Architecture

A $74 million civic and cultural precinct for the NSW-ACT border town of Queanbeyan, designed by Cox Architecture, has been given the green light.
To be built on the site of the former council administration building, the precinct is described as a “catalyst” for the transformation of the CBD.
It will be the head office for the council and include a library, lettable commercial offices and offices for the NSW government.
Queanbeyan-Palerang mayor Tim Overall said the precinct would have a strong focus on community and cultural uses, with “more than 40 percent of the precinct comprising community spaces, gallery linkages to The Q [Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre] and Bicentennial Hall, new basement parking and public domain.”

The Southern Regional Planning Panel approved the development application on 2 December.

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The Queanbeyan civic and cultural precinct designed by Cox Architecture.
Image: Cox Architecture
“This is a significant milestone for this project and one that I am very pleased to see occur,” said Overall.

“The QCCP has been subject to extensive planning and community engagement and will have a lasting impact on the Queanbeyan CBD.”
Cox Architecture has designed the precinct alongside landscape architect Arcadia Landscape Architecture.
The Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council called tenders for the final design and construction of the QCCP in early November and expects to award the tender in early 2021, with construction to start soon after.

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Lake Macquarie City Council has announced the shortlisted teams in a $40,000 competition to design innovative housing.
Dubbed “dWell,” the competition challenged architects, building designers and students to conceive a new type of urban housing that focused on wellness, innovation, affordability and sustainability.
Entrants were asked to explore ideas of the future of housing and deliver passive cooling without the need for air condition while considering planning controls around density, scale and sizing.

The shortlisted professional teams are: Elk Design (Wade Fairley, Tim Graham, Peter Golema, Clint Stephenson, Ayrton Di Paolo and Daniel Hadley); Ben Berwick (Prevalent Architecture), Brooke Jackson (Informal Architects/University of Technology Sydney), and Arianna Brambilla (The University of Sydney); and Curious Practice (James Ellis, Warren Haasnoot, Greg Lee, Luke Grey).

The shortlisted student teams are: Natalie Keynton, Riley Sherman and Robert Snelling (all from the University of Melbourne); Matthew Hurley (University of Newcastle); and Jacob Bucci Ainsworth and Hugh Roberts (University of Sydney), and Hugh Beale (University of Melbourne).

In stage one, entrant were asked to submit an expression of interest and a description of their intended design for a vacant, council-owned site on Ocean Street in Dudley. The shortlisted entrants will now create detailed submisions in stage two.
“The overall standard of entries has been excellent,” said David Antcliff, manager of property and business development at Lake Macquarie City Council.
“The leading entries have extended beyond traditional urban housing models and taken into consideration how dwellings could be thought of and used in the future.

“From exploring different financial models behind a development to broadening a home’s ability to adapt to the needs of its occupants and the community, the concepts submitted have been brave and exciting.”
The entries were judged by Chris Tucker (University of Newcastle’s School of Architecture and Built Environment); Juliet Grant (Planning Institute of Australia NSW president), Steve Mann (Urban Development Institute of Australia NSW CEO) and Karstan and Maxine Smith (former The Block contestants).
Stage two will be judged in February and March 2021 and winners will be announced on 22 March.
The council will consider building the winning design on the hill-top site in Dudley. More

The long-mooted proposal to transform Sydney’s social housing building Sirius into luxury apartments has been placed on public exhibition, with the architect saying the scheme will allow for the retention of the iconic brutalist structure in a “long-term economically sustainable manner.”
BVN won a design competition for the building’s redevelopment in 2019 after the state government sold it for $150 million to private development company Sirius Developments, owned by JDH Capital.

The sale followed a years-long campaign to save the Tao Gofers designed building and keep it as social housing, after the government announced plans to offload it in 2015, and fears the building would be demolished then ensued. Sirius’s last social housing resident, Myra Demetriou, left the building in January 2018 and it has since sat empty.

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BVN’s proposal retains the concrete structure and adds “distributed pods” in copper-coloured metal and glass.

