Architecture

The biggest-spending budget in modern Australia’s history fails to address critical issues such as social housing and sustainable buildings and may not be enough to stop construction projects drying up, says the Australian Institute of Architects.
The Morrison government’s 2020 federal budget, released on 6 October, lays the groundwork for a private sector-led recovery, leaning heavily on asset write-offs, tax offsets and wage subsidies to encourage businesses to invest.

It includes an additional $7.5 billion for new infrastructure projects – largely roads and other transport infrastructure – but there is little in the way of new funding to directly boost construction in the residential sector.
“Only $0.6 million over four years from 2020-21 has been allocated to boost housing demand and support the residential construction industry in the face of plummeting activity levels,” said Institute CEO Julia Cambage.

Leading economists, community organizations and industry bodies, including the Institute, have all called on the government to spend big on publicly led social housing, but the budget includes no new funding in this area.

However, the budget included an extra $1 billion in low-cost financing to encourage private developers to build more affordable housing and $150 million over three years for the Indigenous Home Ownership Program.
The First Home Loan Deposit Scheme will also be extended to support an additional 10,000 first home buyers in 2020-21.
Cambage said these measures, while welcome, would not be enough to stave off the looming downturn in construction activity and that architects would be the first to feel the pain.

“Our members are at the very start of the construction supply chain,” she said. “Design is the first point from which all the other jobs flow, from engineers and surveyors to brickies, plumbers and painters.”

Multiple surveys of architecture firms have shown that billions of dollars worth of projects have been cancelled or put on hold during the pandemic. The Institute estimates that the architectural sector generates $6.1 billion in revenue and $1.1 billion of profit.
Cambage said an increased focus on large-scale legacy building would help achieve both the immediate stimulus needed for recovery while also delivering lasting benefit.

“Looking at past disasters demonstrates the enormous capacity construction has to rebuild economies and produce enduring public infrastructure,” she said.
“Brisbane’s Story Bridge and Somerset Dam are just two examples born of the Great Depression that are still serving the community to this day.”
Opposition leader Anthony Albanese has said were a Labor government in power, it would allocate $500 million to social housing repairs. He will deliver the budget reply speech on 8 October. More

Designed by Genton and McGregor Coxall, the newly completed Reservoir railway station creates a civic landmark and a symbol of the suburb’s past.
The translucent canopy of station is designed to interacts with light in the same way that light reflects off rippling water. The design is inspired by Reservoir’s history as the home of three water reservoirs in the late 19th century.

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Reservoir station by Genton and McGregor Coxall.
Image: Peter Clarke
The façade is made from angled, perforated metal which balances the requirements for weather protection and views. The ground level external walls form a barrier against the surrounding roads.

The station is made from robust materials including black concrete, light stainless steel cladding, brown bricks.
The station is part of the Victorian government’s Level Crossing Removal Project, and part of an elevated rail corridor in Melbourne’s north. The project creates a new landscaped public space which links to the nearby community and retail spaces, as well as enhancing accessibility and public safety.

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Reservoir station by Genton and McGregor Coxall.
Image: Peter Clarke
“The project was an opportunity to expand on the design thinking learned through our multi-award winning Frankston Station. When approaching civic design, we aim to celebrate the local context, driven by a commitment to creating meaningful, community-led spaces,” says Genton Principal Marc Debney.
Resevoir station is projected to be an important transport interchange in the future, and the design includes allowances for a larger bus interchange and tram route.
“As public transportation usage increases due to population growth and consciousness around sustainability, we design these spaces with the intention that they become both a hub for connectivity and a source of civic pride,” said Debney. More

The Australian Institute of Architects has called on the federal government to accelerate the decarbonization of the economy and fund social infrastructure, ahead of the 2020 budget to be announced on 6 October.
In a pre-budget submission, the Institute outlined seven key areas for “more affordable, equitable, amenable and sustainable places.”
One of key areas is the procurement of architectural services. The Institute undertaking research and developing guidelines for expressions of interest, request for tender, request for proposal and design competitions process. It recommends that all Australian governments facilitate the involvement of Australian architects in competitive design processes for publicly funded projects and that governments ensure fair and open procurement practices.

“Never before has the spotlight shone so harshly on the design of our housing, and the importance of getting it right as we build back better.” – Alice Hampson.The Institute has also called for the appointment of an Australian government architect in its second key area of ensuring good design. The Institute says the role of the Australian government architect should lead the development of a national architecture policy “that recognizes and extends architecture’s contribution to the delivery of great, sustainable places for all Australians, regardless of location.”
The Institute recommends that government can also ensure good design by providing incentives and flexible funding arrangements linked to specific design and sustainability outcomes and that all new project funding must be linked to sustainability outcomes and contribution to local sense of place.

