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A mid-rise office building planned for Alexandria in Sydney will feature a stack of meeting rooms in the form of a “tree house” looking out over a central courtyard. With detailed design by John Wardle Architects, the mixed-use development at the corner of Bourke Road and Bowden Street will feature food and drink premises, shops, […] More
The Australian Institute of Architects and the Green Building Council of Australia have joined the more than two dozen global built environment peak bodies and 60 of the world’s largest building industry firms to call for a faster transition to net-zero emissions in the lead up to the COP26 climate change conference.
In their 1.5oC COP26 Communiqué, the organizations “call on all sovereign governments to ramp up their Nationally Determined Contributions, and 2030 emissions reduction targets, to limit planetary warming in line with the remaining global 1.5ºC carbon budget.”
The signatories say they are each taking specific steps towards reducing emissions and they demand that governments do the same.
Spearheaded by US-based non-profit Architecture 2030, the group includes the American, British and Canadian institutes of architects together with big architecture firms such as Grimshaw, SOM, Studio Gang and Perkins and Will and engineering and building companies.
Collectively these organisations represent more than one million building industry professionals worldwide and are responsible for over US$300 billion in global annual construction.
Australian Institute of Architects national president Tony Giannone said the United Nations conference known as COP 26 represented an important moment.
“Globally, governments, companies, communities and individuals must all start responding to the climate crisis with the urgency that is so clearly required,” he said.
“The latest IPCC report was more than a wake-up call; it was an ultimatum to act now. Architects have the capacity, and we believe the responsibility to be at the forefront of this action.
“The Institute is championing a transition to net-zero emissions in Australia’s built environment by 2030.
“The products, materials and design expertise exist to make the shift; what we need now is the will and determination to achieve it.
“It is imperative that Australia is not only represented at COP26 by our Prime Minister but that we embrace more ambitious emissions reductions targets as a nation.”
COP 26 is happening in Glasgow from 31 October to 12 November and will be attended by world leaders including Joe Biden and Boris Johnson. Scott Morrison has been cagey about his plans for the conference, and is yet to confirm attendance.
At the Youth4Climate summit held in Milan in late September, prominent climate activist Greta Thunberg denounced world leaders for their lack of action and empty words. “Build back better. Blah, blah, blah. Green economy. Blah blah blah. Net zero by 2050. Blah, blah, blah,” she said. “This is all we hear from our so-called leaders. Words that sound great but so far have not led to action.” More
Sunshine Coast Council has appointed Brisbane firm Wilson Architects to complete the detailed designs for the Caloundra District Library. The project will transform the aging council chambers at 1 Omrah Avenue into a three-level contemporary library with community meeting space and council administration offices. It will replace the existing Caloundra Library, just across the block, […] More
Designs by Genton have been unveiled for two train stations in Melbourne, to be delivered as part of the state government’s ongoing level crossing removal project. Along with the delivery of new stations at Pakenham and East Pakenham, the project will see level crossings removed at McGregor Road, Main Street and Racecourse Road in Pakenham, […] More
The experts who will sit on the City of Melbourne’s two new design advisory bodies have been revealed.
Councillors endorsed the more than 40 experts and community members of the Design Excellence Advisory Committee and Melbourne Design Review Panel at the Future Melbourne Committee on 5 October.
Providing formal design advice on development applications and on council-led projects, the Melbourne Design Review Panel will include a pool of ten expert members from the disciplines of architecture, landscape architecture and urban design. They include Louise Wright of Baracco and Wright; Vanessa Bird of Bird de la Coeur Architects; Shane Murray, dean of Monash Art Design and Architecture; Simon McPherson of Global South; Mark Jacques of Openwork; Jane Williams (Jane Williams Architects); Simone Bliss, SBLA Studio; Rory Hyde, University of Melbourne; and Monash University’s Shelley Penn. José Alfano Of Alfano Studio will also be invited to give advice for select meetings.
