Architecture

A 53-storey office tower designed by Woods Bagot and New York practice Shop Architects is set to transform the skyline of central Sydney, with a development application submitted to council.
The firms’ “soaring but seductive” design for the $1.5 billion tower at 55 Pitt Street was selected through a design competition early in the year.
Should it be approved, the tower will deliver around 70,000 square metres of office space, along with retail uses at ground level.
The site is part of the block bounded by Alfred, Pitt, Dalley and George streets known as the APDG Block, a key centre for financial, professional and business services in Sydney.
In planning documents, the architects describe how the design was inspired by “the natural landscape of stone, water, and the lush plants that surrounds Sydney cove.”

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55 Pitt Street by Woods Bagot and SHoP Architects.

Large sandstone blocks, bronze coloured metal, and the use of water and lush planting at the ground level work to connect the building to Country, while also grounding the tower in heritage context.
“The sandstone blocks will have an aged look and quality connecting back to the nearby laneways of Sydney CBD as well representing the sandstone base that the building is located on,” the architectural design report notes.
A key feature of the ground plane and the public domain interface is the so-called “Cove,” an open but protected sanctuary at the north east corner where Pitt Street meets Underwood Street.
The colour and solidity of the sandstone base is carried up the tower though the solid panelling to one side. Elsewhere, a dynamic operable facade will maximize natural ventilation and support biophilia.

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55 Pitt Street by Woods Bagot and SHoP Architects.

“…windows respond to the Sydney climate through a network of sensors in real time, bringing fresh air into the space as desired when conditions are optimal and providing a continuously modulated connection to the outdoors.”
Atop the tower a rooftop garden will offer space for events and town hall style meetings, along with more intimate spaces, with views to the east, west and south of the city.
The development will require the demolition of three existing commercial buildings ranging from 10 to 13 storeys, while the adjacent Telstra Exchange and Ausgrid Substation buildings will be upgraded as part of the project.
The development application is on public exhibit until 29 July. More

The resurrected AA Prize for Unbuilt Work is returning for the second year in a row after its decade-long hiatus. Entries are now open for the 2022 edition of the prize, which seeks to promote debate and generate ideas about architecture by rewarding compelling work in its conceptual stages. Winning last year’s prize – the […] More

Brisbane architecture firm Blight Rayner and landscape architecture practice Aspect Studios are part of the consortium appointed to deliver Brisbane’s Kangaroo Point bridge.
The city’s mayor, Adrian Schrinner, announced the appointment of the Connect Brisbane consortium this week and revealed new renders of the bridge, which will include an overwater bar and restaurant.
Crossing the Brisbane River from the corner of Alice and Edward streets in the CBD to Scott Street at Kangaroo Point, the new bridge will be around 460 metres long and will cost $190 million. It will have a single-mast cable-stayed structure, designed to complement the city skyline and minimize visual impact.
Shrinner told media the bridge would be a “game changer” for the city, providing practical connections across the river, while becoming a tourist attraction in its own right.

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Kangaroo Point green bridge by the Connect Brisbane consortium, which includes Blight Rayner and Aspect Studios.

“This will be one of the only bridges in the world where you can have a restaurant or boutique bar opportunity on the bridge itself,” he said. “This is going to be unique to Brisbane and will create a great tourist attraction for our city.”
Detailed designs will now be developed over a five-month period, with construction work expected to begin at the end of 2021. Connect Brisbane is led by construction company BESIX Watpac and, along with Blight Rayner and Aspect Studios, includes Rizzani de Eccher, WSP, Dissing and Weitling, RWDI, F-POV, Right Angle Studios and Rowland.
The concept design for the bridge was developed by Cox Architecture and Arup.
Greens councillor Jonathan Sri has expressed concern about the privatization of public space through the inclusion of the restaurant, the ABC reports, noting that he “would rather see a picnic area with some public barbecues and picnic facilities on the bridge.”
The Kangaroo Point bridge is one of several car-less “green bridges” the Brisbane City Council is looking to build across the river. The $60 million Breakfast Creek green bridge is also expected to begin construction at the end of the year and two planned West End bridges should begin construction in 2022. More

Hill Thalis Architecture and Urban Projects has prepared a design framework for a new village at the intersection of John Gorton Drive and Fred Daly and Steve Irwin avenues in Canberra’s Molonglo Valley.
Prepared for the ACT government’s Suburban Land Agency, the Coombs and Wright village design and place framework lays out a vision for a “distinctive, mixed-use precinct that embodies the best of contemporary Canberra [and] builds on its memorable landscape setting.”
Mixed-use and commercial sites in the village will be released to developers through a two-stage expressions-of-interest and design-based tender process.
A new community activity centre will be built fronting Coombs central park and the corner of Fred Daly Avenue and Beecroft Street. The Suburban Land Agency will also deliver public domain improvements, including the transformation of Steve Irwin and Fred Daly avenues into a pedestrian-friendly main street and the enhancement of Coombs central park with a shade structure, toilets and a children’s play space.
Hill Thalis’s design framework calls for “a complementary mix of uses, activities and events,” with “an integrated, permeable network of well-designed public spaces” and “buildings and structures of high architectural quality and environmental performance.”