A third key area outlined in the Institute’s submission is climate change and community resilience. The Institute recommends establishing a national plan for zero-carbon buildings by 2040 and strong mandatory standards for the energy performance of buildings.
“As the climate crisis becomes more acute and its impacts more devastating, so too must our response be more urgent,” said national president Alice Hampson.
“That’s why we are urging the Australian Government to accelerate the transition to a carbon neutral economy.

“As first the catastrophic bushfires then the coronavirus pandemic have so brutally demonstrated, it is imperative that we future proof our urban environments.

“Never before has the spotlight shone so harshly on the design of our housing, and the importance of getting it right as we build back better.”
The Institute also urged the government to invest more in social and affordable housing. “Australia will need more than a million social and affordable homes over the next 20 years,” the submission reads. The Institute recommended developing clear targets for social and affordable homes that include flexible housing types and multi-generational occupancy.

“Now more than ever it is apparent just how much the quality of the design affects the way spaces and places function and has the potential to stimulate the economy and enhance the environment,” said Institute CEO Julia Cambage.

“The trend that started pre-pandemic, which saw our regional centres and communities play an increasingly important role in driving economic growth, will only now accelerate.
“Australian architects are uniquely placed to offer expertise and insights in combating other fast emerging challenges including equipping our buildings to better manage air quality and filtration, preventing urban spaces from becoming heat islands and improving overall liveability.

“The planning and design of cities and towns to address these challenges will significantly impact the shape of Australia’s built environment, requiring a federal government commitment to a high quality, sustainable legacy for future generations.”

After the government announced a widely criticized plan to demolish Anzac Hall at the Australian War Memorial, the Institute used its pre-budget submission to again call for a stop the plan. It said, “the government must look to appropriate use of resources including preferencing redevelopment rather than replacement of public buildings.”
The remaining key areas in the Institute’s submission include managing change and fostering thriving cities and regions and improving building regulation.
“[The] Federal Budget will be critical in mapping out the path of Australia’s economic recovery,” said Alice Hampson.
“With the highest levels of unemployment since the Great Depression, and with interest rates at an all-time low, there will never be a better time for forward-looking governments to create jobs through investments in the infrastructure that will be needed for the next century and beyond.” More

Construction is underway for a 15-storey office tower in central Brisbane designed by John Wardle Architects.
The tower at 895 Ann Street in Fortitude Valley was approved by Brisbane City Council in 2019. Developers DWS and Consolidated Property Group have appointed Hutchinson Builders to construct the $260 million development, which they expect to be completed in the first quarter of 2023.
The architects have designed the tower to be flexible, as the speculative development is expected to house many different occupants over time.

“Acknowledging the changing nature of work, this building accommodates and encourages the diverse conditions required to make an engaging and attractive working environment,” they wrote in planning documents.
The design also embraces the subtropical climate, with a key design feature an “outdoor room” at the top of the podium, which will be exposed to the elements and populated with greenery.

The podium façade will also be densely planted.
The building will be located close to another commercial development designed by John Wardle Architects at 900 Ann Street, which was completed in 2018.

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Sydney architecture firm Turner has designed a mixed-use tower for 273–275 Anzac Parade, Kingsford that will accommodate 143 boarding house rooms for students, along with a mix of retail and commercial spaces.
The part five-storey, part 16-storey tower is defined by a stepped form, intended to complement the existing built form of the streetscape while opening the majority of internal spaces to natural light, air and views.
“The building articulation and sculpted nature, the stepped skyline composition of the façade and the layering of the materials and finishes all contribute to creating a singular identity for th building,” write the architects in planning documents currently before Randwick City Council.

“A palette influenced by the character of existing heritage buildings as well the changing context helps to define a proposed built form response that provides a transition between the past and future.”

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273–275 Anzac Parade by Turner.

The boarding rooms will include kitchenettes and ensuite bathrooms and will be designed to cater to various living arrangements at different price points.
The development will also provide a number of communal spaces, including a shared pedestrian through-site link at street level connecting Anzac Parade to Houston Lane, a landscaped courtyard and roof terraces, study rooms, an in-house cinema and meeting rooms.
NBRS Architecture is responsible for the landscape design.

