Architecture

Melbourne’s Birrarung (Yarra River), will be transformed by a new “Greenline” project along its north bank, according to an implementation plan that will be voted on by councillors on Tuesday, 4 May.
The $300 million Greenline, being pitched as one of the biggest transformations of the city since Southbank Promenade in 1990 and Fed Square in 2002, will include new pedestrian bridges and boardwalks and create a continuous green link along all of Northbank.
“We want Northbank to become one of the city’s premier destinations for workers, residents and tourists,” said Melbourne mayor Sally Capp. “This investment would transform some of the most unloved areas in the city into a series of connected parklands with opportunities for food, art, culture and entertainment.”
The council will be seeking funding contributions from the state and federal governments as well as the private sector to deliver the project.
The implementation plan notes that the north bank of the Birrarung is currently underused, with a lack of cultural expression and limited ecological and habitat value. It also describes poor pedestrian and community connectivity and a lack of social amenity.

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Greenline concept.

The Greenline will seek to address these problems, taking into considration some of the significant environmental and climate-related challenges that Melbourne faces. “It will focus on improving river health, creating a connected ecological corridor, reintroducing riparian edges and enhanced biodiversity, and providing opportunities for environmental education and public interaction with the river,” the plan states.
It will also seek to make visible layers of history via a historical trail with design interventions “to educate, celebrate and recognize Melbourne’s rich history and culture.”
The Birrarung is highly significant to both the Boon Wurrung and Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung peoples, with the Eastern Kulin people thriving along the banks of the river for at least 60,000 years prior to European colonization. What is today known as Enterprize Park, for instance, was once Narm jaap (the place of the tea tree shrub), an ancient crossing point of the river and a meeting place of the Woi Wurrung and Boon Wurrung peoples.
The Greenline will seek to celebrate this significance, formally recognized in Yarra River Protection (Wilip-gin Birrarung murron) Act 2017, as well as recognizing Northbank as a site of maritime and rail history.
“The Greenline would tell stories of Melbourne’s history and increase visibility and understanding of the area’s Aboriginal culture and heritage,” said Capp. “The Northbank could be used to recognize and celebrate Aboriginal culture and knowledge along the Yarra River – Birrarung.”
City of Melbourne noted that it does not own or independently manage the waterways or banks of the Birrarung, which is variously managed by state government, Parks Victoria, Melbourne Water and the City of Melbourne. The transformation will be “a collective responsibility of all Victorian Government partners and adjoining landowners.”
Consultation has begun with the Bunurong Land Council Aboriginal Corporation, the Boon Wurrung Foundation and the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation along with a number of state government departments and stakeholders. More

A proposed blood red, 27-storey North Sydney tower, inspired by the waratah, is being billed as “a new sculpture in the heart of the city.”
The curved tower designed by Woods Bagot incorporates a through-site link, a central atrium space, and flexible office floor plates. In total it will have 33,000 square metres of gross floor area.
In planning documents before North Sydney Council, the architects explain how the design references the waratah, New South Wales’ official floral emblem, which is a symbol of resilience and regeneration – and an analogy for the post-pandemic renewal of North Sydney.

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Warada, 63-83 Walker Street, by Woods Bagot.

“Surrounded by existing multi-storey commercial towers, the proposal seeks to strengthen North Sydney’s position as a major commercial centre by introducing a new premium commercial offering to the mix,” Woods Bagot’s design report reads.
Developed by Thirdi Group and Couloumbis Property Group, the $191 million tower will be built at 63-83 Walker Street, a site formed through an amalgamation process involving 21 owners and 31 lots across two freehold and two strata buildings.
Ethos Urban notes in a report that “It constitutes one of the last remaining significant redevelopment sites in North Sydney.”
The design of the office space aims at creating diverse workplace experiences that are more attractive than working from home.
Planning documents describe “A new approach to spatial layout that encourages a porosity of movement through divisible lobby and workspaces with separable cores.”
With landscape architecture by 360 Degrees, the tower will include multiple outdoor work spaces, including roof gardens and a street-level urban outdoor room.
The building will be called Warada, the Eora word for the waratah. More

