Architecture

Lake Macquarie City Council has launched a $40,000 nationwide design competition seeking the “next-generation of urban housing in Australia.”
The “dWELL” contest will be open to architects, building designers and students, who will be challenged to design a housing type “with wellness, innovation, affordability and sustainability at its heart.”
The council’s manager of property and business development, David Antcliff, said there is a projected demand for 13,500 new homes in Lake Macquarie in the next 16 years and the time is right to think outside the square. Lake Macquarie is in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, around 150 kilometres north of Sydney.

“We want to give a platform to the ideas that have been bubbling around in the back of designers’ heads,” he said.
“All too often, a client’s brief is very specific about what they want to achieve, how a building will look or how it will perform, and this thinking generally comes from the past.

“We want to give creative professionals and students some freedom to design homes of the future that are focused on making people’s lives better.”
The competition has two categories: one for professional architects and building designers, the other for teams comprising at least one university architecture student.

Entrants are being asked to first submit an expression of interest and description of their intended design, for a proposed site of a vacant, council-owned block on Ocean Street in Dudley.

Entries that progress past Stage 1 will share in a $10,000 prize pool and be invited to create a more detailed submission.
Shortlisted entries for Stage 2 will share in a $30,000 prize pool and the council will consider building the winning design on the hilltop site in Dudley. “Winning entries will be showcased nationally as an example of what is possible, what is practical and what is affordable in providing next-generation housing for all Australians,” said Antcliff.
The judging panel comprises: Urban Development Institute of Australia NSW CEO Steven Mann; Planning Institute of Australia NSW President Juliet Grant; University of Newcastle Head of Architecture Chris Tucker and Maxine and Karstan Smith, local residents and contestants on reality television show The Block in 2014.
For further information, head here. More

Design statement:

“I cannot see any hope for this grand building to reach its fulfilment, unless the situation concerning the approaches from Unilever House and the Botanic gardens is planned in accordance with the Opera House […] I only want you to preserve this portion of Bennelong Point for the future.”
– Jørn Utzon (letter to Davis Hughes, March 1966)

The area in question is not conducive to entry from East Circular Quay promenade. Once the Oyster Bar has been reached, there is little to interest the pedestrian in continuing his promenade north as he is confronted by a confusion of levels.

Central to the concept of the Opera House is the thesis of man-made plateaus differentiating the various functional areas from one another as well as the from the ordinary traffic in the city. The solution proposes a clear re-statement of the plateau concept by offering the pedestrian two clearly different levels – either down to the lower level along the water, or onto the top concourse leading to the main structure of the Opera House.

At a conceptual level, there is a crack in the surface which has resulted in the two plates separating into a higher and lower conjunction. The blade is symbolic of this separation. It is a clear organic form which discreetly presents itself as the entry to the Opera House itself. Fabricated in ribbed copper or brass, the blade is graphic yet subtle in its articulated, precise geometry. It houses an information booth, activity directions to the Opera House, tour guide facilities and a meeting point for the public.

The widening of the stair will entice people to descend to the lower concourse level to relax, to view, to eat. The wide staircase will ensure that the lower concourse becomes an extension of the East Circular Quay Promenade. Undercover access is reached from a covered walkway within the CML Site or immediately adjacent.
The proposed concept opens up the opportunity for commercially viable enterprises to stimulate the financial independence of the Opera House complex. A large semicircular group of upmarket shops could be laid out along the water, while brasserie-style restaurants could offer quality food for opera patrons. Thought should be given to building an Opera House Museum, as a means to attracted visitors to the lower concourse level.
Jurors’ comments
Jackie Cooper: The assessors unanimous identified this entry as the winner of the first AA prize. The scheme demonstrates the necessary qualities of architectural thought, research, resolution and presentation that the award seeks to celebrate and foster.
The clear vision and architectural delicacy and also the plausibility of the scheme make it a significant contender in the development contest that is surely to be fought out on this site, one of Sydney most important. The rare quality of inevitability that imbues this architectural idea results in large part from sheer simplicity and elegance. The scheme offers a sensitive and low-keyed denouement (at the same time pragmatic and poetic) to an architectural masterpiece.

Shane Murray: A true design investigation in that there is an observation of an existing state of affairs, a hypothesis and a speculation. The incremental development of a quite simple idea presented in an evocative manner. The design speculation is demonstrated in a manner which leaves little doubt as to the designer’s intentions and enables the viewer to assess the worth of these intentions. This project is enriched by using a significant set piece from the city as a generator, thereby extending the framework of investigation beyond the individual project.

