Architecture

A new boutique hotel with an industrial-inspired exterior wrapped in weathered steel has opened in Fitzroy, Melbourne.
The sturdy, stacked structure – designed by architecture firm Woods Bagot in collaboration with Hecker Guthrie for interiors – houses the StandardX, an international hotel chain.
The eight-storey building accommodates 125 suites, a rooftop restaurant and bar for hotel guests, a second restaurant, a lobby, an elevated loft with a fireplace, a retail outlet, several common areas, and a bodega.
Its robust exterior of Corten steel was intended to pay homage to Fitzroy’s industrial history as Melbourne’s oldest suburb. Rather than adopting a sleek and polished facade, the building references the gritty, unrefined character and urban texture of its location.

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Woods Bagot’s principal, Peter Miglis, and project leader, Robert Rosamilia, said the building reads like it belongs.
“The building rapidly assumes a distinctly local patina that speaks to Fitzroy’s convergence of industrial heritage and contemporary artistic sensibility,” said Rosamilia. “It’s a building that’s entirely of its place,” he added.
Miglis reiterated those sentiments, mentioning that the hotel was created to cater to the experiential traveller who desires to “immerse themselves in the rhythm and pulse of place.”

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Hecker Guthrie applied a similar approach the interior design, drawing inspiration from Fitzroy’s heritage as a working-class suburb full of cultural vibrancy. The studio characterised the interiors as a blend of “grittiness” and “modern comforts.”
Standout interior features include a bold revolving door, a ground floor that opens to an elevated loft with a fireplace, custom furniture and antique pieces, and internal columns wrapped in macrame by local artist Sarah Smalltown. Local artists’ works are displayed throughout the interiors, again emphasising the connection to place.
The StandardX opened on 8 August 2024. Construction began on the building in March 2022.
The project is shortlisted for the World Architecture Festival Awards in the Completed Buildings: Hotel and Leisure category. More

The Sydney Design Week 2024 program has been revealed, featuring a lineup of visionary designers, architects and artists who are pioneering new possibilities for the future through design practice.

Titled “In Between Worlds,” Sydney Design Week 2024 invites presenters and attendees to consider how cities can enhance inclusivity and how design can innovate to support sustainable models for living, connection and culture. Throughout the week-long event, festivalgoers will encounter compelling conversations, research, narratives and bodies of work, all reflecting this year’s central theme.
Sydney Design Week creative director Keinton Butler said as humans confront a future marked by growing division, creativity and imagination have emerged as critical tools in reshaping our perspectives on how we live. “This year’s design week program highlights leading designers and architects who are challenging the status quo, to reimagine more resilient, sustainable and inclusive cities.”

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Key highlights of the festival include a keynote discussion by Sumayya Vally, architect and artistic director of the inaugural Islamic Arts Biennale, who will speak on designing for belonging. Additionally, architect David Gianotten, the managing partner of the international architecture practice Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA), will share insights into the evolving role of architecture.
Moroccan-British artist Hassan Hajjaj will share his approach to image-making while international space architect Melodie Yashar will discuss the ethics of space settlement. Architecture professor and co-founder of the Barcelona-based MAIO Architects Anna Puigjaner will explore the reimagination of domestic spaces and the role of design in social transformation.
Sydney Design Week 2024 will be held at various locations across Sydney from 13–19 September. For the full program, visit the Sydney Design Week website. More

A new primary school precinct designed to reflect the school’s teaching philosophy and the site’s pineapple-farm past has opened on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.
The finished primary school precinct at Suncoast Christian College, designed by M3 Architecture, features a new three-storey wing with open-plan teaching environments and connections to the outdoors. The building is wrapped in steel mesh, maximising ventilation and light penetration through to the verandahs while simultaneously keeping students safe.
M3 Architecture director Ben Vielle said they placed great importance on understanding the college’s co-teaching model.
“Suncoast Christian College has a co-teaching pedagogy whereby two year levels of three streams are taught together as a stage. We devised a model for each stage where 150 students could cohabitate the space across two to three floors in various teaching modes. At various times of the day, they reconfigure to suit how they want to learn. Within those environments there are specialist spaces as well. Each of the three stages has a makerspace, a kitchen, and lounge areas. A lot of children refer to it as like their home,” Vielle said.

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The new wing accommodates 450 students between grades one and six. Spaces for each of the three stages – years one and two, three and four, and five and six –have been seasonally colour-coordinated to create a sense of belonging, as well as reference the site’s history as farm land. Spaces for the grade one and two stage feature an autumnal colour palette, with rooms named after autumnal fruits to help students recognise seasonal produce patterns. Winter and spring themes have been selected for the other two stages.
In shared areas, there is a deliberate gradation of colour from the highly saturated entry to the more neutral, large teaching settings.

