Architecture

A community hub and library in Melbourne’s north could become the first community centre in Australia to achieve both Passive House and Living Building Challenge “Petal” certification, according to its architects.
Glenroy Community Hub, designed by Designinc, has begun construction with the structural frame and section of the roof erected since February. It is expected to be completed by December 2021, according to the Moreland City Council.
The $30 million project will bring together Glenroy Library, the Glenroy Memorial Kindergarten, maternal and community health services, as well as neighbourhood learning and childcare facilities.
Designinc director Stephen Webb said the project would be an exemplar for sustainability with biophilic design values embedded in the structure.
“The design of the building focuses on reconnecting people with nature and providing natural experiences,” he said.
Project leader Kieran Leong said both the council and community had stressed their commitment to sustainability throughout the planning and consultation processes.

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Glenroy Community Hub by Designinc.

“Every local council wants and should expect value for money from their projects, that is a given – but Moreland City Council set their sights higher, by expecting the project to be a catalyst for social change,” he said. “Through projects like this, Moreland City Council is showing true leadership in sustainable design.”
Passive House and Living Building Challenge are internationally recognized benchmarks that require the highest level of sustainable design, checked against stringent tests and auditing processes. The overall goal is that the centre will become self-sufficient within its site, for instance producing more energy than it uses.
Once complete, the community hub will have a focus on tackling disadvantage at the earliest age, offering positive pathways into education, health and wellbeing for residents, “especially those with the odds stacked against them.”
Although Glenroy is experiencing gentrification, it is still among the more socio-economically disadvantaged suburbs in Melbourne. Around a third of households are in the lowest income quartile, earning less than $624 per week and, according to Australian Early Development Census data, 30 per cent of children from Glenroy and adcacent Hadfield have some form of developmental delay when starting primary school.

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Glenroy Community Hub by Designinc.

Designinc says that at the new centre, maternal and child health services will help nurture infants and their parents and an integrated day care centre and kindergarten will strengthen children’s skills and nurture healthy growth.
“Parents will encounter their community at the health centre, neighbourhood learning activities on site and at the community garden,” Designinc said. “Meetings and celebrations held by local groups in multipurpose spaces and the adjacent parkland will create a lively sense of neighbourhood and opportunity to get involved. Over time it is hoped that Glenroy’s new heart will foster a healthier, more capable and more cohesive community.”
The centre will be located in a parkland setting off Weathsheaf Road, by the Bridget Shortell Reserve. A landscaped forecourt arbour will provide public activity space, identity and transition from the reserve. “The transition continues into the building with internal landscaping, natural light and views and access to nature and garden experiences,” said the architects. More

The Melbourne Airport Rail will run across the second tallest bridge in Melbourne – surpassed only by the West Gate Bridge – according to the first concept designs released by the Victorian and federal governments. The concept designs depict a new rail bridge over the Maribyrnong River and elevated twin tracks between Sunshine and Albion […] More

Parramatta’s giant ring aquatic and leisure centre is under construction, with the first sod turned at a ceremony on 30 March.
The $88.6 million centre is designed by Grimshaw, Andrew Burges Architects and McGregor Coxall, who won a design competition for the project in 2018. Located in the Mays Hill Precinct of Parramatta Park, it will feature a 10-lane, 50-metre outdoor pool, encircled by the distinctive ring-form, along with a 25-metre indoor pool, learn-to-swim facilities, a cafe, and fitness and parking facilities.

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Parramatta’s aquatic and leisure centre designed by Grimshaw, Andrew Burges Architects and McGregor Coxall.

Parramatta mayor Bob Dwyer noted that community had been waiting a long time for the build to get underway.
“This is a historic moment for the people of Parramatta, as work begins on one of the country’s best public aquatic and leisure centres in Australia’s best city,” he said.
“We know the community has been eager to get back into the water, so I’m excited that City of Parramatta Council has teamed up with respected and experienced builder Lipman to ensure we deliver a first-class facility as soon as possible.”
The project is expected to be completed by early 2023.
It is jointly funded by the council and the state government, which is investing $38.5 million from the Restart NSW Fund.
The council, on top of its initial commitment of $38.5 million, is investing an extra $11.6 million to increase the facility’s capacity and “future-proof” it to accommodate Parramatta’s rapid growth.
Geoff Lee, Liberal member for Parramatta, said, “Parramatta deserves a pool which caters for competition, learn-to-swim classes, recreation and relaxation. This aquatic centre will be the envy of communities all over the state. It will be a complex with versatility designed to meet the needs of Parramatta now and in the future for decades to come.”
Grimshaw, Andrew Burges Architects and McGregor Coxall also collaborated on another major aquatic centre, the Gunyama Park Aquatic and Recreation Centre in Green Square, which opened earlier in 2021. More

A 26-storey hotel tower would be built on a 40-square-metre site at the southern end of the Brisbane CBD under a proposal before council. Designed by Buchan with landscape architecture by Arcadia, the development at 44 Roma Street is being pitched as “a unique corporate traveller hotel” development that would help revitalize this “abandoned” corner […] More

The Victorian government has announced four winners in the Future Homes competition, which sought exemplar apartment designs that could easily be replicated across Melbourne’s suburbs.
The competition is the first phase of the Future Homes project aimed at producing apartments that could become world leaders in design, sustainability and liveability.
The winning proposals deliver high quality living spaces, useable communal spaces that encourage interaction between neighbours and designs that could be adapted to suit the needs of a changing population.
Two winning schemes – from Spiral Architecture Lab and Lian (with Finding Infinity and Openwork) – propose modular systems that could be arranged in various ways to suit different household types.

