Architecture

One of the few remaining nineteenth-century buildings in Melbourne could soon be transformed into a museum under development plans submitted to the state government.
Developer ISPT has partnered with the Hellenic Museum to create an outpost of the Greek Benaki Museum inside the former Land Titles Office at 283 Queen Street in central Melbourne.
The project would be funded by the development of a 30-storey commercial tower above the heritage building. The $244 million project is designed by Bates Smart.

If approved, it would be the only Benaki Museum outside of Greece, which has seven sites inside the country. The museum houses both ancient and modern Greek art as well as Asian art.
The proposed museum will house collections from both the Benaki and Hellenic museums and include a 1,000 square metre hall which will display international exhibitions.

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The proposed Benaki Museum inside the former Land Title Office designed by Bates Smart and Lovell Chen.
Image: Courtesy Bates Smart
The former Land Titles Office is state heritage listed for its architectural and historic significance. Built between 1874 and 1889, the building was designed by architect J. J. Clark who also designed the Treasury Building. It is one of only two remaining nineteenth-century buildings on that city block, along with the Supreme Court.

The Land Titles Office vacated the building in 2003, when it was sold to Victoria University. The university had proposed a 17-storey vertical campus on the site, designed by John Wardle Architects, which would have required the partial demolition of the heritage building. That proposal was rejected by the Heritage Council of Victoria in 2018, due to unacceptable detriment to the city’s heritage. The site was then sold to ISPT.
Bates Smart is collaborating with Lovell Chen on the restoration.

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Social housing in New South Wales will be delivered according to new guidelines aimed at ensuring quality and improving tenant experience.
The NSW Land and Housing Corporation (LAHC) and Government Architect NSW have released two new documents that will be used to inform the design of future social housing, superseding the 2014 LAHC Design Standards.
The Good Design for Social Housing document lays out some broad goals and principles, while the LAHC Dwelling Requirements document stipulates some minimum design requirements.

One major change from the existing guidelines is a five-square-metre increase in minimum floor area for each size of dwelling: a studio dwelling should now be at least 35 square metres (up from 30), a one-bedroom house 50 square metres (up from 45) and so on.
There is also an increased focus on passive design principles aimed at improving comfort and reducing energy costs. NSW government architect Abbie Galvin said the standards would help cultivate better housing outcomes through their focus on quality design.

“Good design plays an incredibly important role in helping to create modern homes which are comfortable and safe to live in, set in vibrant neighbourhoods where we can feel we belong as a community,” she said.
“These design tools will help deliver outcomes which improve tenant comfort and vitality such as; natural daylight and ventilation which helps cut energy costs; privacy when needed, while still being able to wave to neighbours from the front door; and easily accessible gardens and open spaces, to help people unwind and relax.”

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The guidelines prioritize easily accessible gardens.
Image: NSW Land and Housing Corporation
The Good Design for Social Housing document outlines four key goals: tenant wellbeing; sense of belonging for communities; collaboration with partners; and long-term value for the NSW Government.
LAHC acting chief executive Deborah Brill said the new documents provide the basic ground-rules and guiding principles for LAHC and delivery partners such as architects, project managers and developers.
“By deliberately planning and designing new homes with solid structure and character from the start, we ultimately deliver better longer-lasting results for vulnerable people,” she said. More

In the midst of Queensland’s state election, the local chapter of the Australian Institute of Architects is urging both major parties to increase resources to the state’s government architect’s office.
A statement from the Institute describes the Office of the Queensland Government Architect as “desperately under-resourced.” A review of state government architects’ offices around the country finds that Queensland lags behind the rest of the countries with only 3.8 full time equivalent staff, compared with 32 in New South Wales, 22 in South Australia, 14 in Victoria, and 8 in Western Australia.

“The impact of the Office cannot be understated,” said Michael Lavery, Queensland chapter president of the Institute. “Operating with what I consider to be a ‘skeleton staff’ is, essentially, short changing the people of Queensland.”
The Office of the Queensland Government Architect oversees the implementation of good design across the state and the Institute says it should be a key consideration in the state’s economic recovery.

