years of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture. And second, the new home of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies. The precinct will also accommodate a national resting place to house and care for the repatriated ancestral remains of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.
The word Ngurra is used in a number of Aboriginal languages to mean home, camp, a place of belonging and a place of inclusion.
“Ngurra will provide a new perspective on our shared history, as a significant moment for truth-telling, and a new place where the diversity of Indigenous Australia and one of the world’s oldest living cultures will be celebrated,” said minister for Indigenous Australians Ken Wyatt.
“At its heart will be a national resting place where the remains of Indigenous Australians taken from their country will be cared for until they are able to be returned to their communities.”
“And in instances where provenance has been forgotten or erased, they will be cared for in perpetuity with dignity and respect.”
Ngurra will complement existing institutions within the Parliamentary Triangle, including the Tent Embassy, National Library of Australia, Questacon, the National Portrait Gallery, the National Gallery of Australia, and the High Court of Australia. More

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.

View gallery

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.
Living Edge – Herman Miller More

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.

View gallery

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.

View gallery

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.”

View gallery

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