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The project involved a highly collaborative process between the architect and the client, with the college providing consultation throughout the design process.
Suncoast Christian College principal Greg Mattiske said the building embodies the culture of the school. “All the things that we said were important to us and we wanted the building to do, have been expressed in the architecture,” Mattiske said. “The light, space, colour, connection with the rural site and its history is so good for student and teacher wellbeing, it’s palpable.”
The concept designs for the precinct were unveiled in November 2021. More

Elizabeth Carpenter has been elected as the Australian Institute of Architects New South Wales chapter president, in replacement of Adam Haddow, who stepped down following his appointment as national president elect.
Carpenter is a practising architect with over 30 years of experience. She is a managing principal and company secretary at FJC Studio and a fellow of the Australian Institute of Architects (AIA). She has served on the NSW Australian Institute of Architects Chapter Council, among other design and advocacy committees.
Carpenter said she is honoured to represent the NSW chapter.
“I am committed to advocating for a sustainable future. This is not just a desire but a necessity and should be our primary focus. Sustainability should permeate every aspect of our work—it starts from the beginning and is a state of mind rather than an add-on. Recognising and promoting sustainable work practices is as important as the projects we produce,” she said.
“My approach is collaborative, welcoming participation and engagement. I aim to draw upon the combined expertise of the many active members of the Institute’s community and expand this community further.
“We all know the critical issues facing our profession and our interaction with the built environment. However, I want to take the time to personally ask what we can do better to improve our impact and how we can work together as a connected community of professionals.”
Carpenter will serve as chapter president until the end of 2024. Her three areas of focus as chapter president will be housing, supporting graduate and emerging architects, and maintaining and communicating the value of the craft of architecture. More

A design consortium comprising Plus Architecture, Architecture And, and Chrofi has won a design excellence competition that invited architects to convert a former shopping centre site on the NSW Central Coast into an activated residential precinct.
The winning scheme includes 650 dwellings across five new towers, 5,000 square metres of ground-level retail and commercial space, landscaped public areas and pedestrian walkways to connect the site with Kibble Park. Clear wayfinding will help pedestrians navigate not only the hub’s buildings and activated open spaces, but also the city and transport links beyond.
In a collaborative effort, Chrofi lead the design of the civic plaza, ground plane and tower one; Plus Architecture designed residential towers two and three, ground-level public spaces and full-plan coherence; Architecture And designed residential towers four and five; and Arcadia provided landscape consultancy services across the masterplan.
Director of Plus Architecture Amit Julka emphasised the value of having team members with varied perspectives, expertise and experiences on a project of this size and scale. “The result of deep collaboration, our proposal seeks to reflect the way cities naturally accrete over time, with many hands shaping the output and expression of the buildings,” Julka said.
Architecture And founder and principal Andrew Burns echoed this sentiment, saying the collaboration resulted in a “diverse architectural expression in form, geometry and material – to create a real piece of city, in dialogue with the dramatic Rumbalara escarpment to the perimeter of the site.”
The design intent is expressed at three scales: city, neighbourhood and home. City-wise, the aim is to increase urban quality by creating a useful place that appeals for generations. The neighbourhood goal is to foster a community where residents feel a sense of belonging to place and to each other. Finally, all homes are intended to provide customised, resource-efficient living spaces that connect with nature.
Sustainability is prioritised in the buildings through the integration of passive heating and cooling features, biophilic green roofs and solar power. Externally, native planting selections seek to minimise the heat island effect.
The next phase of the project will see the submission of a State Significant Development Application (SSDA). If approved, the proposed Gosford Alive precinct will be constructed on a 1.4-hectare site in Gosford’s city centre.
Urbis managed this design excellence competition on behalf of Universal Property Group, and the jury was chaired by Government Architect NSW. More

Hobart City Council has unanimously approved a development proposal to establish a 12-storey office building in Liverpool Street and a “pocket park” for public use.
A development application for the project was lodged in early 2024.
The building features a tower and two-podium arrangement. Designed by Gray Puksand, the facade comprises tinted concrete and red brick for the podiums, and brushed metal for the tower.
The new office building will accommodate more than 15,000 square metres of working spaces and a basement-level car park. The ground floor will include entry spaces, change rooms and bicycle storage, a potential retail tenancy and a cafe. Landscaped rooftop terraces will be positioned across levels three and four.
Director of Techne Invest (the property developer behind the project) Matt O’Halloran said the office project is “much-needed” in the growing city of Hobart.
“We’re delighted that HCC [Hobart City Council] has endorsed our vision,” O’Halloran said. “The approach to planning and design has been open and collaborative with Council and it will deliver a terrific architectural addition to the city.”
The development will include the introduction of a new pedestrian link above the Hobart rivulet and a new “pocket park.”
A building that currently exists on the corner site would be demolished as part of the development. More

The National Capital Authority invites public consultation on the design, materiality and location of two Licht Architecture-designed floating saunas proposed for Canberra’s Lake Burley Griffin.
A potential site has been nominated between Yarralumla Beach and Blue Gum Point, off Alexandrina Drive. The setting would encourage visitors to fully experience hot-and-cold therapy by moving between the heated saunas and comparatively cool lake.
Works listed in the approval application comprise changing rooms, two 4.2-metre-tall sauna structures, a gathering space, a 78.8 square metre floating pontoon, and a 10.5 metre raised gangway connecting the saunas to land. If approved, the project would be constructed in approximately four weeks.
The proposed gable-roofed form and black-and-white colour scheme would resemble that of Derby Floating Sauna, which was also designed by Licht Architecture, in north-east lutruwita/Tasmania. That sauna received a National Commendation for Small Project Architecture in the 2021 Australian Institute of Architects’ National Awards.
The National Capital Authority is seeking feedback on the proposal until Friday 23 August 2024. More

The Australian Institute of Architects has launched a voluntary and anonymous national survey for its members, inviting them to share their experiences and views about the use of artificial intelligence in architecture practice.
The survey is commissioned by the National Practice Committee and its Design and Technology Working Group. Its purpose is to collate more evidence about the impacts of artificial intelligence (AI) in Australian architecture practices and the profession’s strategic responses to the emergence of AI.
The survey findings will be used to guide the institute on the kinds of support to provide members, including continuing professional development and other advocacy.
The survey portal will close on Friday 16 August 2024. To find out more, visit the website. More