“If Queensland is to thrive in the wake of COVID-19, design must be prioritized,” Lavery said.

“Long gone are the misconceptions that design is an optional, and sometimes costly, added extra. The opposite is true.
“Design is essential for the success of any economic recovery program. It’s the single most powerful tool we can rely upon to ensure we remain economically competitive, culturally robust and environmentally responsive.”
“Design is the process that guarantees we can deliver safe, efficient and cost-effective transport, schools, business hubs, medical facilities and tourist centres.
“As an architect, I’ve witnessed how design fast tracks economies, unites communities and protects our natural landscapes and wildlife — without it, all Queenslanders will be worse off.”
The Queensland state election will take place on 31 October. More

WMK Architecture has prepared designs for an 11-storey office building above an existing car park in Abbotsford by Birrarung (the Yarra River).
The existing car park will be retained, with changes made to mitigate flood risk and a new brick façade added that referenced the historic red brick industrial buildings of the surround area. The number of car parks will be reduced from 470 to 303, with spaces to remain available for commercial lease.
The office above will have a “distinct but harmonious” relationship with the lower car park levels and will contain 17,038 square metres of office floorspace.

“Brickwork features predominantly at the lower levels of the built form, which sleeves the existing car park structure, and industrial type window fenestration and a sawtooth profile echo and acknowledge the surrounding architecture at street level,” WMK states in planning documents.

“The upper office floorplates are encased in a lighter and more refined steel and glass structure with expressed external elements, framing a second skin to the facade which also provides practicality in the form of solar shading.”

The building will reach 63 metres above ground level with the massing of the building arranged to maximize the articulation in the façade and allow for the inclusion of landscaped terraces on top of the podium and at higher levels.
These terraces “reinforce the connection to the leafy surrounds and provides occupants with a more integrated outlook of greenery from the office and terrace spaces.”
TCL is the project’s landscape architect.
A development application submitted by developer Forza Capital is currently before the City of Yarra, with a decision expected after 26 October, following the local council elections.

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The Association of Consulting Architects is conducting a fourth “pulse check” survey of the effect of the pandemic on the architecture industry.
The latest survey, which will be the last for 2020, seeks to understand the effect the federal budget will have on architecture practices.
Previous surveys conducted by the ACA have revealed billions of dollars worth of projects have been cancelled or put on hold and around 60 percent of responding practices are receiving the Job Keeper wage subsidy.

The latest survey asks practice whether their cancelled or on hold work has returned and whether practices will be taking advantage of the tax incentives announced in the budget such as the instant asset write-off, the loss carry-back scheme, and the Job Maker credit scheme.
The survey also seeks general feedback on the federal budget’s impact on the industry.
To complete the survey, click here.

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The Victorian government has revealed a development plan for the renewal of a public housing precinct in North Melbourne that will increase the number of social housing dwellings by 21 and introduce up to 235 private dwellings.
There are currently 112 social housing units on the 1.2-hectare subject site, which is a triangular-shaped property bounded by Abbotsford Street, Haines Street and Molesworth Street.
The redeveloped precinct, dubbed Molesworth Place, is to be designed by McBride Charles Ryan, with landscape architecture by TCL. The aim is to build 133 social housing dwellings (47 one-bedroom, 80 two-bedroom and six three-bedroom) along with anywhere between 135 and 235 private houses.

Planning documents going before the City of Melbourne on 13 October state that “the design intent of the project is to provide high-quality social and private housing that integrates seamlessly into the existing fabric of the area and is tenure blind to the public realm.”

“The architectural quality of the project borrows from the existing neighbourhood character elements, and seeks to deliver an innovative design to the locality.”

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Molesworth Place by McBride Charles Ryan with landscape architecture by TCL.

The design response envisions a series of interconnecting buildings ranging from three to five storeys, with shared courtyards drawing residents and visitors through sheltered spaces that encourage social interaction. A public plaza and link between Haines Street and Little Haines Street will add to public realm engagement and passive recreation.
High-quality and robust materials, including brick and concrete, will be used for both the private and social housing to ensure that they are “complementary and integrated.”