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The new public square and laneway opening onto Steve Irwin Avenue. Image:

Hill Thalis Architecture and Urban Projects

The design framework establishes firm limits on apartment layout and design, in line with the NSW government’s Apartment Design Guide, and mandates a mix of commercial, retail and hospitality uses at ground.
Hill Thalis notes that the community expressed a strong preference for food and beverage, retail and recreational facilities along with outdoor dining, community gatherings and markets. The community was also keen on green and comfortable outdoor spaces and a community activity centre within the village centre.
“The ACT government has listened to the Molonglo Valley community and their desire to see more retail, hospitality and community-focused facilities in the area,” said Yvette Berry, minister for housing and suburban development. “The village framework will create a buzzing suburban core and will be accompanied by a significant investment in offsite works, delivered by the Suburban Land Agency.
“Works include reimagining Steve Irwin and Fred Daly Avenue as a village main street with multiple rows of shade trees, and a new public square which will become a community meeting and outdoor dining space.
“The works also include a small public pavilion, toilets and a performance space in the nearby Coombs Park which will be welcome additions to what is currently an underutilised space.”
Expressions of interest for the commercial blocks are open until 19 August. More

The Architects Accreditation Council of Australia (AACA) released the new National Standard of Competency for Architects (NSCA) today, 1 July, noting that the new standard prioritizes sustainability and engagement with Indigenous people.
Reviewed every five years, the national competency standard provides the assessment framework for the registration boards of each state and helps guide tertiary education institutions and other providers to tailor their programs to provide a pathway to registration.
AACA CEO Kathlyn Loseby said the reforms to the standard had been developed through an 18-month-long process of research and engagement with stakeholders
“It is incumbent upon us to ensure standards of competency not only keep pace with changes across the profession but also serve as a driver for further improvement,” she said.
“We are proud that the 2021 NSCA enshrines a greater focus on more meaningful engagement with our First Nations peoples. As this year’s NAIDOC Week theme – Heal Country! – so clearly highlights, we have a long way to go in achieving real reform and reconciliation.
“We recognize that fundamental change is needed in the relationship Australia has with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
“We also acknowledge that we have so much to learn from the rich history and oldest continuing cultures on earth, not least when it comes to how we care for Country.”
The standard makes repeated reference to the need to transition to a carbon-neutral built environment, noting that the built environment accounts for 36 percent of energy consumption, 38 percent of energy-related carbon emissions and 50 percent of resource consumption globally.
“Architects are at the forefront of our capacity to transform the built environment’s impact on our climate into a carbon-neutral one,” said Loseby. “The NSCA is a critical tool in this change.”
The standard has also been streamlined, with the number of competencies reduced from 70 to 60.
Australian Institute of Architects CEO Julia Cambage welcomed the reforms.
“Safety, sustainability and human-centric design are the driving factors shaping this latest iteration of the NSCA,” she said. “Architects are the most highly-qualified, closely regulated profession in the building and construction sector and the 2021 NSCA provides the framework to ensure they continue to best serve Australian communities.
“I commend the AACA on their collaborative approach and thank the Institute’s First Nations Advisory Working Group and Cultural Reference Panel and the Climate Action and Sustainability Taskforce for their expert input into the review process.”
A copy of the 2021 NSCA is now viewable here. More

The colours and tones prevalent among the finalists of the 35th anuual Dulux Colour Awards indicated “the need for a return to nature and its grounding effect in chaotic times,” said said Andrea Orr, Dulux colour and communications manager. Among the 105 finalists, 44 come from the two commercial interiors categories – Workplace and Retail, […] More

A $708 million proposal to demolish and replace Sydney’s Harbourside Shopping Centre – blasted by the City of Sydney as an “effective privatization of public space” – has once again been approved.
The Department of Planning, Industry and Environment approved the project in March, but the Independent Planning Commission was required to adjudicate because of the more than 50 unique objections it received.
Commissioners Dianne Leeson and Wendy Lewin announced the commission’s approval for the project on 25 June, stressing that conditions imposed on the approval would mitigate key impacts and ensure design excellence.
Leeson and Lewin said the commission accepted that there were “significant socio-economic benefits” the development would bring, but that there are a number of issues that needed to be addressed. They noted that “the bulk and scale of the podium (particularly at the northern end of the site) and the profile and positioning of the residential tower as proposed, would reduce solar access to the Darling Harbour foreshore and result in unacceptable overshadowing of the public promenade.”

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The proposed Harbourside Shopping Centre redevelopment, concept design by FJMT.

They also noted that the northern podium risked diminishing the state-significant heritage values of the Pyrmont Bridge and that the provision of 3,500 square metresof public open space across multiple levels above the podium would limit accessibility and use.
“In response to concerns raised by council and the community, the commission has imposed a suite of empirical and performance-based conditions, ensuring that the outcome being sought is clear, and emphasizing that detailed design solutions would be required as part of the design excellence competition,” Leeson and Lewin state in their report.
Among the conditions set by the commission are a number of “absolute limits,” including a minimum setback from Pyrmont Bridge and a maximum finished deck level height for the public open space above the northern podium.
But the conditions should also “provide the applicant enough scope to find design solutions to avoid, mitigate and minimize identified impacts without compromising the benefits of the project.”
A design excellence competition will be required for the final design, before any construction begins. More

The Australian Institute of Architects is calling on the federal government to extend wage subsidies paid to employers of trainees and apprentices to companies employing architecture graduates. The Institute says the change is urgently needed to improve employment prospects for graduates. “A national survey of our members at the beginning of last year found that […] More