Architecture

Student accommodation provider Scape Australia has lodged plans for four separate student housing tower developments designed by four architecture firms around the University of New South Wales, on the Country of the Bidjigal and Gadigal peoples of the Eora nation.
The towers will be located along Anzac Parade in Kensington and Kingsford, where Randwick council’s recently passed the K2K planning framework proposal allows for towers up to 18 storeys. Together, they will house 1,528 boarding rooms.

The largest of the developments, home to 564 boarding rooms and costing $93 million, will be built at 111-125 Anzac Parade, on Todman Square intersection. Designed by SJB, it will comprise a cluster of three towers atop a shared base with community, communal and retail functions. “The base is rich and warm, drawing inspiration from the red brick common to Kensington,” SJB states in planning documents. “It forms a diverse jumble of pedestrian scale forms, encouraging the public into the laneways and plazas which proliferate [on] the ground plane.”

The accommodation towers above, meanwhile, are designed to be simple and restrained with “quieter elements which gracefully land on the brick podium.”

Each tower will have its own subtle character, with variations in façade breakup and colouring defining the presence of each form. The tallest of the towers will rise to 19 storeys.
At 182-190 Anzac Parade, another 19-storey tower designed by Plus Architecture will house 381 boarding rooms. Its form will split into two to reduce the overall appearance of bulk, with a central recess that allows space for landscaped balconies.

“The sculpted glass façade will reflect the sky, clouds and sunset in a crystalline manner to add additional interest to the poetic form,” state the architects.
Another 19-storey tower housing 179 boarding rooms will be built at 172-180 Anzac Parade. Designed by BVN, it will rise above existing heritage shop buildings facing Anzac Parade, which are listed as contributory items. BVN’s scheme includes the insertion of a “microplaza” behind these buildings. “The retained elements are able to be read as volumes within the new urban composition (rather than just façades) with the intent to build an authentic layering of place,” state BVN.

The exsiting masonry of the heritage buildings will be maintained, bagged and painted to enable the altered building form to remain a consistent materiality.
Above this, a tower clad in lightweight perforated metal screens will act as a counterpoint to the masonry shop fronts. “The perforations will add depth and dynamic quality as one moves around the building and the sun casts changing light conditions,” state the architects.
Finally, across the street at 391-397 Anzac Parade, PTW Architects has designed an 18-storey tower to include 399 boarding rooms. PTW’s design splits the built form into two distinct elements: the low, open podium and the “highly sculptural and animated” tower above, which cantilevers over the podium.

The four developments together will cost an estimated $281 million. Despite the collapse in international student numbers due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Scape executive chairman Craig Carracher said he was optimistic about the student accommodation sector’s future.
“In a post-COVID world, the weight of demand from across Asia, Europe and South America will rise again from students seeking a world-class education in Australia,” he said.
“The opportunity to continue to develop and invest in innovation and academic centres of excellence is a once in a generation opportunity.” More

Bates Smart has re-designed a mixed-use tower planned for 32-44 Flinders Street, Melbourne, changing its use from residential to commercial and reducing the ground floor area.
The original tower planned for the site was designed by SJB for Dexus and approved by the minister for planning in 2016. The new owner of the site, the GPT Group, is now seeking an amendment to the existing permit to change its use and make adjustments to the approved envelope.
Bates Smart’s scheme includes a dedicated pedestrian thru-block, which would be designed to provide a strong visual and physical connection with the surrounding public realm and allow for access to Flinders Street and Flinders Lane.

This link would also allow for views to the eastern boundary wall of the adjacent heritage Ernst and Young Building.

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32-44 Flinders Street by Bates Smart.

Though the form of the tower will remain largely as previously approved, their presentation will alter to reflect their use.

The amendment proposal is going before council’s Future Melbourne Committee on 1 September, with council planners recommending that councillors should not object to the development. The planning minister has final planning authority.
“It is considered that the proposed amendments represent improved built form, urban design and public realm outcomes,” the report to council states. “This includes the provision of a dedicated and more direct through block link between Flinders Street and Flinders Lane. The reduced width of the Flinders Lane podium also allows for a greater appreciation of the three-dimensional form of the adjacent historic Ernst and Young building immediately to the east.”

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The Western Australian government has released early designs for a $50 million pedestrian and cyclist bridge over the Swan River, stretching from Victoria Park to the city via Heirisson Island, on the Country of the Whadjuk Noongar people.
The initial design, which envisions gigantic boomerang-shaped pylons supporting a gently curved bridge, has been prepared by multidisciplinary firm IPV Delft in consultation with a Whadjuk working group.
It takes inspiration from the stories of two key figures associated with Heirisson Island: Noongar Whadjuk woman Fanny Balbuk, who lived during the early days of the Swan River Colony and is remembered for her resistance to colonial expansion; and Noongar man Yagan, famed for his resistance to British colonial settlement in the early nineteenth century.