“The proposal incorporates porous and permeable architectural gestures to soften and relieve the expansive site lengths on Haines Street and Abbotsford Street,” the architects state in planning documents. “The mix of materials, colours and finishes create articulation and interest along the site’s boundaries and street elevations.”

The project is part of the Victorian government’s $2.6 billion Homes for Victorians strategy to increase and renew public housing and address homelessness. An estimated 100,000 people are on the waiting list for public housing in Victoria, and despite calls from economists, community groups and architects, the federal government included no funding for direct investment in public housing in last week’s budget.
City of Melbourne management is advising councillors to support the proposed development plan for Molesworth Place. It will be developed over several stages, allowing for infrastructure and shared facilities to be progressively delivered to minimize impacts on the neighbourhood. The government expects construction to begin in 2021 for completion in 2025. More

Sydney firm Hill Thalis Architecture and Urban Projects has won a competition to design the first stage of an urban renewal build-to-rent precinct in East Bentleigh, Melbourne, on the lands of the Boon Wurrung people of the Kulin nation.
To be known as East Village, the $1.25 billion project will occupy 4.3 hectares of former industrial land, the site of Chassis Brakes automotive parts manufacturing facility for 90 years.
The masterplanned community will be home to 3,000 build-to-rent dwellings, 15,000 square metres of retail floorspace, and 80,000 square metres of commercial floorspace. It will also include the new McKinnon Secondary College campus, designed by K2LD Architects and scheduled to open January 2022, and a 4,000-square-metre warehouse space to be used as a “creative design and innovation incubator.”

Build-to-rent developer Assemble Communities invited Hill Thalis, Grimshaw and Six Degrees Architects to take part in the concept masterplan design competition. The winning firm, Hill Thalis, will design the first stage of the development, featuring 400 apartments and ground-floor commercial across four buildings, and will develop the overall masterplan in collaboration with MGS Architects, which has led the project development to this point.

“Hill Thalis has successfully responded to and challenged the project brief in a manner that will contribute to the overall success of the design of a detailed masterplan for the site,” said Assemble’s culture and strategy director Emma Telfer.

Hill Thalis’s initial design response includes communal gardens at the first floor for each housing type, a large neighbourhood park and a network of civic spaces threaded across the site, which would be lively both during business hours and in the evenings and weekends.
“We’ve populated the proposed urban structure with a diverse range of dwelling types,” said Hill Thalis principal Philip Thalis. “Every housing type is anchored by a common garden, or public space that helps to form micro-communities within the broader master plan.

“The representation of community is the resultant patchwork of gardens, streets in the sky, squares and courts that are the setting for a rich and varied civic life beyond the front door. The apartments will be celebrated as a ‘homecoming’ for future residents.”
The design competition was judged by a multidisciplinary jury including Assemble’s Emma Telfer; Andy Fergus, urban designer; David Waldren, Vicinity Centres National Head of Design; Knowles Tivendale, Movement and Place Consulting Managing Director; and Robyn Lukstin, Assemble Development Manager. More

Construction is underway for Western Sydney University’s newest vertical city campus in the Bankstown CBD, designed by Lyons.
The first sod was turned for the $340 million Bankstown City campus on 12 October. The campus will reach 19 storeys and accommodate 10,000 students and 700 staff, with facilities for the teaching of health, education, manufacturing and IT students.
“Like the Parramatta City and Liverpool City campuses, the Bankstown City campus will offer highly-accessible, technology-rich teaching and research facilities, and will provide our students with the opportunity to engage in work-integrated learning and collaborative research partnerships,” said vice chancellor Barney Glover.

“The campus will bring students into the town centre, connecting them with local business and industry and embedding the University in the economic, social and civic life of Bankstown.”

The tower will appear as four distinct, stacked forms that are further articulated by a number of terraces and balconies that feature landscaped spaces. Aspect Studios is the landscape architect for the project.
The campus is scheduled to open in the second half of 2022.

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