BVN’s scheme will see the existing concrete structure maintained, repaired and stabilized. The proposal also includes the addition of “distributed pods” in copper-coloured metal and glass, referencing the bronze and black colour of the existing metal framing.

A key focus will be maintaining legibility of the original building. “This includes its materiality, modulating roof line, proportions, construction and modular conceptual composition,” state the architects in planning documents.

There will be a slight reduction in apartments, from 79 to 76, along with improvements to the building’s ground plane with the introduction of a through-site link and fine-grain commercial and small home office (SoHo) spaces along Gloucester Walk, where this currently a security screen to the car park. At Cumberland Street, a new building will incorporate vehicle entry to the basement car park and support a new pool level for residents.
“New mass added to the tower echoes the massing of the original building as a modulating roof line that builds to a peak at the top of the tower,” state the architects. “At this point the new copper clad additions are carefully composed with particular regard to the views from the north along the Harbour Bridge.”
Another key move is the establishment of rooftop gardens in reference to the original design intent. The gardens will provide amenity to residents while also enhancing the views of the building from above – from the Sydney Harbour Bridge and neighbouring buildings.

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The proposed view from Gloucester Walk looking north.

Landscape architect 360 Degrees says the landscape design is conceived as a holistic urban garden.
“It will animate and activate the existing architecture, integrate with and complement the new architecture to provide a legible palimpsest narrative for this significant Sydney landmark,” state planning documents.
A design integrity panel comprising of the original design competitions jurors – Olivia Hyde (chair), Brian Zulaikha, Peter Mould, Shaun Carter and Margaret Desgrand – has overseen the detailed design development. It has found the current designs to “be substantially equivalent to, or an improvement on the design excellence qualities of the competition-winning scheme.”
BVN’s design was selected over schemes by Tzannes and SJB.
The planning proposal seeking approval for alterations, restoration and additions to the Sirius building is on public exhibition until 17 December. More

Melbourne’s Docklands Stadium will be redeveloped to include a multi-purpose “town square” under designs by Grimshaw with Smartform.
The redevelopment will revitalize the stadium’s eastern and southern entry points.
At the southern end, a community meeting place will be created, which will include indoor and outdoor spaces, as well as new cafes, bars and restaurants to welcome pedestrians from the Southern Cross railway station via the Bourke Street footbridge.
Some walls of the existing stadium will be removed to create a visual connection between the plaza and the playing field.

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The redevelopment of Docklands Stadium by Grimshaw with Smartform.
Image: Development Victoria
The plaza will also be able to host events such as markets. Inside the stadium, a host of food and beverage venues will be refurbished and athletes’ changing rooms will be upgraded.
At the eastern end, overlooking Wurundjeri Way, a city-side extension will be created to include function rooms with views of both the CBD and inside the arena. The redevelopment will also include additional bicycle parking facilities and a sensory room, a quiet space that will allow children and adults with autism, dementia, PTSD and other similar conditions to deregulate from sensory overload.

Development Victoria, Sport and Recreation Victoria and the AFL are jointly managing the redevelopment of the stadium.

“The designers have captured our desire to amplify the stadium’s ability to host multiple events across a calendar year and ensure fan experience has been front of mind when designing the upgrade,” said ALF chief executive Gillon McLachlan.
“By renovating the existing structure, it will provide a more environmentally sustainable way of building, as well as ensuring minimal disruption to fans.”
Docklands Stadium was originally designed by BVN (Bligh Lobb Sports Architecture) and Daryl Jackson Architects and opened in 2000. In 2018, the Victorian government allocated $225 million to the redevelopment of Docklands Stadium.
A town planning permit application will be submitted to City of Melbourne shortly and a construction tender will go out in late November. If approved, construction will begin in mid-2021. More

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The Architecture Symposium: Housing Futures will explore alternative models of housing and the impact of the climate, pandemic and recession crises.
In this video, curators Hannah Tribe and Andrew Burns explain how the future is “a really interesting conundrum in a year that’s completely blasted our future out of all recognition.”
The symposium will be delivered in a new four-part online format. Participants can choose to take part in just one, or all of the sessions.
“We ask, in four sessions, how the architects anticipated their future in these works, how they dealt with sustainability, affordability, density, city-making, delight, and how they would reconceive these projects looking into the future,” Tribe said.