Minimum accessibility standards for residential housing and apartments will be part of the National Construction Code from 2022, Australia’s buildings ministers decided at a national meeting on 30 April.
A majority of building ministers agreed to include the standards in the NCC at the annual National Building Ministers Meeting. The standards will be based on the Livable Housing Design Guidelines silver level.
These include a step-free path from the street to entrance, a step-free entrance, doors and corridors to facility unimpeded movement, a toilet on the entry level, a bathroom that contains a hobless shower recess, reinforced walls around the toilet, shower, and bath to support future installation of grab rails, and stairways designed to minimize injuries and enable future adaptation.
The ministers also agreed that the Australian Building Codes Board will publish voluntary gold technical standard for accessible housing.
Each state and territory government will be tasked with deciding how the new provisions will be applied.
Ahead of the Building Ministers’ Meeting, the Victorian government said it would seek a leading role in working with other states and territories to implement the standard.
Already, three million Australians are living with disabilities or with restricted mobility, and demand for accessible housing is expected to increase as the population ages.
The implementation of the accessible living standard would mean that by 2050, an anticipated 50 percent of the total housing stock will be accessible.
The Victorian government says it has lead the way on universal access, with 50 percent of new apartments required to include accessible standards under the Better Apartment Design Standards and all public housing units required to incorporate key elements of the LHDG silver level guidelines.
By comparison, the NSW Apartment Design Guide stipulates a benchmark of 20 percent of total apartments in a development to incorporate LHDG silver level guidelines. More

Two 20-storey towers inspired by Sydney’s cliff faces will rise above a retail building designed by SJB, should a development application before the City of Sydney be approved.
SJB won a competition to design the towers at 284 Wyndham Street, Alexandria, with the jury appreciating the consistency of architectural character and material between the towers and podium, which was approved in 2018 but has not yet been built.
The new application calls for a two-storey above-ground car park; a two-storey upper-level podium accommodating 4,656 square metres of office floor space; and the two towers, housing 258 build-to-rent apartments.
The tower design responds to the approved podium, “in particular the material and form of the playful parapet, which is reflected in the form of the towers as they in step in profile and plan to create forms that transition in height and scale down towards the north-east,” the competitive design report notes.

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284 Wyndham Street, Alexandria by SJB.

While the selection panel was impressed with the overall cohesiveness of the design, it did suggest variegating the expression of the facades through the introduction of vertical elements and strategic landscaping, to break up the horizontal forms “which may easily become too monotonous and unrelenting.”
SJB said its revised design “seeks to strike a balance between vertically stacking and offseting balcony elements. The planter and balcony projects create variation across the facade and provide varying intensities of greenery, in keeping with the ‘Sydney cliff face’ concept.”
Taylor Brammer Landscape Architects is behind the landscape design, which incorporates intensive planting across a range of communal spaces.
The Green Heart space on level three is conceived of as a sprawling network of intimate spaces dissected by timber decking. “As the central green space for the development, this is signified through advance tree plantings in deep soil beds, tall palms allowing dabbled light through and pockets of open turf,” the landscape architects state.
Another communal space on level seven dubbed Emerald in the Sky aims to capture and distribute reflected light throughout an expansive communal terrace. It features a large swimming pool and lush vegetation including advanced trees to provide a green belt around the terrace, minimizing noise from the traffic below.
The development application is on exhibition until 19 May. More

