Architecture

Johnson Pilton Walker’s scheme for a vibrant social housing neighbourhood organized around fine-grained laneways in Glebe is closer to fruition, with a development application submitted to council.
First unveiled in 2020 by the NSW Land and Housing Corporation, the design responds to the historic brick woolstore buildings and rendered terrace houses of Glebe.
The development straddles two sites owned by the state housing agency, 17-31 Cowper Street and 2A-2D Wentworth Park Road, where there are currently 19 social housing residencies. While the original plan was to add 35 new social housing dwellings along with 39 private dwellings, in February the Land and Housing Corporation changed its brief to provide 100 percent social housing on both sites. There will now be 75 dwellings built across the two sites.
Johnson Pilton Walker has made a number of design changes in response, including the removal of the proposed basement carpark and the creation of a new public gathering space on Wentworth Park Road under the existing plane tree.

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Glebe Mid-Rise Project by Johnson Pilton Walker.

The architects describe the development, known as the Glebe Mid-Rise Project, as an example of “density done well.”
“Using the precedents of Glebe woolstores and the Sydney terraces, we found an urban composition that fits comfortably with the surroundings, without compromising the amenity or liveability for residents and neighbours,” the design statement reads. “The building form offers an understanding of the timeless – of tried and tested typologies like the terraces and appreciation for a material craft like the established neighbourhood’s predominant brickwork.”
The principal entries for the woolstore houses will be off Cowper Street, and will be clearly articulated through “slots” in the facade and awnings. Commercial tenancies will be located at key site corners, creating their own clear street presence and address.
The terraces, meanwhile, will have a clear presence and outlook on Doherty Reserve, with direct access from Mitchell Lane East, creating a coherent streetscape and address to the park.
“Simple site planning creates legible addresses for the residential components, and a diverse range of complementary retail, community and shared spaces at ground level interlock both sites into the neighbourhood,” write the architects. More

The Western Australian government has selected a consortium that includes Spaceagency Architects to redevelop the Rottnest Island Lodge at the popular tourism destination. The $40 million project will include 94 rooms, a day spa, restaurant, kiosk, beach lounge, coffee shop, bar, a new pool and onsite staff accommodation. Spaceagency Architects’ design will combine new buildings […] More

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