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The winning proposal by Lian (with Finding Infinity and Openwork).

The proposal by Design Strategy Architecture in collaboration with Includesign creates two shared outdoor spaces connected via stairs to foster community connections.
McGregor Westlake Architecture’s winning entry proposes a landscape-first approach, which will generate a network of gardens across a suburban block.
The winners will now work with the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) and the Office of the Victorian Government Architect (OVGA) to refine their entries into design models.
“We are  planning  for a better Victoria by designing world-leading apartments that are more energy efficient and spacious, and have plenty of green space,” said planning minister Richard Wynne.
“These new designs will set new  benchmarks  in sustainability and liveability – helping create a new generation of apartment living that’s  better, smarter and healthier for the whole community.” 

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The winning proposal by McGregor Westlake Architecture.

The government also announced it will adapt one of the winner’s designs and construct a demonstration project in partnership with the Department of Health and Human Services.
“This means one of the competition winners will receive further paid work during the construction of a Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) building,” Wynne said in a letter to competitors.
The winning designs will also inform potential planning reforms and future social housing developments.
The competition jury comprised Jill Garner (Victorian Government Architect), Sadie Morgan (founding director, dRMM), Koos de Keijzer (principal, DKO), Jan McRedie McCredie (urban design manager, Urban Design Manager, City of Parramatta), Jennie Officer (director, Officer Woods Architects), Tony Isaacson (chair, Robn Robin Boyd Foundation and former director of Kane Constructions) and Matt Cohen (director, development approvals and urban design, DELWP).
The winning schemes and four other shortlisted schemes are on exhibition at the Melbourne School of Design until 24 May. They will also be part of the A new suburban ambition exhibition at Monash University until 5 April. More

An apartment complex designed by Jackson Clements Burrows will be one of the first build-to-rent projects to incorporate community housing under an agreement between developer Assemble and not-for-profit housing provider Housing Choices Australia.
The Melbourne-based developer says that for its future projects at least 20 percent of dwellings will be allocated for low-income tenants, with Housing Choices Australia managing these houses.
This community housing component will be delivered through a long-term lease arrangement across six Assemble development sites in inner- and middle-ring Melbourne, including the Jackson Clements Burrows-designed apartments at Carinish Road in Clayton, south-east Melbourne.
“We are proud to partner with Housing Choices Australia to deliver much needed long-term mixed-income rental housing,” said Assemble managing director Kris Daff.
“At a time that has been socially and economically devastating for Victoria, fuelled by uncertainty in housing tenure and barriers to home ownership, our communities need support now more than ever to ensure we do not reach crisis point.”
“Build to rent is a scalable model, and when executed to its best effect, it has the potential to meet our nation’s demand for secure-tenure affordable housing. We see mixed-income communities as a blueprint for the future of Australian housing.”
Housing Choices Australia and Assemble will co-invest alongside institutional equity investors in all projects. Both parties will jointly participate in the procurement, delivery and management of the mixed-income housing. Groups offered tenancy could include women experiencing domestic violence, young people living with disabilities, or key workers on low, fixed incomes.
Housing Choices Australia managing director Michael Lennon said the build-to-rent model had been widely adopted internationally: “The establishment of build to rent as an asset class reflects the growing maturity of the community housing sector in Australia,” he said.
“Build to rent recognises that there are very significant unmet housing needs in Australia coupled with a strong desire by institutional investors to diversify and to contribute solutions to the housing crisis. The community housing sector offers ideal partnership opportunities because of its depth of experience in managing tenancies and communities cost effectively.”
“International examples of build to rent offer a wider array of housing choices, enrich city communities, benefit local economies and most importantly, take pressure off the housing system overall.” More

Young architects and students with a vision for a more sustainable future are encouraged to apply for a range of bursaries and mentorship opportunities thanks to the charity branch of Swarovski, the Austrian crystal glass company.
The Swarovski Foundation announced this month the launch of a new global grant program delivered with the United Nations Office for Partnerships, which will aim to “identify and accelerate the next generation of creative leaders in sustainability.”
The Swarovski Foundation Institute: Creatives for Our Future program will offer grants to people aged 18 to 25 across creative disciplines including architecture, design, engineering, fashion and art.
Applications for the grants opened on 9 March and will be accepted until 9 April.
According to the foundation, successful applicants will have a keen interest in, demonstration of, or exemplary potential to use the creative process to accelerate awareness, technologies or solutions for sustainable development.
Selected grantees will receive financial support to further their practice and “design new pathways for a better world.” They will also take part in an educational program in collaboration with a number of international institutions, and be given the opportunity to take part in tailored mentorship and industry networking programs.
Nadja Swarovski, chair of the Swarovski Foundation, said the program was part of the organization’s ongoing mission to foster education, creativity and a sustainable future.
“This ground-breaking program will empower the next generation of creative talent to unlock innovative new approaches to our global sustainability challenges and drive progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals,” she said.
Annemarie Hou, acting executive director of the United Nations Office for Partnerships noted the importance of the creative sector.
“In 2021, the International Year of Creative Economy for Sustainable Development, we must work together to amplify the creativity and talent of young leaders,” she said. “The Creatives for Our Future program by the Swarovski Foundation Institute is a trailblazing initiative that is keeping the promise of the SDGs [sustainable development goals].” More