Subterms
The City of Gold Coast has approved a development proposal for a 14-storey apartment building behind the existing façade of the Old Burleigh Theatre Arcade on the Gold Coast. Designed by Conrad Gargett, the tower will include interpretive displays conveying the history of the site, and will seek to find a balance between “the conservation […] More
The 2021 Health Care Health Design forum comes as the world grapples with the most far-reaching health crisis in more than 100 years, as well as an ageing population and persistent health disparities.
The forum will explore the role of architects in responding to these pressing concerns and improving health care, in Australia and around the world.
Across four sessions, held live via Design Speaks’ virtual portal this June, leading architects, researchers and healthcare providers will seek to answer this fundamental question while presenting exemplar healthcare projects, from hospitals to community aged care facilities.
The first session, Access All Areas: Designing for Ageing, will focus on work and research that is addressing the needs of an ageing population. In light of the troubling findings of the Royal Commission into aged care and the systemic weaknesses in the sector exposed by COVID-19, “there’s never been more urgency to improve the living standards for the final chapters of life,” the organizers note.
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The Hogeweyk village in the Netherlands. Image:
Paul Tolenaar.2
Speakers for this session include Yim Eng Ng from Conrad Gargett in Brisbane, who is conducting research into the design of residential aged care facilities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people while designing cross-cultural projects such as the Nareeba Moopi Moopi Pa aged care facility on North Stradbroke Island; Joshua Wheeler, director of MGS Architects, who will discuss his firm’s approach to designing site-responsive, socially informed aged care facilities; and Eloy van Hal of the Amsterdam-based company Be Advice, one of the founders of De Hogeweyk, the world’s first village designed specifically for people living with dementia.
Session two will be all about designing for community, with speakers delving into “the importance of design, consultation and collaboration for creating fit-for-purpose, community-centric healthcare facilities.”
From London, Maggie’s Centres head of property Siobhan Wyatt will discuss the charity’s pioneering cancer drop-in centres, designed by the likes of Norman Foster, Daniel Libeskind, Amanda Levete and Alison Brooks. Closer to home, David Kaunitz of Kaunitz Yeung Architecture will present his firm’s award-winning Indigenous community healthcare facilities in remote Pilbara and Debbie Lynn Ryan of McBride Charles Ryan will present community-focused projects including a new integrated healthcare centre in Yarram, in regional Victoria, that “stitches together” local hospital, aged care and allied health services.
The third session will look at the intersection of architecture and mental health, and ask “will the movement of a human-centred design approach re-shape what we currently understand to be healthcare design?”
Speakers include Peter Johnstone of Stockholm’s White Arkitekter, the biggest architecture firm in Scandinavia and a world leader in health care design; Rebecca McLaughlan, a researcher at the University of Newcastle who has for more than a decade investigated the capacity of architectural design to support wellbeing within healthcare environments; and Jan Golembiewski, an architect and researcher whose work is driving innovation and research around behavioural, affective and psychological reactions to the physical environment.
The final session will tackle the timely topic of designing for crisis. One of two international speakers in this session, Mass Design Group principal Amie Shao, is based in Kigali, Rwanda, where she oversees research focusing on health infrastructure planning, design, and evaluation. She will present on the ways Mass is leveraging its global infection control and research experience to address the COVID-19 pandemic in the developing world. The other international speaker, Scott Davidson, principal of health at US firm Perkins and Will, has also been investigating the impacts of COVID on health care design, and will present on healthcare design “in a post-COVID world.”
From Australia, Hassell’s Michaela Sheahan will discuss the importance of good design in emergency situations.
The four sessions of Health Care Health Design will be viewable live in June, and also available to watch on demand in the following months. To purchase tickets, click here.
Health Care Health Design is a Design Speaks event, organized by Architecture Media (publisher of ArchitectureAU.com) and supported by principal partner Dulux. More
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
