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A historic boot factory in Sydney’s Bondi Junction is set to be transformed into a civic innovation hub, designed by Archer Office. Waverley Council has appointed Lloyd Group as head contractor for the restoration and adaptation project, which is expected to be completed in March 2022. The project includes the creation of a large skylight, […] More
The appliance company Gaggenau has launched a design awards programme celebrating the best kitchens in Australia. Gaggenau’s Kitchen of the Year Design Contest is open to professional kitchen designers, architects, interior designers, builders and developers from Australia. Awards will go to the best kitchens in different regions (SA/WA/NT; VIC/TAS; NSW/ACT; QLD), and from these winners […] More
Australian steel building products company Lysaght is this year celebrating 100 years of local manufacturing, an achievement that goes against the trend of offshoring that has prevailed in Australia in recent decades.
While the current Lysaght range covers roofing and walling, architectural cladding, guttering, fascia and rainwater goods, fencing and screening, steel sections, formwork and framing, patios, carports and structures, it’s corrugated iron that it’s long been known for.
This steel building product has been used on everything from the roofs and bull-nose verandas of heritage homes, through to shearing sheds and outback dunnies.
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Corrugating Galvanised Iron at the original Newcastle Works.
The product’s journey to national icon status can be traced back to Britain, where entrepreneurial Irishman, John Lysaght, began galvanising corrugated steel sheeting in Bristol during 1857. He registered the product under the trademark “Orb,” which continues to be used to this day
Lysaght turned his attention to export markets, namely Australia, where he saw opportunities arising from the gold rush of the late 1800s. He began exporting to the colony soon afterwards.
Orb was first sold in Australia through independent merchants until Lysaght established his own distribution company, the Victorian Galvanised Iron and Wire Company, which acted as a central selling agency. The venture worked well and by 1913, some 80,000 tonnes of Orb had been shipped to Australia.
The next challenge the company encountered was World War I, which saw compulsory redirection of production capacity to assist the war effort, this devastated local supply and highlighted the need for a local production presence in Australia.
Within three months of the war commencing, the company (now under the direction of John Lysaght’s nephew Herbert Royse Lysaght in Australia) was making arrangements to purchase 24 acres of land in Newcastle, NSW adjacent to a site already owned by Broken Hill Pty. Co. (BHP).
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John Lysaght.
By the following year in 1917, John Lysaght (Australia) Pty Ltd was formed with the intent of establishing a manufacturing site in Australia, and approximately four years later in April 1921, the new Lysaght company commenced manufacturing at its purpose-built site in Newcastle.
Lysaght general manager Peta Renkin said the company was proud of reaching the important milestone.
“For Lysaght to have reached 100 years of manufacturing in Australia is an extremely satisfying achievement for our company,” she said.
“It’s proof that there’s viability in local production – Lysaght has worked hard to develop new product lines, to innovate and to make manufacturing processes as efficient as possible while still providing premium quality products and offering superior support.
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Lysaght Mini Orb.
“Of course, this achievement would not have been possible without the dedication of Lysaght employees and the ongoing support of our business partners and clients, so to all of you we say ‘thank-you’ and we look forward to the future.”
Today, Lysaght’s parent company, BlueScope, supplies it with Australia-made steel, with manufacturing (customizing, forming and profiling) of the Lysaght products overseen by skilled production technicians at more than 40 Lysaght branches nation-wide.
Along with products like Custom Orb – whose heritage can be traced back to Orb – Lysaght has continued to innovate with products including Klip-Lok and Bondek.
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Pritzker laureates Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal are curating the inaugural Rothwell Chair Symposium in April 2021, alongside the University of Sydney’s School of Architecture, Design and Planning. The pair, renowned for their “never demolish” approach, were appointed the university’s inaugural Garry and Susan Rothwell chairs in architectural design leadership in 2020, prior winning architecture’s […] More
Taubmans has once again partnered with not-for-profit organization Givit to raise money in support of Australian communities affected by bushfire, drought, and flood. Originally launched in 2020, the In it Together campaign raised $155,000, surpassing its initial goal of $120,000. “The incredible donation was used to purchase essential items and services needed by people and […] More
Sydney councillors have given the green light to a pair of buildings in the Green Square development area designed by Candalepas Associates. The two buildings at 12-22 Rothschild Avenue, Rosebery, eight and nine storeys respectively, will house 176 apartments, one retail tenancy and two levels of basement parking. An open courtyard will sit between the […] More
Three mixed-used buildings each designed by a different architecture firm have been completed as part of the “transformational” Newcastle East End development.
The development is located on the Hunter Street Mall on the eastern side of the CBD. The first three buildings – the Perkins and King building designed by SJB, Fabric House by Durbach Block Jaggers and Washington House by Tonkin Zulaikha Greer (with interiors by Turner) – are among 11 buildings in the urban renewal project, to be delivered over four stages. Aspect Studios is leading the landscape design, creating bew shared green space.
Initially spearheaded by the state government’s Urban Growth NSW development agency, along with co-owner of the land GPT Group, the Newcastle East End project is now being developed by Iris Capital, who bought the site in 2016. It’s being pitched as a catalyst to “bring new life to the neglected centre of Newcastle.” The buildings include retail and hospitality tenancies on the ground levels, with apartments above.
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Perkins and King by SJB.
SJB began the process of masterplanning the site in 2013, and were later selected as executive architect in partnership with Durbach Block Jaggers and Tonkin Zulaikha Greer.
The architects worked with Newcastle City Coumcil’s Urban Design Consultative Group throughout 2017 to reconsider the alignment and form of the buildings from the approved masterplan to better respond to the immediate site and surrounding context.
For SJB’s Perkins and King building, the height and massing were shifted to allow for an open public space to be created at the centre of the block. Durbach Block Jaggers’ Fabric House had its building envelope adjusted in a way that allowed the new architecture to better respond to the existing 1930s style brick architecture. And at Washington House by Tonkin Zulaikha Greer the building envelope was rotated 90 degrees so that all apartments gain access to light and views and the built form running east-west along Hunter Street Mall that would have otherwise blocked northern light to the central public space could be reduced.
The firms said the collaborative planning process allowed them to execute design manoeuvres that would have been inhibited by a typical Design Excellence Competition process.
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Fabric House by Durbach Block Jaggers.
“To reinvent a city you need to reinvent the processes that bring new buildings to fruition,” they said in a joint statement.
“Newcastle East End sets a wonderful benchmark for how a collective of architects and local councils can work together to achieve development that is characterful, vibrant, viable and sustainable.”
Each of the building responds to the heritage context of the area. SJB’s design for Perkins and King employs green-hued concrete, “structural rhythm,” and “decorative geometries” to knit the new building into its surroundings.
Durbach Block Jaggers’ Fabric House, meanwhile, features a tonal gradient of bricks and curvaceous edges to “honour the brick architecture of the existing building and the iconic heritage buildings in Newcastle’s East End.”
And Tonkin Zulaikha Greer’s Washington House has a ground floor lobby and retail spaces that celebrate “the old-world glamour of Newcastle’s beloved David Jones department store.”
A fourth building being delivered as part of stage one, the QT hotel designed by SJB, is still under construction and is expected to be completed in early 2022. The second stage will comprise the Soul and Lyrique buildings by CKDS Architecture with interiors by Turner. More
The City of Launceston has appointed Terroir to design a new entrance to the historic Albert Hall. The new entrance to the eastern wing is part of a $10 million, three-stage project to upgrade the Launceston icon. Terroir won a competitive tender for the project and the council endorsed the Tender Review Committee’s recommendation at […] More
