Architecture

Several architecture practices have been recognised in the 2024 National Trust (NSW) Heritage Awards shortlist for their efforts in preserving history when redeveloping a space.
The annual National Trust (NSW) Heritage Awards program is in its 30th year. This year, architect Matthew Devine chaired the jury, alongside jurors Ann Toy, Barrina South, Dr Caitlin Allen, David Burdon, Kathryn Pitkin, Libby Gallagher and Peter John Cantrill.
The judging categories include Aboriginal Heritage; Advocacy; Architecture; Built Conservation; Interiors and Objects; Landscape; Education and Interpretation; Events, Exhibitions and Tours, and Resources and Publications, among other individual and special categories, including: New Young Achiever; Heritage Skills Lifetime Achievement; Cathy Donnelly Memorial; Judges’ Choice, and the President’s Prize.
The finalists include:
Architecture

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Parramatta Town Hall by DesignInc, Lacoste and Stevenson, Manuelle Gautrand Architecture and TKD Architects. Image:

Brett Boardman

119 Redfern Street, Redfern – entered by Aileen Sage Architects
Bellevue Hill House – entered by Tribe Studio Architects
Birchgrove House – entered by Carter Williamson Architects
Central Station, Sydney – entered by Sydney Metro
Making heritage apartments accessible: new lift at Santa Barbara, Point Piper – entered by Orwell and Peter Phillips
Parramatta Town Hall – entered by DesignInc, Lacoste and Stevenson, Manuelle Gautrand Architecture and TKD Architects
The Estate – entered by Luke Moloney Architecture
The Gunnery Transformation, Woolloomooloo – entered by Dunn Hillam Architecture and Urban Design
Built Conservation

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White Bay Power Station by heritage architecture firm Design 5 and FDC Construction and Fitout. Image:

Toby Peet

Albury Railway Station Roof Conservation Works – entered by Transport for NSW
Chullora Heritage Hub – Tank Annex – entered by Arenco (NSW) Pty Ltd
Glass House: Bill and Ruth Lucas, Castlecrag – entered by Cracknell and Lonergan Architects
McKanes Bridge Capacity Upgrade, South Bowenfels – entered by Transport for NSW
Parliament of NSW Facades Restoration Project, Sydney – entered by Department of Parliamentary Services
Preservation, Restoration and Reconstruction of Trim Cottage, Armidale – entered by Jesse Dick and Tahlia Stewart
Refurbishment of the Sawtell Reserve Hall – entered by City of Coffs Harbour
Restoration of Building 10 (Estimating and Drawing Office) at Cockatoo Island / Wareamah – entered by Sydney Harbour Federation Trust
St Vincents College Conservation Works, Potts Point – entered by VS Architecture
The Australian Metal Workers’ Union Building, Surry Hills – entered by Hector Abrahams Architects
The White Bay Power Station, Rozelle – entered by Placemaking NSW, Design 5 Architects, CBRE and FDC
Interiors and Objects
NSW Parliament Chambers Restoration Project, Sydney – entered by Department of Parliamentary Services
Parramatta Town Hall – Restoration and Reproduction of Original Stencilling to Main Hall, Foyer and Stairs – entered by Paintwrights
Restoration of D class Tramcar 117 of 1899, Loftus – entered by Sydney Tramway Museum
The Irving Street Brewery, Chippendale – Objects and Salvaged Machinery – entered by Urbis Ltd
The SSILO project, Coffs Harbour – entered by City of Coffs Harbour and International Conservation Services (ICS)
Landscape
Clontarf Tidal Pool Renewal – entered by Northern Beaches Council
Tomaree Coastal Walk, Tomaree National Park, Port Stephens – entered by NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service
West Head Lookout, Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park – entered by Oculus and Bruce Mackenzie with NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service
Wilson Park Water Feature (Map of Australia), Lawson – entered by Blue Mountains City Council
See the full shortlist for the NSW Heritage Awards on the National Trust’s website.
The winners will be announced at the National Trust Heritage Awards ceremony on 17 May 2024 at Doltone House in Pyrmont. To purchase tickets for the awards ceremony, visit here. More

