Architecture

Two of the world’s most prominent architecture practices have withdrawn from a climate change action movement they helped establish.
Foster and Partners and Zaha Hadid Architects are both founding signatories of Architects Declare, which began in the UK in May 2019 and kicked off a global movement of architecture practices signing a declaration acknowledging that “the twin crises of climate breakdown and biodiversity loss are the most serious issues of our time.”
However, the two founding signatories have fallen out with the rest of the steering group over a prolonged and public spat about their involvement with aviation projects.

In withdrawing from the declaration, Foster and Partners founder Norman Foster issued a statement saying, “Agriculture and aviation are not going to go away and they will both need the most sustainable buildings to serve them together with the architects who can most responsibly design them.”

Foster and Partners came under fire for various airport projects including a luxury resort in Saudi Arabia that will have climate-controlled aircraft hangars for private jets. The practice formally withdrew from the declaration on 2 December.

“We are disappointed that Foster and Partners has chosen to withdraw from the declarations and we would welcome a conversation with them on the points raised,” said Architects Declare UK in a statement.

“We recognize that addressing the climate and biodiversity emergencies challenges current practice and business models for us all, not least around the expansion of aviation. We believe that what is needed is system change and that can only come about through collective action.”

Zaha Hadid Architects, too, have faced criticism over its airport projects including Western Sydney Airport, designed in collaboration with Cox Architecture.
Tensions reached breaking point when Patrik Schumacher delivered a speech at the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat conference on 17 November during which he said, “We need to allow prosperity and progress to continue, and that will also bring the resources to overcome [the climate crisis] through investment, science and new technology,” reported The Architects’ Journal.

“That must be built on continued growth and cannot be built on a panicked shrinking of the economy, [which would] lead to massive regressions and political upheavals.”
Architects Declare UK hit back and issued an ultimatum: “We believe these statements are fundamentally in conflict with the Architects Declare commitment to ‘advocate for faster change in our industry towards regenerative practices’. We also believe these statements are scientifically flawed and decades out of date in terms of informed intellectual thought.

“To date we have avoided calling out individual practices recognizing that we all struggle sometimes to do what is necessary. However, when statements are made that contradict the fundamentals of the declaration, we have no option but to speak up. Sadly, there remain signatory practices who appear determined to continue with business as usual. This is seriously undermining the effectiveness and credibility of AD, so we call on those practices to either join the wave of positive change or have the integrity to withdraw.”

One day after the withdrawal of Foster and Partners, Zaha Hadid Architects followed suit.
“Regrettably, we are withdrawing from Architects Declare. As a founding signatory, we agreed to continue and accelerate our work towards progressive change in our built environment. However today we need to recognise that we have a significant difference of opinion with the Architects Declare steering group on how positive change can be delivered,” the practice said in a statement.
“For us, how change is delivered requires discussion, co-operation and collaboration, and this must be debated without condemnation.
“Architects Declare’s steering group has unilaterally decided on its own precise and absolute interpretation of the coalition’s commitments. By doing so, we believe they are setting the profession up for failure. Redefining these commitments without engagement undermines the coalition and trust.

“We saw Architects Declare as a broad church to raise consciousness on the issues; enabling architectural practices of all sizes to build a coalition for change and help each other find solutions. We need to be progressive, but we see no advantage in positioning the profession to fail. In fact, it would be a historic mistake.”
Architects Declare Australia spokesperson Caroline Pidcock issued a statement calling for Australian signatories to stick together.
“Along with our UK colleagues, we are disappointed that Foster and Partners and Zaha Hadid Architects have chosen to withdraw from the commitments of Architects Declare UK,” she said.
“As the steering group of Australian Architects Declare, we don’t believe it’s our role to take a stand on issues on behalf of our signatories. That’s not what this movement is about. We’re not spokespeople for a passive group of professionals, we’re enablers – facilitating, building bridges, fostering a community of action – for tens of thousands of architects. From the largest practices in our country, to tiny practices in regional areas, every one of us signed because we want to take action and we want to do it together.” More

A 23-storey hotel tower would be built above the former Universal Film Manufacturing Co building in Sydney, under plans submitted to the local council.
The red-brick warehouse building at 499 Kent Street, variously described as being in the Art Deco or inter-war Stripped Classical styles, was designed in 1936 by architect P. William Ritchie.
The building was warehouse and film exchange for Universal Film Manufacturing Co. The original plans incorporated film storage vaults and a projection theatre. It is locally heritage listed for its association with the film industry as well as its architectural style.

The concept plan for the hotel development, prepared by PTW Architects, calls for the four-storey building to be adapted to house two storeys for retail use and two storeys for the hotel. Set back eight metres, the tower above would accommodate 220 hotel rooms.

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The concept proposal for 499 Kent Street.

PTW Architects states in planning documents that the design will contribute to an understanding of the building’s historic context within an evolving streetscape.

“The proposed tower envelope will seek to provide a physical and visual separation with the original face brick façade,” the urban design statement notes. “This will enable the urban form, scale and detailing of the former Universal Film Manufacturing Company Warehouse to continue to be an important historic urban element within the public domain of Kent Street.”
Should the concept proposal be approved a competitive design alternatives process will be undertaken to find a final design.

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Heritage Victoria has approved the development of new trader facilities at the Melbourne’s Queen Victoria Market.
Designed by NH Architecture, the facilities will deliver essential service for traders and upgraded services for shoppers.
The approved works include new logistics, storage, waste and recycling services, customer toilets and dedicated trader toilets, showers and meeting rooms.
Heritage Victoria has also approved the demolition of the Meat Market Annex and toilet building, which was a 1980s addition to the 19th century market.

The building will be replaced with a New Trader Shed with loading docks and a four-level basement.
The permit also approves the development of the Northern Shed, which will house centralized waste and recycling facilities for the entire market as well as segregated loading facilities at ground level and street improvements.
However, Heritage Victoria has not granted approval for a proposed canopy structure to the Northern Shed that would have been a covered loading dock.

The City of Melbourne welcomed Heritage Victoria’s permit decisions. Lord Mayor Sally Capp said, “I am very pleased that Heritage Victoria has approved plans for new facilities that will deliver significant safety, efficiency and sustainability improvements while retaining the market’s unique character.

“The renewal of the Queen Victoria Market precinct is an important project in Melbourne’s economic recovery from COVID-19, creating hundreds of jobs and helping small businesses to innovate and grow.

“Now, more than ever, we need to deliver this significant project that will protect this important National Heritage listed site and ensure Melbourne’s top visitor attraction is ready to welcome visitors back.”
Previous plans for the renewal of the market, designed by Grimshaw Architects, fell by the wayside after Heritage Victoria refused a permit application for the project.
The Grimshaw proposal would have seen the market’s Victorian-era sheds repaired, restored and rebuilt, with a three-level basement constructed beneath them. Heritage Victoria said the proposed works would be “unacceptably detrimental” and would have a “severe impact” on the cultural heritage significance of the market.
Following Heritage Victoria decision, the council established a “people’s panel” to inform the redevelopment of the market. A key recommendation from the people’s panel was the restoration of the more than 140-year-old market sheds. NH Architecture was appointed to design the restoration of the sheds in April 2019.
Construction on the new facilities will be staged, beginning in 2021. They are anticipated to be operational by 2024. More

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