Subterms
Living Edge’s Perth showroom has received the first WELL Platinum certification in Western Australia. WELL certification is granted to businesses that align with the WELL building standards that enhance human health and wellbeing, with measures such as improving air quality, water, light, and design solutions that support mental health and facilitate good sleep. The Living […] More
Architecture practices appear to be on the rebound from the pandemic-induced recession, according to the fifth “pulse check” survey conducted by the Association of Consulting Architects in late April.
The survey received responses from 366 practices employing more than 3,700 FTE non-casual technical staff and 560 FTE casual technical staff.
Of the responding practices, 52 percent were small practices employing five people or fewer. Sixteen large practices employing more than 100 people also responded to the survey.
The survey revealed activity levels have dropped in most sectors, however, an increased number of practices are working in the private residential and affordable/social housing sectors.
The biggest drops were in retail, aged care and hospitality, compared with the previous pulse check survey, which saw the biggest drops in multi-residential and commercial.
Despite this, almost two-thirds of responding practices reported that the were either moderately busy or very busy, 12 percent of practices face immediate work shortages, compared with 20 percent in the previous survey, and 6.8 percent reported that they were very quiet.
However, the survey comments note that busyness has not necessarily translated to increased profitability, with ongoing concerns of low fees and fee cutting practices.
The survey also revealed 72 percent of responding practices have accessed the federal government’s Job Keeper wage subsidy, which ended in March. A small number of practices (16) have had to reduce staff following the end of Job Keeper and 22 percent of respondents expect Job Keeper changes will have a negative impact on their ability to retain staff.
However, 175 responding practices have employed new staff over the past year, totalling 313 new people in the architectural workforce: 58 students, 105 graduates, 81 mid-career practitioners, 58 experienced practitioners, and 11 people in other roles.
The financial effects of the past year seem to be unevenly distributed, with 38 percent of responding practices reporting they are in a better financial position than the start of the pandemic, while one-third of practices are worse off and 14 percent much worse off.
A full summary of the survey results can be found on the ACA website. More
The Western Australian government has released a new 20-year masterplan for Perth Zoo, designed by Hassell and Iredale Pedersen Hook. The masterplan includes several new developments that will provide new wildlife experiences for visitors. The first two development will be underway before the end of 2021 – a new cafe and a new function centre, […] More
The executive director of Heritage Victoria Steven Avery has recommended that a modernist pavilion, kiosk and amphitheatre in Melbourne’s Fairfield Park should not be added to the state heritage register, despited their direct association with award-winning Melbourne architects.
The Northcote Amphitheatre was designed by Maggie Edmond for Northcote City Council in 1985. The 460-seat semi-circular amphitheatre is arranged around 10-metre diameter stage and is designed to meet the surrounding parkland.
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Northcote Amphitheatre designed by Edmond and Corrigan. Image:
City of Yarra
A pavilion designed by Paul Couch was built in the late 1980s to support theatrical activities at the park, and included performance change rooms, a theatrical set building workshop, public toilets and public barbecue area on the rooftop, which is shaded by gazebo with cube-shaped light box on top. The pavilion was designed to be covered in greenery and blend into landscape.
In 2019, the City of Yarra announced plans to demolish a significant portion of the pavilion to make way for a larger storage shed, and received nine objections to the plan.
The council’s own heritage advisor recommended against the partial demolish, but the council ignored that advice, promoting a petition from architecture practice Kennedy Nolan.
University of Melbourne chair of architecture professor Philip Goad made a submission to the council in which he described the pavilion as a “rare, non-residential work by the highly regarded Paul Couch [and an example of his] long-held interest in tilt-slab precast concrete panel construction system that is often a defining feature of his better-known residential works.”
“Couch has been a pioneer in using tilt-slab concrete panels in small-scale settings,” he said.
“In my opinion there is definitely a case for, at the very least, listing the pavilion structure and workshop/change rooms together with the bluestone amphitheatre as being of local heritage.”