Lake Eildon in the alpine region of Victoria will be redeveloped with a range of new tourism activities, under a masterplan for the area featuring designs by Cumulus Studio.
The man-made lake 150 kilometres north-east of Melbourne is home to the township of Bonnie Doon, which was made famous by the 1997 cult Australian film The Castle. The area will be transformed with new walking trails, fine dining and boutique accommodation options.
“Lake Eildon will soon be known for much more than its serenity,” said Mary-Anne Thomas, minister for regional development.
A key focus of the masterplan, prepared by Melbourne consultancy firm Urban Enterprise for Regional Development Victoria, is to attract a new type of visitor to the area – high-spending “lifestyle leaders” who are looking for new experiences and high-end facilities, as opposed to habitual visitors, who generally return to the same camping spot or holiday home and have low levels of expenditure. The authors note that the region has attracted almost no investment in visitor accommodation over the past 30 years and food and beverage tourism experiences are almost non-existent.
“Many people already know that Eildon is an amazing part of Victoria and with new investment to capitalize on its natural assets, that number will grow significantly,” said Jaclyn Symes, the member for Northern Victoria.

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Concept design for the Lake Eildon Masterplan by Cumulus Studio.

The masterplan calls for new resort-style accommodation, the development of various nature-based precincts, a skyline touring route and investment in sewage infrastructure.
Cumulus has prepared designs for two nature-based precincts identified as priority projects in the plan.
The Mt Pinniger nature-based precinct would include an architectural lookout, a café/restaurant with views of the lake, a walking trail from Eildon township and a glamping development with 12 glamping tents.
It would be delivered a public-private project, with government expected provide $5.2 million out of a total $16.2 million for the walking trail and lookout structure.
A similar precinct at Fry Bay would feature eco-retreat accommodation overlooking the lake, with 20 pods and a general hub building; another lookout; walking trail from Goughs Bay township to the lookout and accommodation and mountain bike trails. It’s expected to cost $23.9 million, with government to contribute $1.9 million.
Another identified development opportunity is the creation of Indigenous cultural experiences. Lake Eildon sits within the traditional lands of the Taungurung people, and prior to the construction of the lake between 1915 and 1929, the land was a key meeting spot; significant Indigenous heritage remains within the lake.
“There is opportunity to develop a tour throughout the region that links key cultural heritage sites, such as Cathedral Ranges, Lake Eildon National Park, and Lake Eildon itself,” the masterplan reads. “This could include facilitated walks to sites, bush tucker experiences, camping with custodians, and on-water touring components.”
The state government in a statement said it was working with representatives from a range of organizations responsible for Lake Eildon to keep the plan moving forward.
“The projects in this masterplan have the potential to unlock significant tourism investment at Lake Eildon, attracting a wide range of visitors from across Australia,” said tourism minister Martin Pakula. More

An early design of iconic Perth architect Iwan Iwanoff has been recreated in a virtual reality experience.
The project by Frame Labs in collaboration with architect Stuart Harrison is part of a Screenwest and State Library of Western Australia initiative, WA Reflections, to recreate and reinterpret forgotten parts of the state’s history.
Frame Labs worked with Harrison to decide on the best building to recreate, based on the available material from the state library’s archives.
Reflections of Iwanoff tours Harrison House, which was designed for Jack and Maria Harrison in 1953. It was located at Dodonia Gardens in City Beach and has since been demolished.
Frame Labs says the house was chosen “because it represented the essence of Iwanoff’s design work and was an early commission,” and also the people who had lived in the house provided “unparalleled access to fantastic research material.”
The house would have one of Iwanoff’s earliest commissions in Australia after he emigrated Europe through the International Refugee Organization resettlement scheme in 1950.