The Design Review Panel also includes a pool of 16 technical experts from fields such as heritage, education and sustainability. They are: Mary Ann Jackson (accessibility); Ricky Ricardo (communications); Tania Davidge (community engagement) Michael Frazzetto (contextual design); Lucinda Hartley (data analytics); Sarah Slattery (development feasibilities); Anna Peters (development feasibilities); Jim Gard’ner (heritage); Kate Gray (heritage); Anne-Marie Pisani (Indigenous engagement); Daniel Soussan (Planning) Johanna Trickett (sustainability); Gavin Ashley (sustainability); Will Fooks (transport planning); Kathy Lazanas (transport planning); Soren Luckins (wayfinding / user experience).
The Design Excellence Advisory Committee, which will have a more informal role in shaping the city’s design, includes five community members, eight technical experts and three “technical advisors,” who will be invited to select meetings.
The technical experts include Victorian government architect Jill Garner; Julie Willis, University of Melbourne; Bill Krotiris or an Australian Institute of Architects nominee; Matthew York or an Australian Institute of Landscape Architects nominee; Danni Hunter, Property Council of Australia; Romilly Madew, Infrastructure Australia; Julie Willis, University of Melbourne; Martyn Hook, RMIT University; and Georgia Birks, Architecture Media (publisher of ArchitectureAU).
The technical advisors are Karl Fender, founder of Fender and Katsalidis, Monique Woodward of Wowowa, and Sarah Lynn Rees, associate and lead Indigenous advisor at Jackson Clements Burrows and a lecturer at Monash.
The community members are Ben Milbourne, Robyn Pollock, Lara Brown, Daniel Ong and Nivedita Ravindran. More
Leading aluminium building products manufacturer Deco Australia has just unveiled its new timber-look aluminium post – DecoPost. Made from solid aluminium and featuring Deco’s iconic timber-look DecoWood finish, DecoPost is a solution to Australia’s current timber shortage and a long-lasting alternative to timber products.
Available in two post sizes – 100 × 100 mm and 150 × 150 mm with a 3 mm wall thickness – DecoPost is a flexible and durable post for use in a variety of applications where timber posts are typically used, including pergolas, fencing, porticos, alfrescos and other landscaping options. With a variety of set lengths available, builders, homeowners and carpenters can build their outdoor structures quicky, easily and with minimal hassle.
DecoWood, the marine grade timber-look finish by Deco Australia, creates a realistic timber appearance that will not peel or rub off over time. And best of all, it is extremely low maintenance and never needs sanding, oiling, painting or staining.
DecoPost is available in four popular DecoWood colours, which replicate popular native timber species. A primer coat finish is also available – for contemporary designs or adding your own wet paint finish – and is stocked and ready for delivery on order. To help choose your finish, colour swatches are available to order from the Deco website.
Deco Australia architectural business manager Simon Pearson said DecoPost will be a handy addition to a large variety of DIY and building projects.
“DecoPost has opened up a whole new world of opportunity for home builders, carpenters, installers and DIY-ers,” he said. “Where timber may be difficult to come by, DecoPost offers that natural timber appearance with the durability of 3 mm thick solid aluminium. Building projects such as fences, gates, porticos and more can be completed quickly and last significantly longer – and the best part is, DecoPost is stocked and ready to go now.”
DecoPost is designed and manufactured in Australia. More
An Australian team has won the installation competition for the 2022 Tallinn Architecture Biennale in Estonia with a proposal that will be made of mushrooms.
Burlasite by Simulaa with Natalie Alima will use 3D printing technology to create a base frame that will over time be taken over by mycelia – the rooting system of the fungus.
With the biennale theme of “Edible; Or, The Architecture of Metabolism” the curators of the 2022 installation competition looked to the slow food movement and challenged competitors to explore how the emerging technologies of fast construction can be slowed to “nourish local craftsmanship, better utilize available materials, respond to environments over long time scales and enhance bespoke design expression.”
View gallery
Burlasite by Simulaa with Natalie Alima
The competition sought “proposals that take a long, romantic and human centric view towards construction technology, demonstrating designs and processes that extend and expand learning and mastery, traditional craftsmanship and analogue fabrication, repurposing and reuse of local materials, human invention and improvisation, environmental adaptation and responsiveness, wonderment, and delight.”
The team at Simulaa and Natalie Alima responded with a design based on the archetypal hut. “This project takes the base structure of Martin Heidegger’s abandoned hut as the host form, stripped of its original cladding, leaving only its timber frame, as the armature for both a growth algorithm and a biological system to reconfigure and grow upon,” the designers said.