The City of Sydney has proposed a number of amendments to the Sydney Local Environment Plan that would encourage developers to create more build-to-rent and co-living housing types in central Sydney. Developers would be given 20 to 75 percent more floor space for build-to-rent developments, and 20 percent more floor space for co-living accommodation. “The […] More

Organisers of the Wellbeing of Architects Symposium have unveiled the full program of keynotes and discussions that explore findings from a four-year research project on the wellbeing of architects, built environment professionals, as well as students. The symposium will offer recommendations for change, including knowledge and tools to support mental wellbeing through systems, culture and […] More

Acoufelt has released four new colour variations in their acoustic felt panel range Filasorb, with each new shade inspired by a season. The FilaSorb felt range has been designed to absorb noise within an interior space. The panels work well when integrated into settings where sound travels and reverberates around the space in a way […] More

Arup, Breathe and TCL landscape architects have been selected as the design consortium responsible for delivering the masterplan for a new, mixed-use community comprising 1000 homes in Thebarton, Adelaide.
Under the billion dollar plans, an 8.4-hectare site on Port Road will be redeveloped to include a mixed-use community of 1,000 new homes (20 percent affordable), public green space, as well as commercial, retail, hospitality and government tenancies.
The masterplan will expand on the preliminary vision set out by Renewal SA following its purchase of the former West End Brewery site from Lion Beer Wine and Spirits in September.
The proposed redevelopment will feature biophilic spaces that evoke feelings of tranquillity through the integration of natural materials, visual connections to nature, natural light, vegetation, and other elements inspired by the natural world. The objective of these spaces will be to improve well being, productivity and quality of life.
Arup – the principal urban design consultant on the master plan – and its consortium was selected from a shortlist of local, national and international contenders during an open market tender process.
“We are delighted to be appointed as urban design team to lead this exciting masterplan together with Renewal SA for the rejuvenation of the former West End Brewery site. Collectively, we bring a culture of innovation forged internationally and locally and rising to the challenges of complex urban environments through a collaborative design-led process,” Arup design director Malcolm Smith said.
“Our team will look at the formation of this mixed-use residential community through a triple bottom-line lens, exploring how each element can work in harmony to achieve environmental, financial and social sustainability.
“Our design team is committed to regenerative practices, instilling vitality in urban spaces through sustainable, restorative, and community-centric approaches. We look forward to engaging with the community to inform this masterplan, harnessing local insights for co-creating urban spaces that resonate culturally and respond to community need.”
Renewal SA stated the project will aim to achieve positive community outcomes, such as introducing welcoming public spaces and activated streets that can accommodate a diverse mix of events, supplying increased housing diversity, engaging with the Kaurna community to interweave Culture and Country into the project, raising awareness about the site’s historical buildings and stories, and delivering ecological and community benefits by connecting the site to the Karrawirra Parri/River Torrens.
Work will begin immediately on the development of a master plan for the site. Construction is expected to commence in 2025, with the first residents anticipated to move in in 2027. More

Hobart’s Macquarie Point Stadium proposal faces an uncertain future, following the Tasmanian Heritage Council’s decision to permanently include the Hobart Railway Goods Shed, situated at the stadium’s intended location, on the state heritage register.
The Goods Shed, constructed in 1915 to store items for transportation via the state’s former railway network, was deemed by the heritage council to be “rare.” The shed, located on Evans Street, served the railway system until the 1970s, after which it was transformed into a transit warehouse for road transport. In recent years, the structure has been used to accommodate temporary entertainment and cultural events.
The Tasmanian Heritage Council determined on 17 April to permanently include the structure on the state heritage register, therefore ensuring its protection from demolition.
In its report, the council highlighted that the Goods Shed satisfied two heritage criteria: firstly, the site is important to the course or pattern of Tasmania’s history, and secondly, the site possesses uncommon or rare aspects of Tasmania’s history.
“As a building associated with the state’s former rail transport network, the Hobart Railway Goods Shed is rare in the Tasmanian context. Within its class of place it is an unusually extensive building,” the report states.
“The Goods Shed illustrates a historical function which is no longer practised. It is one of very few comparable places across Tasmania that still demonstrates evidence of the operations of the Tasmanian Government Railways during the 20th century,” the council adds. “The … shed is a notable example of the development of rail transport, and of the development of Sullivans Cove and Hobart as a centre for trade, including the export of fruit, from World War I onwards.”