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River Pavilion by Carter Couch. Image:
Tom Ross
Heritage Victoria’s executive director noted that “The Fairfield Pavilion exemplifies Couch’s preferred style of tilt-slab concrete construction used to great effect insmall-scale settings,” however, he dismissed the significance of the architect.
“Couch’s contribution cannot be said to be strong or influential, or of the order of other architects and firms recognised under Criterion H such as Harry Seidler, Robin Boyd, Peter Macintyre, and Edmond and Corrigan.”
He also dismissed the significance of the amphitheatre in relation to the life work of Maggie Edmond. “Although the amphitheatre is Maggie Edmond’s favourite work, it represents an unusual mid-career community commission, rather than demonstrating an architecturally notable point in her design oeuvre and contribution to the discipline.”
The executive director’s recommendation has been published on the Heritage Council of Victoria’s website and submissions can be made to the council until 21 June. More
Roca’s 2021 “Jump the Gap” context challenges architects and designers from all over the world to create bathroom solutions that address and advance goals set out in the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The 2021 edition follows last year’s special edition devoted to new COVID-19 realities. The competition, organized in collaboration with BcD […] More
Melbourne’s long running Fringe Future program will be reborn as Design Fringe under a new partnership with Linden New Art.
For 35 years, Fringe Furniture has supported the careers of designers and showcased their innovative, ground-breaking, and, at times, bizarre and impractical works. Its alumni includes Adam Markowitz, Dale Hardiman of Dowel Jones, and Kate Stokes of Coco Flip.
“The new vision for Design Fringe honours the legacy of Fringe Furniture while looking forward into the future of the contemporary design industry, creating a space to share both market-ready and abstract design work with a wide audience,” said Melbourne Fringe CEO and creative director Simon Abrahams.
“The inaugural year of this new version of a much-loved and long-running exhibition and events program gives us a unique opportunity to reach new audiences and tell the world what we’re all about – how design can foster impactful and lasting social change.”
The partnership with Linden New Art includes a new exhibition space and provide curatorial support from the gallery.
“Design Fringe will feature a professional development and mentorship program, a focus on increasing diversity in the design sector through the Design Fringe for Gender Equity initiative, a series of talks, workshops and an awards program assessed by industry leaders. With expert curatorial input from the Linden team, the exhibition will operate at Linden for three months – a longer period of exposure for the designers selected for the central exhibition,” said Linden New Art director Melinda Martin.“Working with the City of Port Philip, a secondary space in proximity to Linden will contain further works and will draw a new and engaged audience into the exhibition. The multiple rooms within Linden and the additional offsite space will allow staff to curate the content of the exhibition smaller groups of work that are in dynamic conversations with each other; an exciting prospect for Design Fringe at this significant milestone.”
The new vision for Design Fringe includes a new $10,000 design commission for a First Nations designer to produce a bespoke sculptural piece responding to theme of “home.” Registrations are open now and will close on 9 July.
The Design Fringe for Gender Equity initiative will return for a fourth year, supporting female and non-binary designers through mentorships, talks and workshops. It also includes public events program and award program recognising the best work furniture, lighting, homewares and art. More
City of Melbourne councillors have voted in support a design for a 20-storey office tower that will be built above the historic Kilkenny Inn at the intersection of Lonsdale Street and King Street in the CBD.
Cox Architecture’s design is conceived as a “a building of buildings” rather than one large mass, with the use of different materials and setbacks to provide articulation and variety.
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572 Lonsdale Street by Cox Architecture.
A break in the primary facade at 25 metres will creates the visual and physical transition to the tower form, resulting in a podium that is human scale and “responds respectfully to heritage buildings.”
Most of the Kilkenny Inn will be demolished to make way for the tower, but the existing building’s street façades, the external sidewalls and part of the roof will be retained.
Solid brickwork at the base of the building will anchor the building to its immediate context.