View gallery
Burlasite by Simulaa with Natalie Alima
The installation will be made from waste material of the local timber industry. Timber off cuts and saw dust will be combined with a biodegradable polymer which will be 3D printed to form the base frame. The structure will be “inoculated” with mushroom fibres, which will eventually consume the frame and harden into its own mycelial structure.
The process is similar to how bio-scaffolds are made in medicine to encourage growth of human tissue over an artificial frame.
“This project curates an uneasy alliance between biological transformations and the performance of a generative algorithm,” the designers said. “Through this measured process, the project seeks to heighten this state of flux, expressed in the object’s material decay that is in tension between emerging and eroding form.”
The 2022 installation competition for Tallin Architecture Biennale is curated by Gwyllim Jahn, Cameron Newnham, Soomeen Hahm Design and Igor Pantic – the winners of the 2019 competition.
The three-member jury included Australian architect Roland Snooks, founder of Kokkugia and associate professor at RMIT University.
Tallin Architecture Biennale opens on 7 September 2022 and the installation will be on display at the front of the Museum of Estonian Architecture until 2024. More
The design brief for this project called for a world-class visitor experience that included a tropical or subtropical woodland ecosystem to show a great diversity of Savannah animals and plant life. The new African Savannah habitat known as The Waterhole located at Taronga Zoo, Sydney, was designed to represent an open grassland of sub-African vegetation and is a stunning landscape that is home to the giraffe, zebra, lion, meerkat and fennec fox.
As part of Taronga Zoo’s $150 million revitalizing and facility upgrade over the next 10 years, the African Savannah precinct brings together a lion breeding facility and an expanded savannah for giraffes, zebras and fennec foxes, as well as a specialized meerkat encounter space. The aim is to enhance guest experience by providing an innovative non-exhibit integrated with the surrounding landscape, allowing for an upfront visitor experience.
With an emphasis on replicating the animal’s habitats, as well as meeting specific sustainability targets, it was imperative the building materials chosen were fit-for-purpose, providing a functional as well as natural environment where timber played a significant role. Designed by Tonkin Zulaikha Greer Architects, and constructed by Brenic Constructions working with Zaumer Constructions, the builders engaged Big River Group as the project’s leading timber supplier. Robust timbers were chosen, including recycled hardwood, spotted gum and blackbutt hardwood and plywood, for their long life, durability, sustainable properties and local availability.
“The nature of the build made it important to use timber products,” says Brendan Abric from Brenic Constructions. “It needed to be sympathetic to the landscape while ensuring that major structures and infrastructure wasn’t obtrusive. What we have achieved has provided a unique connection with the elements of nature in which this multi-species habitat required.”
Featuring exposed blackbutt and spotted gum rafters, the giraffe house is a stunning circular design incorporating all-timber construction including marine plywood, the highest grade veneer, offering increased impact resistance, minimized water penetration and a high-quality finish. The veneer has been stained to blend in with the earthy surrounds.
Round hardwood poles in varying diameters, that had been cast-offs from the plywood manufacturing process at Big River Group’s Grafton mill, have been upcycled and utilized as an external cladding on the meerkat enclosure, marrying back with the completely natural environment.
Western red cedar, known for its attractive appearance and beautiful grain patterns, resistance to weather and exceptionally high dimensional stability rating unequalled by any other timber in commercial use in Australia, provides the backdrop for the lion keeper talks auditorium, with a striking floating timber ceiling.
The design and use of building materials on the amenities block are in keeping with the Savannah landscape, with blackbutt and spotted gum hardwood being chosen due to their superior performance qualities including a tolerance to changes in ambient temperatures, durability and resilience that make them perfect for hard wearing areas.
Key initiatives such as the use of renewable materials, recycled water and design choices to minimize the energy footprint drove the sustainable vision of the project. Timbers provided by Big River Group, sustainably sourced in Australia, were part of a carefully selected materials palette that would not only meet the project’s environment-friendly and sustainable goals but also seamlessly integrate into the natural setting.
“The African Savannah is a magnificent gateway to Africa in the heart of Sydney. To stand back and see such magnificent structures built with natural and earthy materials, used to create a jungle oasis in the heart of Sydney is really special,” concludes Abric. More