The bridge stretches out over more than 650 metres, travelling 250 metres over the river on the Victoria Park side and 140 metres on the city side, with a 270-metre path running through Heirisson Island connecting the two river crossings. The pylons in the Swan River will soar to 35 and 40 metres high.

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The Swan river bridge traversing Heirisson Island.
Image: IPV Delft
WA transport minister Rita Saffioti said the bridge wouldnprovide a safer for people walking and riding, taking pressure of the heritage-listed Causeway bridge to the east.
“The Causeway is one of the busiest connections into central Perth, and the current path has long been recognised as too narrow to accommodate demand from people walking, running and riding,” she said.
“The shared path is uneven and becomes congested causing conflict between cyclists and pedestrians, with more than 1,400 cyclists and 1,900 pedestrians using the path daily.”
The new path will be at least 6 metres wide, with dedicated cycle and pedestrian lanes. Final design and planning will continue for the bridge, with tenders to be released in 2021. More

The Australian Institute of Architects has announced it will rejoin the 17th Venice Architecture Biennale in May 2021.
The 2020 Venice Architecture Biennale was originally scheduled to begin in May, but was postponed until August due to the COVID-19 outbreak in northern Italy. In May, it was postponed again to 2021.
The Institute previously withdrew from the event due to the pandemic and travel restrictions. In a statement, the Institute said, “Following the Biennale’s postponement of the event to next year, the decision has been made to take part in the 2021 celebrations.”

Curated by Hashim Sarkis, the 2021 Venice Architecture Biennale will be themed “How will we live together?”
Australia’s exhibition, In Between by creative directors Jefa Greenaway and Tristan Wong, will explore connections between indigenous cultures across Australia and the South Pacific. Read our interview with the creative directors here.

“The theme of the exhibition – How Will We Live Together? – is now more prominent than ever before,” said Helen Lochhead, chair of the Australian Venice Biennale Committee. “In creating their response to this, our creative directors Tristan Wong and Jefa Greenaway have been exploring architectural projects that embrace Australia’s diversity and rich indigenous heritage. This is a hugely important topic in Australia and across the world and I look forward to seeing the pavilion come together.”

“We’re pleased to once again have the opportunity to bring Australian architecture to the world stage at the Venice Architecture Biennale. This event is a highlight of the architectural calendar and is an opportunity to showcase not just fantastic architecture, but new and innovative ideas that have a lasting impact on the built environment.”
The 17th International Architecture Exhibition will take place from 22 May to 21 November in 2021 while the 59th Art Exhibition has been postponed until 2022.

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The NSW Independent Planning Commission (IPC) has approved a three-tower mixed-use development on the Central Coast designed by DKO Architecture.
Known as Central Coast Quarter, the proposed $150 million development on Mann Street in Gosford, on the land of the Darkinjung people, will comprise 295 residential apartments, a 183-room hotel as well as commercial and retail spaces.
The proposal was first submitted to the state planning department in October 2019, but was referred to the IPC because of an objection from Central Coast Council. The department’s report stated, “Council raised objections relating to design excellence, built form, landscaping, flooding, sustainability, traffic and parking, environmental health and planning considerations.”

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Central Coast Quarter by DKO Architecture.

A number of changes were made to the original proposal, including changes to the form of the southern tower, following the initial exhibition of the designs.

The department then considered the proposal acceptable, in its report to the IPC.
Commissioners Chris Wilson (a planner) and Wendy Lewin (an architect) were appointed to consider the proposal. The commission determined that the proposal should be approved, but it required that the gross floor area be reduced in order to reduce visual impact of the towers and overshadowing of nearby public open spaces. The commission also required a reduction of the building envelop of the podiums, in order to increase the width of the through-site link.
The development will be built in three stages with final completion in 2025.

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The City of Ballarat has appointed Sydney’s Studio Hollenstein to design the $2.5 million transformation of its library.
The Library of the Future project will see the Creswick Road library redeveloped to include an improved library entrance and a new children’s section. It will also see the first floor opened up as public space.
Studio Hollenstein was chosen through a competitive tender process in which 25 applications were received, with three architecture firms shortlisted to provide a final presentation.

“This is an exciting announcement for the hundreds of families and children who already [use] this facility and will take full advantage of the many new services that will be available to accommodate our current and future library users,” said Ballarat mayor Ben Taylor.
Studio Hollenstein with Stewart Architecture won a design competition for Sydney’s Green Square Library and Plaza in 2013, which then went on to win the Sir Zelman Cowen Award for public architecture in 2019.

The appointment has come in for some criticism from local architects, however, who have said the project should have been awarded to a local firm, according to local newspaper The Courier.
Planning and community engagement for the project is “tentatively scheduled” for September/October, subject to COVID-19 restrictions.
Council is funding the project to the tune of $1.9 million, while the state government is providing $500,000 through its Living Libraries Infrastructure Program.
The library is expected to be completed by January 2022.