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In its report, the heritage council highlighted that the goods shed satisfied two heritage criteria. Image:

Hobart Goods Shed website

The single-storey shed is timber-framed and rectangular in shape, with majority of its facade covered in painted corrugated steel sheeting. It measures at approximately 115 metres in length and 24 metres in width.
The shed roof, a pair of side-by-side gabled volumes; interior timber framing and trusses; original openings formerly occupied by timber sliding goods doors, and narrow, textured glass panels within white-painted timber frames were all considered of high heritage significance.
A draft precinct plan for the redevelopment of Macquarie Point, including the introduction of a multi-purpose stadium was released by the Tasmanian government in October 2023. The plans, produced by the Macquarie Point Development Corporation with Cox Architecture, now seemingly hang in the balance.
The shed is currently owned by the Macquarie Point Development Corporation. More

An innovative social housing project has been opened in Sydney’s Marrickville by the New South Wales housing minister Rose Jackson.
Designed by SJB and Dangar Barin Smith, Nightingale Marrickville is a unique partnership between Fresh Hope Communities, an arm of the churches of Christ in NSW and ACT, and not-for-profit housing provider Nightingale Housing.
The project utilises church-owned land to provide 54 small-footprint apartments to eligible residents at 80 percent of the market rate for rent. The project is Nightingale Housing’s first rental development.

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Nightingale Marrickville designed by SJB and Dangar Barin Smith consists of 54 “Teilhaus”-style studio apartments. Image:

Tom Roe

The studio apartments, which range between 22 and 31 square metres, are designed in a “Teilhaus”-style, or German for “part of house.” They are complemented by a range of shared spaces, such as a large kitchen, dining area, laundry and a garden terrace, aimed at fostering community, as well as two commercial spaces on ground floor earmarked for a hospitality venue and a gallery.
“We can all agree that we’re living in a housing crisis. The potential for quality, intelligent and community-centred design to address it has been under-appreciated for far too long. Nightingale Marrickville is an example of how mid-rise developments can be a potential solution, by providing high density, comfortable, affordable, and beautiful homes for the community,” said SJB director, Adam Haddow.

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Nightingale Marrickville designed by SJB and Dangar Barin Smith includes a range of shared spaces such as communal kitchen and dining area. Image:

Tom Roe

Residents of Nightingale Marrickville were chosen through a ballot system, and were subject to income caps of $97,000 for individuals and $126,125 for couples and $145,500 for single-parent families. In addition, First Nations people, single women over 55, and people living with disabilities were given to the ballot. In all, 177 people applied and successful residents began moving in early April.
The development is also fossil fuel free and car free, thanks to its close proximity to Marrickville railway station. It also uses a range of sustainable materials that reduce waste, including kitchen surfaces and robes that are made from a recycled paper product, flooring made from raw cocoa husks and natural binder, and a wall system made from proprietary materials set out using original dimensions avoid construction waste.
“It’s been great to team up with Fresh Hope Communities on a shared vision to address the pressing need for affordable housing in Sydney’s Inner West. We hope this is the first of many projects like it,” said Nightingale Housing CEO Dan McKenna.
The proponents hope that the project would inspire other church and charity organisations, that own land, to initiate similar projects. “This project embodies our collective vision of creating affordable communities that lower barriers so that people doing it tough can find ‘home’ and a sense of belonging,” said Fresh Hope Communities CEO Dan Dwyer. More

The National Gallery of Victoria 2024 Melbourne Design Week will include more than 300 talks, tours, exhibitions, installations and workshops throughout an 11-day festival.
The program will see the return of a number of festival regulars, including the Melbourne Art Book Fair and the announcement of the Melbourne Design Week Award. Here, we’ve rounded up seven festival highlights for Melbourne’s architectural community.