Burns added, “While COVID-19 presents challenges to urbanism, we strongly believe that density is essential for sustainability. An attractive, walkable, compact city is a key element in preserving natural landscapes outside the city.”

Each session will close with a panel discussion lead by Hannah Tribe and Andrew Burns.
For tickets and to see the full program, head here.
Design Speaks’ The Architecture Symposium is organized by Architecture Media, the publisher of ArchitectureAU.com. It is supported by major partner Planned Cover.

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A Cox Architecture-designed tower that will incorporate a significant Art Deco facade has been approved for King William Street in the heart of Adelaide.
The 15-storey retail and commercial development will sit between King William Street and James Place, close to Rundle Mall. It will involve the demolition of the existing buildings at the Southern Cross Arcade site, but the retention of the state heritage-listed façade at 64 King William Street.
Known as the Sands and McDougall building for its association with the stationery firm, the heritage building was originally constructed in the 1880s, but was later altered by and Adelaide architectural firm Claridge, Bruer and Fisher in the Art Deco style, with the alteration being completed in 1933.

Cox Architecture’s design splits the built form into two elements, podium and tower, with the podium levels respectfully acknowledging the heritage context.

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60 King William Street by Cox Architecture.

“The presentation of the podium to King William Street is both a contextual and contemporary response to the formal character, scale and sandstone materiality synonymous with King William Street,” state the architects in planning documents. “The materiality of the podium transitions from sandstone to textural brickwork reflecting the finer grain qualities of James Place and Clarence Place.”
The podium will contain a mix of public realm, retail, food and beverage offering, end of trip facilities and contemporary office spaces.

Above the masonry podium will be 13 levels of contemporary office space enveloped in large-format high performance glazing. Integrated sun shading devices distributed gradually up the tower and dissipating on the upper levels will provide visual contrast to the primarily glazed façade and reference the masonry materiality of the podium.
Charter Hall is the developer behind the project, which will deliver 40,000 square metres of office space.
South Australia’s Government Architect and Heritage South Australia were supportive of the plans and the State Commision Assesment Panel voted to approve the development on 18 November. More

Sydney’s Sutherland Shire Council has voted unanimously to go ahead with the largest infrastructure project in the council’s history, the redevelopment of its Civic Centre.
A state-significant development application for the proposed Sutherland Entertainment Centre was approved in October.
Chrofi and NBRS Architecture won a design competition for the project in May 2019. Their winning scheme included a verandah structure that will be added to the north of the existing structure, the Sutherland Civic Centre, and form a large foyer space and connection to the adjacent Peace Park.

Other works include a refurbished theatre with tiered seating, a fly tower over the stage to cater for diverse performances, flexible teaching and rehearsal spaces, a new entry court incorporating flexible outdoor events space, and upgrades to Peace Park.

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Sutherland Entertainment Centre by Chrofi and NBRS.

“The Sutherland Entertainment Centre has been a much loved and well used performance and events space for over forty years, but we all acknowledge it is in need of a refresh to ensure it can continue to be the region’s premier entertainment destination for many years to come,” said mayor Steve Simpson.

“Plans to redevelop or replace our Entertainment Centre have been floated for almost as long as the building has been standing, with plans to upgrade the facility first brought before Council in 1984.
“It’s been a very long road to get where we are today, with plenty of spirited discussion among Councillors over many years to see that we get this project right, but I am confident the decision reached last night will deliver an entertainment facility of which the whole community can be proud.”
Construction will begin in early 2021, and completion is expected in 2022. The council is continuing to seek funding from relevant government agencies to support the project.

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