Architecture

FJMT has prepared designs for the transformation of three heritage buildings along Oxford Street between Oxford Square and Taylor Square in Sydney on the lands of the Gadigal of the Eora Nation.
To be known as The Darlinghurst Collection, the project at 56-76, 82-106, and 110-122 Oxford Street will include a 75-room hotel along with a range of commercial, retail and creative spaces.
“Our concept is to create a carefully crafted interplay between the beautiful turn of the century heritage buildings and a new dynamic series of glass and metal forms that hover above,” said Richard Francis Jones, FJMT design director. “This composed integration of heritage and advanced architectural form will create sustainable and inspiring places to work, while reinvigorating the street life of Oxford Street and the authenticity of its laneways.”

The scheme provides for 2,300 square metres of activated ground plane and laneway retail, 7,600 square metres of commercial floorspace, and 1,600 square metres of cultural and creative spaces.

The commercial buildings will have open, floorspaces and will include a rooftop extension with high ceilings capturing a northerly aspect with views to the CBD and Sydney Harbour. The hotel is will include a rooftop pool and sun deck.
Developers Toga and Ashe Morgan have submitted a development application for the $44 million project with the City of Sydney.

Toga CEO Fabrizio Perilli said, “The Darlinghurst Collection presents an exciting and significant opportunity to help shape the future of one of Sydney’s cultural meccas. Our vision for the site is to create a diverse, and uniquely Darlinghurst precinct, that reflects the values of the local community and the significant heritage of the area.”
Ashe Morgan principal Mendy Moss said, “The sensitive adaption of the buildings will celebrate the history and heritage of the area while ensuring they cater to the requirements of modern workplaces and the wider community.”

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The federal government’s own heritage body has weighed in on the controversial redevelopment plans for the Australian War Memorial, arguing that potential alternatives to the expansion have not been adequately considered and that the project would have “a serious impact” on the memorial’s heritage values.
The Australian Heritage Council made a submission on the proposal as part of the latest round of consultations under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act.

Chair of the council and former Liberal minister David Kemp said in the submission that operational and functional changes should be considered as an alternative to adding more space.
“These include different and technological methods of interpretation and museum display, as well as opportunities to introduce a more sustainable visitation strategy,” he said.
“Both are important aspects of a comprehensive heritage management programme and should be considered as key approaches to improving capacity.

“Physical expansion to support the display of large objects such as submarines and aircraft is not a sustainable intent over the long term and, in the current circumstances, cannot be achieved without significantly impacting listed heritage values.”

The submission calls for a reconsideration of the plans to avoid the impact on heritage, questioning the need to demolish the existing Anzac Hall, designed by Denton Corker Marshall, as well as the expansion of the C.E.W. Bean building.

“Regrettably the council cannot support the conclusion that the proposed redevelopment will not have a serious impact on the listed heritage values of the site and recommends that the matters above be given serious attention,” Kemp states.
Costing $500 million, the plan to expand the war memorial has attracted widespread criticism since it was first proposed. The Australian Institute of Architects released an open letter signed by a number of Gold Medallists slamming the proposal and launched a campaign to fight it, while a separate open letter signed by 83 distinguished Australians said the project would represent an “excessive veneration of the Anzac story.”

The project would consist of a new southern entrance designed by Scott Carver, a new Anzac Hall and glazed link designed by Cox Architecture, as well as the extension to the Bean building.
Much of the criticism has focused on the proposed demolition of Anzac Hall, which received the 2005 Sir Zelman Cowan Award for Public Architecture as well as the 2005 Canberra Medallion.
The heritage impact statement prepared for the memorial by Hector Abrahams Architects concedes that the demolition of the existing hall will represent a “significant loss of value” and have a “substantial negative impact on the heritage significance of the place.”
However, “since the perhaps superior values of historical processes are conserved, this is reasonable.”
Hector Abrahams found that the proposal as a whole is acceptable in heritage terms. More

The NSW government will track the performance of developers, architects and builders via a digital “dashboard” system designed to increase trust in the building industry and make it easier for consumers to avoid dodgy operators.
Eight months out from the implementation of the Design and Building Practitioner’s Act, NSW Building Commissioner David Chandler has outlined some of the measures the building regulator is working on to increase oversight of the sector.
He states that by late 2021, the NSW Building Regulator will be able to bring together real-time data on both buildings and practitioners that was previously spread out across 20 “data silos” to provide an immediate picture of any faults or deficiencies. The data will be displayed in digital dashboards in order to inform the market and point to practitioners that “need to lift their game.”

“Some of the least trusted players can now see how out in the cold they will be if they do not start to change now,” he writes. “Once we turn the spotlight on excellence for all to see, there is nowhere to hide.”

The dashboards will be created for developers, designers, constructors, manufacturers, installers and certifiers.
The Design and Building Practitioner’s Act is a much-delayed response to the damning 2018 Shergold Weir report into the effectiveness of compliance and enforcement systems in the industry.

Central to that legislation is the requirement that practitioners must submit a compliance declaration to declare that designs comply with the Building Code of Australia and that the building is built to code.

UNSW Adjunct Lecturer in Architecture Geoff Hanmer has criticized the bill for not implementing a greater inspection regime and allowing developers too much autonomy.
Chandler states that the greater transparency will lead to greater accountability and compliance, however. “It places direct accountability on developers to make good choices in commissioning adequate design to enable functional, trustworthy buildings to be delivered.”
“That accountability flows to the contractors they engage, and right through their supply chains.”
The Design and Building Practitioner Act comes into effect on 1 July 2021. The Office of the Building Commissioner has prepared a set of model clauses to show what will be required in construction contracts under the act. More

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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