Architecture

A new primary school campus planned for the Sunshine Coast will replace traditional classrooms with open plan environments to suit a “team-teaching” model, according to the school.
Designed by M3 Architecture for the Suncoast Christian College, the new building will accommodate years 1 through 6, with the students split into three cohorts. Each cohort will be taught by a team of six teachers and teachers’ aides in a dedicated, open-plan space over two levels.
A tiered seating area in each of these open spaces will connect the two levels, providing a whole-group meeting place and allowing students to move between floors. Each cohort has its own maker space and kitchen, while an art room and performing arts space service the whole primary school.
M3 Architecture director Ben Vielle said the design responds to the location on reclaimed farming land, the climate and the school’s legacy. Founded in 1979 as the Suncoast Christian Academy, the school’s first building was an old pineapple packing shed. “Suncoast was founded on the idea of minimal means, with a focus on child development, wellbeing and community,” Vielle said. “We have respected and developed this ethos. The architecture takes its cues from an agricultural attitude and responds to the educational approach.”

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Suncoast Christian College building by M3 Architecture.

The building will be wrapped in a steel mesh, allowing maximum ventilation and light penetration through to the verandahs, while keeping students safe.
The open teaching spaces will be zoned and furnished to allow for multiple teaching modes, allowing teachers to tailor lessons to the abilities and learning styles of individual students.
The school’s principal Greg Mattiske said team teaching delivers the best social, emotional and academic outcomes for students. “Today’s students have diverse needs,” he said. “It’s too much for one teacher to have the burden of trying to be all things to all people.”
The school said the project was about to go to tender. “…this project has gone way beyond our expectations,” said Mattiske. “I want kids, staff and parents to come to the school and feel excited about this facility, and what M3 has done with the design is absolutely that.” More

Sydney councillor and architect Phillip Thalis is running for re-election, and this time he’s being joined by another architect, HY William Chan. Thalis and Chan are both running as independent candidates on the ticket of current lord mayor Clover Moore. They say they will advocate strongly for social and affordable housing and work with the […] More

The Western Parkland City Authority has lodged plans for the first building to be built in the new Western Sydney airport city of Bradfield.
Designed by Hassell, in collaboration with Daniele Hromek of Dijnjama, the Advanced Manufacturing Research Facility is being pitched as a “shared platform for collaboration and innovation.”
It will be a place where government, research institutions and industry will lead research and product development in areas such as defence, space and aerospace, construction, energy and mining.
Hassell’s design aims to reveal some of the advanced manufacturing processes taking place, allowing the public to engage with the facility while not compromising on functionality. A central spine will be open to the public at all times and will have the potential to hold large events.

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Advanced Manufacturing Research Facility by Hassell.

The building will be designed to be flexible and adaptable into the future, with the timber structure constructed using prefabricated modular components mechanically fixed together “like a kit of parts.”
“…it has the ability to expand in the future, even ‘self-replicating’ using the advanced manufacturing hall to construct its own mechanical fixings used to bind the structure together,” Hassell states in planning documents. “At the end of the buildings life it can easily disassembled, relocated to a new site.”
The site is located on Dharug Country and the design aims to respond to Country and connect the building to the broader landscape, context and history.
“The collaboration with Daniele Hromek from Djinjama laid the foundations for a design response that listened to Country and in turn produced an architecture that is unique to this place,” states Hassell.

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Advanced Manufacturing Research Facility by Hassell.

The building’s columns will be articulated to reflect surrounding clusters of trees, for instance, while the “canopy” of the roof will catch water for a richly planted, landscape of local species and water features, celebrating “the meandering and ephemeral water of the Cumberland Plain.”
“The architectural expression is soft with no sharp edges, responding to this being women’s place and the ideas of water and fluidity,” state the architects. The building will later be given a Dharug name.
NSW minister for Western Sydney Stuart Ayres said the building would represent an exciting first step for the airport city.
“The design shows what a high-tech, shared-use hub will look like,” he said.
“The first building will house share-use advanced manufacturing equipment for research institutions and partners to translate ideas into products for manufacture in the Western Parkland City. Visitors will see that this is a place of advancement, collaboration and learning.”
Construction on the nearby Western Sydney International Airport terminal, designed by Woods Bagot, started this week. The Advanced Manufacturing Research Facility is expected to be completed by the end of 2023.
The state-significant development application is on public exhibit until 12 December. More

Big River Group is continuing to expand its network with the acquisition of building supplies specialist United Building Products. Located in Wollongong, United Building Products has been servicing the Illawarra, South Coast, Southern Highlands and Sydney regions for over 30 years and has grown to be one of the largest building materials distributors in the […] More

The Tasmanian government has unveiled the first designs for a development parcel at Macquarie Point, a 9.3-hectare urban renewal area below the Hobart Cenotaph.
The $100 million development, dubbed The Escarpment, has been awarded to developer Milieu following a competitive tender process. It will include three buildings incorporating apartments, short stay accommodation, retail and hospitality. A spokesperson for Milieu said the buildings would be designed by Fieldwork with Core Collective Architects.
“The Escarpment will be a mixed-use precinct that celebrates Tasmania and fosters community at Macquarie Point — with strong connections to Sullivan’s Cove, the Regatta grounds, the River Derwent and the Headland,” said the developer.
However, the proposal has been criticized by the state opposition and others who are concerned about the lack of social housing and the potentially squandering of an important piece of Hobart’s waterfront.