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Construction is underway on a new National Herbarium of NSW facility in Western Sydney.
Currently housed in the Robert Brown Building at the Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney, the herbarium will be relocated to the new facility to protect and preserve its collection of 1.4 million plant specimens.
The facility is designed by Architectus with 1999 Gold Medallist Richard Leplastrier and architect and landscape architect Craig Burton. Inspired by the seed pod of the Waratah – the floral emblem of NSW – the building will be made up of six multi-layered vaults that will protect the plants from bushfires and extreme weather events.

The vaults will have a sterile internal box and an external wall of rammed earth. A winged fly-roof will hover over the structure to further protect the vaults from heat and provide shading to the external terraces. The large roof will be used for solar power generation and rain water collection to irrigate the plant specimens.

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The proposed National Herbarium of NSW by Architectus, Richard Leplastrier and Craig Burton will have a large spanning fly roof that will generate solar energy and collect rain water.
Image: Courtesy Architectus
Architectus principal Luke Johnson said: “It’s a privilege to work with the Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust on this environmentally significant project. Plants are central to our planet’s habitability and sustainability, and the research and visitor interaction with the new Herbarium’s extensive plant collection will facilitate positive environmental and societal outcomes for generations to come.”
The new building will be co-located with the Australian Plank Bank, designed by BVN Donovan Hill (now BVN) at Mount Annan. The NSW government committed $60 million for a herbarium in Western Sydney as part of Western Sydney City Deal in 2018.

The new herbarium will form part of the Australian Institute of Botanical Science, which will bring together science facilities, research and living collections at botanic gardens across Sydney.
“In this challenging era of climate change, the new Institute and Herbarium will put NSW and Australia at the forefront of plant conservation and management for generations to come,” said Denise Ora, chief executive of Botanic Gardens Greater Sydney. “And this is just the beginning of super-charging NSW as a botanical science powerhouse and protecting plant life.”
The new herbarium is expected to be completed by late 2021.

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A number of education facilities and a planning policy for the Western Sydney Aerotropolis are among the $3 billion worth of projects in the NSW government’s latest tranche of fast-tracked projects.
Tranche five of the Planning System Acceleration Program includes 10 projects, with decisions on their assessments to be made by 11 September.
One project on the list is the $137 million Multi-Trades and Digital Technology Hub at the Meadowbank TAFE campus. Designed by Gray Puksand with landscape architecture by Tract, the hub will combine a Construction and Building Trades facility with an Information and Communications Technology/Cyber Security facility.

Gray Puksand describes its design for the hub as a “true building in the round,” in which each of the four facades actively respond to their context.
Also getting fast-tracked is the East Leppington Primary School, a new $50 million public school for up to 940 students from Kindergarten to Year 6 designed by Perumal Pedavoli Architects with landscape by Taylor Brammer Landscape Architects.

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East Leppington Primary School by Perumal Pedavoli Architects with landscape by Taylor Brammer Landscape Architects.

The school will be built within the Willowdale development on the traditional land of the D’harawal people and falls within the Raby Road Primary School cluster. The proposed design balances the built form and landscape design to create a harmonious streetscape with the built form broken down and articulated to reduce the bulk and scale, opening up key view lines, daylight and breeze paths across the site. The architects said these design concepts align with the input received from D’harawal elder Uncle Ivan who suggested they provide gaps between building to allow the sunlight and breezes to pass in between the built forms.

Another school project to be fast-tracked is Richard Gill School in Muswellbrook, on the lands of the Wanaruah and Kamilaroi peoples. Designed by Stanton Dahl Architects, with landscape by Moir Landscape Architecture, the project will involve the adaptive reuse of an existing council office building for a new primary school for 50 students from kindergarten to year 2.

The State Environmental Planning Policy for the new Aerotropolis to be fast-tracked will unlock rezonings for five new employment and environmental precincts around the new Western Sydney Airport including the Aerotropolis Core, Badgerys Creek, Northern Gateway and Agribusiness and Wianamatta-South Creek.

“The Aerotropolis SEPP is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to lay the foundations for a brand-new state-shaping precinct, with the Aerotropolis set to support more than 200,000 jobs over 20 years in industries of the future,” said NSW planning minister Rob Stokes.
Other projects to be fast-tracked include a major highway, and industrial business hub worth $213 million and a facility for hand sanitizer production.
Only one more tranche of fast-tracked projects to be announced under the current program, and the government will reveal details on a new ‘‘recovery’’ focused acceleration program in the coming weeks.
“Our focus so far has been on fast-tracking shovel-ready projects that were already in the planning system,’ said Stokes.Now it is time to shift from urgent response to lasting reform by applying the same accelerated momentum to determine new projects with potential to create significant jobs, economic investment and wider public benefits.” More