Planning documents note that the subject site is well placed to deliver affordable student housing, being in close proximity to key transport nodes and major tertiary institutions such as the University of New South Wales, NIDA and TAFE.
The proponent says the overall building mass has been considered within the greater emerging context surrounding Kingsford Mid Town Node, “where existing and proposed new developments to the south and east of the site will continue to redefine the area’s skyline with the extent and presence of tall buildings anticipated to increase over time.”
The proposal is a project of Fusion Development. More

The National Gallery of Victoria’s Architecture Commission is returning in 2021 and registrations of interest are now open for the competition to design an installation within the gallery’s Grollo Equiset Garden.
The 2021 iteration will be the sixth commission, following on from the 2019’s In Absence, designed by Yhonnie Scarce and Edition Office.
The two-stage design competition is open to architects or multidisciplinary teams that include registered architect.

Teams can include various design and broader creative disciplines “to propose a project that explores new terrain for an architecture commission – from a conceptual, material, experiential or formal sense.”
The 2021 NGV Architecture Commission Jury comprises: Tony Ellwood (NGV director); Ewan McEoin (NGV senior curator of contemporary design and architecture);Sophie Rzepecky (Assemble Papers editor); Felicity Stewart (Stewart Architecture director); Louise Wright (Baracco and Wright Architects co-diretor).

“Since 2015 this series has moved in unanticipated and exciting directions, a direct result of the breadth of ideas fielded in the open competition process and the vigorous efforts of the competition juries over the years to avoid a preconceived notion of what the commission ‘should be’ and instead support the strongest ideas through the competition process,” said Tony Ellwood. “We encourage teams – established and emerging, large and small – and across broad disciplines to make the time this year to engage with each other and embrace this opportunity”
Registrations will be open until 6 November and stage one starts on 12 October. Registrations for the design competition can be made via the NGV website..

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The UK’s Architectural Review has announced the shortlist for its AR House Awards. Two Australian houses are among the 15 shortlisted projects.
Daylesford Longhouse by Partners Hill is one Australian shortlisted project. The house also won the 2019 Australian House of the Year and the 2019 Robin Boyd Award for Residential Architecture – Houses (New).
The building contains a home, a cooking school and a working farm, all housed within a 110 metre long shed.
“This is a masterful building that is clearly designed by an architect who has rehearsed the spatial sequencing puzzle of residential architecture many times,” writes Katelin Butler in a review.

Couldrey House by Australian architect Peter Besley and London studio HNNA is also shortlisted. Located in Bardon, Queensland, the house sits at the foothills of Mount Coot-tha. The house is characterized by a textured façade, made from think, long bricks with mortar spilling out of the joints, which give the appearance of corduroy.

The 2020 AR House Awards are judged by Anna Chavepayre (co-founder of Collectif Encore), Lisa Shell (founder of Lisa Shell Architects), and Ard de Vries (founder of Ard de Vries Architecten), all of whom have had projects shortlisted or commended in the awards in previous years.
The judges are looking for “ingenious and pioneering houses that seek to push the type forward.”
The winners and commended projects will be announced at the end of November.

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In celebration of World Architecture Day, Australian architectural hardware company Novas and are launching an interview series with four prominent architects.
Beginning on 5 October, with a new interview released every Monday of the month, the series will ask “why architecture matters,” particular in the context of climate change, COVID-19 and the economic recession.
ArchitectureAU editor Linda Cheng will be conducting the one-on-one interviews. Sydney architect Koichi Takada will be first of the mark, followed by Perth architects Fariborz Hatam and David Hillam and Melbourne architect Callum Fraser.

Koichi Takada is known for his focus on greening and naturalizing architecture, particularly in urban environments. His firm’s projects include the Sydney towers project Arc, the National Museum of Qatar Gift Shops and a forthcoming 1000-tree tower in South Brisbane.

A former design director at Aedas, Fariborz Hatam has experience working across Australia, Croatia, Afghanistan, India, Georgia, Iran, Qatar, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
David Hillam, of Hillam Architects, is known for his high-quality multi residential designs, including the recently completed the recently completed Botanical apartment building, which won a number of awards.
Callum Fraser co-founded Melbourne firm Elenberg Fraser in 1998, and has helped build it into a successful, award-winning practice. Projects include Vue de Monde, Zumbo Melbourne and A’Beckett Tower.
The first interview with Koichi Takada begins at 12.30 pm on 5 October. To register to watch the interviews, head here.
ArchitectureAU.com is the media partner for this series. More