Peter Elliott: Whilst there is a simple obviousness about the design idea, it is nonetheless impressive for its urban manners, dexterity and apparent east of fit. For this is part of the most significant urban site in the country and any architectural intervention must be clearly demonstrate its worth.

The designer extends Utzon’s concept of dealing with the ground plane. The design cleverly fits the plateau concept of two man-made plates (concourses) that could equally have been wrought by nature as “the big crack or land fault.” The bladed or wedged information building carries the ambiguity of gesture: is it man-made or natural phenomenon? The plan geometries are convincing, subtly working the two opposing “as found” natural curves of the waterline and the cliff face to the Botanical Gardens.
Entries to the 2021 AA Prize for Unbuilt Work can be made via the prize website until 21 August 2020.
Winners will be announced in the January/February 2021 issue of Architecture Australia and on ArchitectureAU.com. More

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Star Casino’s rejected 51-storey tower has been resurrected with the publication of a draft 20-year strategy for the development of Pyrmont, says Sydney mayor Clover Moore.
The NSW government released its draft planning strategy for the area on Thursday 30 July, heralding it as a vision for Pyrmont “as a home for innovation, employment and entertainment” that would still retain its unique character.
The strategy would allow for buildings up to 180 metres tall on the site of The Star, along with a potential new metro station as part of the Sydney Metro West project, a new indoor sports and entertainment venue “like our own Madison Square Garden” (an indoor arena in New York City), and more public spaces, including the return of Wentworth Park as local parkland.

In a statement, Moore said that while the council shared the state government’s goal of shaping the Pyrmont peninsular as an innovation hub, the controversial Star tower must not be able to proceed.

“We will take our time to consider the government’s proposed strategy for the future of the Pyrmont Peninsula, but it is deeply disappointing to see The Star’s zombie tower rise from the dead,” she said.
The proposed $530 million hotel and residential tower, designed by FJMT, was recommended for rejection by the planning department and was ultimately axed by the Independent Planning Commission.

Concerns were raised that the government was looking for ways to get around the ruling when it announced the review into planning rules as part of this 20-year strategy.

“The Pyrmont Peninsula Place Strategy must not become an exercise in retrofitting controls to justify the Star Casino’s inappropriate tower,” Moore said.
NSW treasurer Dom Perrottet said the strategy would provide for up to 800,000 square metres of new commercial and office space that would support a mix of hi-tech, tourism, media and information industries.

“Great cities evolve, grow and continue to improve all the time, and our vision is to ensure Pyrmont leads Sydney as a home for innovation, employment and entertainment as well as retaining its unique character,” he said.
The revitalization efforts will focus on key sites such as the existing Sydney Fish Market site at Blackwattle Bay, The Star site at Darling Island, the Harbourside Shopping Centre, and the UTS Haymarket campus.
“These sites have been identified for revitalization over the next 20 years and we are keen to ensure that parks, public spaces and the unique character of Pyrmont is protected,” said planning minister Rob Stokes.
“Delivering public benefit is also vitally important which is why part of our vision is to return Wentworth Park to the people as beautiful, high-quality green open space.”
The Pyrmont Peninsula Place Strategy and Economic Development Strategy are on public exhibition until 13 September. More

BVN has won the design competition to develop the airspace above Sydney’s City Tattersalls Club, impressing the judging panel with an efficient floor plan and “elegant” and “calm” facade.
The winning design calls for a 49-storey tower that will include 246 residential apartments and a 100-room boutique hotel.
An intermediate podium will work to integrate the heritage building at 194–204 Pitt Street with the tower above, while the floorplan will aim to maximize the views of the apartments and common spaces, drawing natural light deep into the tower.

City Tatts chairman Patrick Campion said that BVN will work closely with FJMT, the architect overseeing the redevelopment of the heritage components of the original club buildings, to ensure continuity.
“Our Club has been part of the fabric of the city for 125 years, and this world class design will underpin its ongoing success as the CBD’s most welcoming social, cultural, sporting and business hub,” he said in a statement to members.

“The tower’s façade is contemporary and calm, and will add an elegant, landmark structure to the iconic Sydney skyline.”

Built in 1891 and designed by Sheerin and Hennessy, the City Tattersalls Club is state heritage listed as one of the few surviving city clubs of the late nineteenth century.
The other design teams competing for the airspace project included four Australian practices, Hassell, Bates Smart, SJB and Candalepas Associates, and international practice DP Architects working in collaboration with Scott Carver Architects.
City Tattersalls Club and joint venture partners ICD Property and First Sponsor Group expect to submit a Stage 2 Development Application later this year, with construction to begin in 2022 and completion slated for early 2026.

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