“The contemporary use of brickwork is an acknowledgement of the site’s previous uses and structures,” the architects note in planning documents. “The brickwork continues up the Lonsdale Street facade and forms the principal building frontage.
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572 Lonsdale Street by Cox Architecture.
“The King Street facade comprises bluestone and steel. The bluestone is a reference to the bluestone warehouses that remain along King Street and form an important element of the city’s early built fabric. The transition of materials break down the overall scale of the proposal and suggest a building of buildings rather than one large mass.”
The proponent first submitted plans to the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning in December 2019, and the proposal has since undergone major revisions.
The latest plans, informed by feedback from the City of Melbourne officers, were provided to council on 26 April 2021, on a without prejudice basis. Officers found the plans generally complied with the relevant heritage policy and were supportable, with some conditions.
Councillors voted to approve the plans on 18 May. The final decision on the proposal belongs to the planning minister. More
Australia’s exhibition for the 2021 Venice Architecture Biennale will be shown in Australia for the first time due to COVID-19 travel restrictions.
The work titled Inbetween presents a series of architectural projects and processes that curators Jefa Greenaway and Tristan Wong selected for their representations of Indigenous and First Nations peoples and cultures.
“What we’re looking at through the exhibition is how architects, both non-Indigenous and Indigenous, are working with First Nations peoples – traditional owners, knowledge keepers and elders – as a way of embedding cultural authenticity into our built environment,” said Jefa Greenaway.
Originally conceived for exhibition in Australia’s pavilion at the Giardini in Venice, the work has been reimagined as an immersive, large-scale video.
“The film creates an immersive experience that engages the senses so it’s not simply about the visuals but also the connection to soundscapes and the hearing of language, creating a visceral connection to Country,” said Jefa Greenaway.
“In the international realm there are still stereotypes around how people understand Australia so we wanted to demonstrate richness and diversity – the different contexts and landscapes that exist in Australia, and more broadly in our region, and how architecture responds to that.”
“The film choreographs the journey that people go on when creating architecture that is informed by Country. At the moment everyone is going through their own learning journey and there are different levels of cultural intelligence but ultimately it’s when you work in partnership with First Nations voices that you start to have meaningful conversations and the outcome is richer as a result.”
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Inbetween, Australia’s exhibition for the 2021 Venice Architecture Biennale curated by Jefa Greenaway and Tristan Wong. Image:
Aaron Puls
The film includes 20 projects in remote, regional and metropolitan locations across all states and territories in Australia as well as New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Fiji, and Vanuatu.
It presents insights into how architects are creating new protocols for better design outcomes through meaningful co-design processes.
Tristan Wong said, “This project isn’t a collection of artefacts; it’s forward looking and presents the innovative potential in learning from Indigenous methods and ideas. Embedding practices and knowledge that has been around for more than 60000 years into the way we design buildings creates opportunities for a new kind of architecture that is better for people, cities and the environment.”
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Inbetween, Australia’s exhibition for the 2021 Venice Architecture Biennale curated by Jefa Greenaway and Tristan Wong. Image:
Aaron Puls
Inbetween premieres in Melbourne at Housemuseum Galleries on 20 May and will be exhibited at satellite events across Australia and also made available for exhibition across the region.
Over in Venice at the main exhibition curated by Hashim Sarkis, 114 participants from 46 countries have been invited to respond to the theme of How will we live together.
The works are organized into five scales which are exhibited at various locations including the Arsenale, Giardini and Central Pavilion.
Australian architects Guillermo Fernández-Abascal and Urtzi Grau are exhibiting as part of the “As Emerging Communities” collection of exterior interventions at the Giardini. Their installation explores forms of air pollution the use of the mask as a “portable form of architecture.”
Australian artist and self-described “body architect” Lucy McRae is participating in the “Among Diverse Beings” collection of installations and landscape architect Richard Weller is exhibiting in “As One Planet.” More