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Reflections of Iwanoff at the launch of WA Refelctions. Image:

Charles Hayne

Iwanoff later worked as a draughtsman for Krantz and Sheldon in Perth and for Yuncken, Freeman Bros, Griffith and Simpson in Melbourne.
The funding from Screenwest and the State Library of WA have allowed Frame Labs to demonstrate proof of concept of their innovative documentary format.
Stuart Harrison is both producer and voice over artist for the virtual reality tour.
Plans are in place for a six-part series with Harrison that would examine the works of six iconic architects in Perth, Adelaide and Melbourne through a hybrid of television, streaming and virtual reality formats.
The WA Reflections initiative is designed to engage with emerging and mid-career filmmakers to interpret archived collections at the State Library and bring them to life in a screen experience.
Other projects include a dramatization of a murder mystery that took place in the ballroom of WA’s Government House, a look back at the early days of rock and roll at the iconic Hi-Fi club and the projection of archival Frederick Samson films over the streets of Fremantle.
Each of the screen experiences will be presented to the public at live events from July to October. The screening of Reflections of Iwanoff will take place on 9 September. More

For almost a century, the statue of a dog sitting on a tuckerbox has been a popular roadside attraction just outside of Gundagai in New South Wales.
Now the famous Dog on the Tucker Box monument is set for an architectural make-over, with Cox Architecture preparing designs for new facilities and public space at the stop-off point along the Hume Highway.
The inspiration for the much-loved monument came from a doggerel poem by a “Bowyang Yorke” circulating from the mid-19th century that, in various versions, depicted a dog either protecting or spoiling the food of a bullock driver down on his luck.
A monument to the dog was first erected in 1926, but the monument that stands today, modelled by Gundagai stonemason Frank Rusconi, was unveiled in 1932 by then prime minister Joseph Lyons.
Chris Millman, a director at Cox, sees the planned architectural intervention as a way to honour the legend and celebrate the resilience of regional Australia.

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Dog on the Tucker Box masterplan by Cox Architecture.

“The Dog on the Tucker box is a classic story of true Australian mateship, but also how regional communities doing it tough can battle back to find new ways of attracting visitors and investment,” he said. “This was what was behind the original building of the monument back in 1932 as part of a ‘Back to Gundagai’ week.”
“As we emerge from COVID-19 and the 2019/20 bush fires, we’ve seen a renewed enthusiasm for the great Australian road trip with more people choosing to visit our wonderful destinations in regional areas. The Hume Highway has always been a key route for these travellers and the ‘Dog’ is one of the most popular stopping points between Sydney and Melbourne.”
Working with planning consultants Ethos Urban, Cox had developed a vision centred around the idea of “paddock to plate,” with hospitality offerings serving up high-quality local produce, public open space with views of the rolling Gundagai countryside and active play areas for kids and families.
Ethos Urban associate director Stefan Meissner said the setting provided a great opportunity to create a truly unique destination and that there was the potential to providing accommodation on the site such as hotel rooms or a full-facility caravan park to encourage visitors to stay longer.

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Dog on the Tucker Box masterplan by Cox Architecture.

“There’s an opportunity here to create a new gateway for the Riverina region that acts as a destination in itself and attracts people…” he said. “We want to provide visitors with great food and dining that brings in the best of local produce, straight from the farm and paddock.
“We also see an opportunity to create better open space and a quality of experience that eclipses other options on this route to create a destination in itself.”
The plan is being pushed by Canberra developer Superstruct, which says it has entered into an agreement with Gundagai-Cootamundra Council that provides the option to acquire the site for development, subject to planning approval. A masterplan for the site is currently on public exhibition, and the developer says detailed designs could be completed by the end of 2021, with the project then expected to take around two years to build.
Local mayor Abb McAlister said the proposal presented a great opportunity.
“For many years, Council has recognized the important role the Dog on the Tucker Box plays in our community but have not had the financial capacity to reinvest the necessary infrastructure to bring it back to life,” he said. “We welcome the proposed masterplan by SuperStruct. Group as it ensures Council still retains ownership and also ensures the site gets the necessary investment it truly needs.” More

One year on from the onset of the pandemic lockdowns, the Association of Consulting Architects is conducting its fifth “pulse check” survey to gauge how the industry is fairing. The organization’s initial surveys in March 2020 revealed the seismic impact of the pandemic on architecture practices, with more than $5 billion worth of work cancelled. […] More