23 to 31 May
The Australian Institute of Architects exhibition held at the Brickworks Showroom features archival drawings shared by Victorian architecture firms and depict some of the state’s most iconic buildings in their embryonic states. The drawings showcase the evolution of architectural documentation practices and techniques from 1947 to the present day, including drawings produced by Robin Boyd for the Small Homes Service.

24 May, 6–7 pm
The roundtable discussion explores personal experiences of migration and architecture, shedding light in the opportunities, barriers and inequities faced by women from cultural diverse backgrounds who work in the architecture, design and built environment professions. The conversation builds on issues raised in an edition of Architect Victoria, guest edited by Marika Neustupny, Mirjana Lozanovska and Maryam Gusheh with Helen Duong and Sonia Sarangi that emphasised the importance of inclusion and cultural diversity in architecture.

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Urban Landscape Cake Competition Image:

Emily Wong

25 May
Presented by Second Place, this event explores issues of climate change, the biodiversity crisis and built environment practice through the edible medium of cake. The competition challenges a selection of Melbourne-based landscape architecture studios to reimagine an under-developed site in Melbourne’s CBD as parkland, and present that vision in the form of an edible cake. The event includes live judging of the cake designs by a panel of experts as well as panel discussion on designing for biodiversity and non-human ecologies.
Melbourne Design Week Film Festival
Various dates
Always a popular feature of Melbourne Design Week, the film festival features a number of documentaries that explore the impact of design and architecture in shaping communities, cities and the environment. This year’s festival includes films on the work of mid-century architect and designer Eliot Noyes, Le Corbusier and his work in the Indian city of Chandigarh, the life and work of Sri Lankan architect Geoffrey Bawa, and a “cinematic meditation” of a modernist glass skyscraper in São Paulo.
Tosin Oshinowo Keynote
26 May, 4–5 pm
Nigerian architect Tosin Oshinowo will present a keynote lecture on architecture and urbanism in the Middle East, Africa and Asia, and diverse design approaches to meet cultural and climatic needs. Oshinowo founded Lagos-based Oshinowo Studio in 2013 and has completed projects throughout Nigeria. She is known for her socially responsive approaches to architecture, design and urbanism. She was co-curator of the Lagos Biennial in 2019 and in 2023 she curated the second Sharjah Architecture Triennial.
Maggie Edmond A. S. Hook Address
28 May, 6–8 pm
Retroactively awarded the 2003 Gold Medal, Maggie Edmond will present her A. S. Hook address, as is customary for all Australian Institute of Architects Gold Medallists, at the 2024 Melbourne Design Week. The 2003 Gold Medal was originally only awarded to Edmond’s business and life partner Peter Corrigan. In 2023, the Australian Institute of Architects amended the accolade to rightfully reflect the partnership.
Designed by Women

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The Lyceum Club. Image by Ellison Harvie, 1957, Architect, Stephenson & Turner, principal designer, Ellison Harvie. Image:

RMIT Design Archives

28 May
This special collection of archival drawings depicts the architectural evolution of an elite women’s club in the heart of Melbourne’s CBD. Located in Ridgeway Place, the Lyceum Club was originally designed by modernist architect (Edythe) Ellison Harvie, and further developed by Berenice Harris with its most recent addition by Kerstin Thompson Architects. This event also includes a panel discusson between Eli Giannini, Kerstin Thompson and Julie Willis on the club’s various transformations over the past 70 years.
Design and Death, Time Immemorial
1 June, 9:30 am – 4 pm
The satellite program presented by Open House Melbourne that explores the relationship between design and death and how spaces of burial can provide insights on how we live. Held at Bunurong Memorial Park, the event includes a panel discussion on designing the park’s new Miscarriage Memorial, a discussion on designing inclusive spaces to meet the cultural and spiritual needs of mourners, as well as a tour of the park’s memorial landscapes. Open House Melbourne will also host a Design and Death Symposium.
A number of architecture practices will also be presenting events, including Gray Puksand, Cox Architecture, McBride Charles Ryan, Bates Smart, Snøhetta, Woods Bagot, Nic Brunsdon, Wardle, Architectus, BVN, Clarke Hopkins Clark, Baracco and Wright, Plus Architecture, ARM Architecture and Techne Architecture and Interior Design.
See the full festival program on the Melbourne Design Week website. More