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The Escarpment development in Hobart by Fieldwork with Core Collective.

“The redevelopment of Macquarie Point was a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reinvent Hobart’s waterfront and attract local investment and jobs, whilst providing an affordable housing option for inner-city living,” said shadow housing minister Ella Haddad. The proposal does not include provision of social or affordable housing.
In a statement, Tasmanian development and housing minister Michael Ferguson said the development area would be widely accessible to the public and would include a rooftop bar, a restaurant and a green roof with public open space. It would also provide 24/7 direct access, including disability access, from Macquarie Point through to the Cenotaph.
“Milieu’s development was chosen from a strong calibre of proposed options for the site, with Milieu’s design aligning to the overall vision for Macquarie Point, while acknowledging the site’s history, Tasmania’s Aboriginal history, and important linkages with the Cenotaph,” he said. “Milieu’s design also provides significant public amenity and incorporates innovative design elements.”
The federal government is contributing $45 million for the remediation of the site to allow for the development to go ahead. More

A 50-storey tower will be built above Sydney’s 125-year-old City Tattersalls Club building on Pitt Street, after council approved the development application. BVN won a design competition for the design of the tower, while FJMT was appointed to oversee all heritage design aspects of the redevelopment. The redevelopment of the club will include upgrades to […] More

The development application for the BVN-designed Lang Walker AO Medical Research Building in Western Sydney has been placed on public exhibit.
The $47.5 million research centre, which was known as the Macarthur Medical Research Centre before it took the name of its property developer benefactor, will be built on the Campbelltown Hospital Campus. It will be home to the Ingham Institute for Applied Medical Research – a partnership between Western Sydney University, the South Western Sydney Local Health District and the University of New South Wales – and will focus on five key research areas: diabetes/obesity, mental health, paediatrics and adolescents, Indigenous health, and addiction medicine.
The building will connect to the adjacent Campbelltown Hospital Building D and Macarthur Clinical School (MCS), “strengthening relationships between clinical, research and education spaces,” according to BVN.
In contrast to these existing buildings, which feature relatively imposing facades with minimal visual transparency, the new building will have a porous envelope, encouraging through-site movement and opening onto a planned “village green” to the east.
“The building form, arrangement and positioning responds to the existing steep topography, the austere and monolithic character of the adjacent buildings, and the site’s predominant east and west facing orientations,” BVN states in planning documents.

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The Lang Walker AO Medical Research Building by BVN.

“Pulling apart the building form into a series of twisted boxes allows the north and south volumes to respond to the different orientations of Building D to the north and MCS to the south. This breaking down of the mass creates an undulating form, providing visual interest and variation along Parkside Crescent, and a natural entry point between the north and south wings.”
The building will be five storeys high, with spaces for “dry research” (office-based research) and clinical research spread across four levels, encouraging interaction and collaboration. Shared public spaces, including an amphitheatre, an outdoor terrace and a coffee kiosk will be concentrated on the ground and lower levels. A central atrium offers connection between floors, while outdoor terraces on level 2 offer a clam space for staff to retreat to.
A modular curtain wall system will be used for the façade, with a regularly spaced grid shifting at each level in response to internal planning and the ratio of glazed to solid panels varied according to internal usage. The curtain wall facade will be grounded by a textured masonry base enclosing the plant areas.
The centre is expected to open in 2023. The state-significant development application is on exhibit until 16 December. More

The City of Greater Geelong has unveiled the design for a library in Armstrong Creek, a new southern suburb of Geelong. Billed as the suburb’s first civic and social infrastructure development, the library is designed by Buchan, who won a design competition for the project.
The three-level, 2,500-square-metre library will house a collection of 40,000 books and resources, along with spaces for children’s learning, youth programs and dedicated meeting spaces on level one, and creative spaces and bookable co-working amenities on level two. The ground floor will serve as the civic interface with direct access to the external terraces and the town centre.
To be built on the land of the Wadawurrung people, along Armstrong Creek, the library will take in views to Wurdi Youang (the You Yangs) and Mount Duneed. Buchan worked with the Wadawurrung Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation in developing the design, based around the “living water”narrative.
“The waterways of this landscape to the Wadawurrung People are part of a much larger ecology and have been a natural meeting point and travelling route for centuries, offering a place of sustenance, fluidity, fertility and spirituality, known as ‘living water’,” said lead architect Aleksander Borek.

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Armstrong Creek Library and Community Hub by Buchan.

“Just as living water gathers and nourishes us, our vision for the new library and community hub is to create a destination for the people of Armstrong Creek to gather and nourish at a central meeting point; a place of inspiration where the community and future generations can thrive together.”
The building’s distinctive circular windows are intended to reference concepts of solidarity and a united local community, while also framing views of the landscape.
“We’ve used the round window compositions to frame specific natural forms significant to Armstrong Creek, such as the You Yangs, and other meeting spots in the landscape,” said Borek. “There are also proposed educational plugs on the walls, describing to the user the cultural significance of landmarks they can see.”
The $18.48 million library is expected to be completed by early 2024.
Greater Geelong mayor Stephanie Asher said, “As the first social civic infrastructure in the suburb, the Armstrong Creek Library and Community Hub will be incredibly important for local residents as a place for lifelong learning, social connection and building a sense of community.”
The suburb of Armstrong Creek wa gazetted in 2012 from largely undeveloped land. At the 2016 census it was home to 4,247 people, but that number is expected to grow to up to 65,000. More