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    2025 Pritzker Prize awarded to Chinese architect Liu Jiakun

    Liu Jiakun has been announced as the 2025 Laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize – an award described by the Pritzker team as “architecture’s highest honour.”
    According to the Pritzker Architecture Prize jury, Liu was a deserving recipient due to his endorsement of architecture as a transcendent power that forges community, inspires compassion and elevates the human spirit.
    “Through an outstanding body of work of deep coherence and constant quality, Liu Jiakun imagines and constructs new worlds, free from any aesthetic or stylistic constraint,” the jury’s citation noted.
    “Instead of a style, he has developed a strategy that never relies on a recurring method but rather on evaluating the specific characteristics and requirements of each project differently. That is to say, Liu Jiakun takes present realities and handles them to the point of offering sometimes a whole new scenario of daily life. Beyond knowledge and techniques, common sense and wisdom are the most powerful tools he adds to the designer’s toolbox.”
    Hailing from Chengdu, China, Liu founded his practice Jiakun Architecture in 1999. Over a career spanning four decades, the practice has produced more than 30 projects ranging from academic and cultural institutions to civic spaces, commercial buildings and urban planning projects across China.
    Liu’s work is celebrated for its ability to create public space in densely populated urban environments. “By multiplying typologies within one project, he innovates the role of civic spaces to support the breadth of requisites for a diverse society,” the Pritzker Architecture Prize media communique reads.
    Significant projects of Liu’s include West Village (Chengdu, China, 2015) – a five-storey building enclosed by a perimeter of ramped pedestrian pathways on the site of an entire city block, and the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute Department of Sculpture (Chongqing, China, 2004) – a project that maximises space with protruding upper levels on a narrow site.
    Liu aspires to honour classic Chinese architecture through contemporary interpretation and pursue honest, enduring materiality across each of his projects. He prefers traditional craft and local raw materials that sustain the economies of the communities in which he practices.
    For Liu, “Architecture should reveal something – it should abstract, distil and make visible the inherent qualities of local people. It has the power to shape human behaviour and create atmospheres, offering a sense of serenity and poetry, evoking compassion and mercy, and cultivating a sense of shared community,” he explained.
    Chair of the jury and 2016 Pritzker Prize Laureate Alejandro Aravena reflected, “Cities tend to segregate functions, but Liu Jiakun takes the opposite approach and sustains a delicate balance to integrate all dimensions of the urban life.”
    “In a world that tends to create endless dull peripheries, he has found a way to build places that are a building, infrastructure, landscape and public space at the same time,” Aravena noted. “His work may offer impactful clues on how to confront the challenges of urbanization, in an era of rapidly growing cities.”
    Other significant works of Liu’s include: Museum of Clocks, Jianchuan, Museum Cluster (Chengdu, China, 2007); Design Department on new campus, Sichuan Fine Arts Institute (Chongqing, China 2006); Lodging Center of China International Practice Exhibition of Architecture (Nanjing, China, 2012); Chengdu High-Tech Zone Tianfu Software Park Communication Centre (Chengdu, China, 2010); and Songyang Culture Neighborhood (Lishui, China, 2020). More

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    Nipa Doshi awarded 2025 Mecca x NGV Women in Design Commission

    Mumbai-born, London-based designer Nipa Doshi has been selected as the 2025 recipient of the annual Mecca x NGV Women in Design Commission. She is the fourth recipient of the five-year commission series, established in 2021, which each year invites a globally-renowned designer to create new work for the NGV Collection with the aim of redressing its historical gender imbalance.
    The purpose of the commission is to drive meaningful progress towards gender equality, by championing opportunities for women and girls in the arts and design, and to inspire the next generation of female creatives. According to a release from the NGV, the commission is “the first and only series of its kind in Australia” that “creates a platform to present topical, world-premiere works of international significance to highlight the contributions and practices of women in design.”

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    For her 2025 commission, Doshi will create a new piece of conceptual furniture, titled A Room of My Own. The work will take the form of a handcrafted, multidimensional cabinet that serves as both a shrine and a dressing table, fusing functionality with personal history and memory.
    Doshi commented, “I […] see it [the commission] as an opportunity to create exceptional new work, bringing together all the different aspects of my design practice. The creative freedom offered by the commission allows me to make work with a strong narrative, resulting in a collectible piece that embodies my values as a woman in design.”

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    Drawing inspiration from portable Indian shrines known as Kavad, the cabinet is a space for personal ritual and care. Abstract portraits concealed behind the cabinet’s doors pay homage to generations of women who have shaped the artist’s life and career, including an avant-garde 1970s Indian actress, an elderly matriarch who lived in Doshi’s neighbourhood while she was a child and a compassionate nurse who cared for the designer.
    The work is characteristic of Doshi’s approach, which draws upon an array of influences and memories from her own life. In the past, these have included seminal 1970s Bollywood films, Indian pigments and textiles, the architecture of Le Corbusier, Doshi’s grandmother’s traditional Indian gold and enamel earrings, and the royal miniature paintings of Jodhpur.

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    Reflecting on Doshi’s win, founder and co-CEO of Mecca Jo Horgan noted, “She is one of the global leaders in design for a reason: she challenges established norms and ensures her cultural identity is infused into everything she does. More than that, her products, design and detail keep us all focused on the value of women’s voices, experiences, and craftsmanship.”
    Along with her husband, Jonathan Levien, Doshi established Doshi Levien studio in 2000. Their work has been exhibited across the globe in institutions such as the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Art Institute of Chicago, and MoMA in New York.

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    This year’s NGV Women in Design Commission will be unveiled at NGV International in Melbourne on 25 September. Ahead of the artwork’s unveiling, Doshi will give an in-conversation talk and host a workshop at the NGV International this International Women’s Day on Saturday 8 March. More

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    Second round of architecture firms’ gender pay gap data released

    Australia’s Workplace Gender Equity Agency (WGEA) has released its gender pay gap data for 2023–2024, revealing the gender pay gap information of architecture and landscape architecture firms.
    The first instalment of data was released in February 2024, after reforms that advocated for greater transparency on the gender pay gap were enacted by parliament in 2023. The passing of this reform means that businesses with more than 100 staff are required to submit their gender employment data to the WGEA. The first set of data revealed the gender pay gap for more than 5,000 private employers during 2022–23, while the data for 2023–24 instead encompasses 7,800 individual employers and 1,700 corporate groups.

    The second round of data indicates that just one in five (21 percent) Australian employers have an average gender pay gap in the target range of + or – five percent. Fifty-six percent of employers improved their gender pay gap since the first round of data was released, while 79 percent of employers still have a gender pay gap outside the target range of +/-5 percent.

    Among the architecture and landscape architecture firms that submitted data to the WGEA, Group GSA has achieved the lowest gender pay gap for the second consecutive time, improving from 5.6 percent in 2022–23 to -0.6 percent in 2023–24. Following Group GSA, NBRS Partners achieved a gender pay gap of 5.8 percent.
    In contrast, Populous Design had the greatest gender pay gap at 26.5 percent, while Grimshaw saw the most significant increase in its gender pay gap, rising from 16.3 percent in 2022–23 to 24.7 percent in 2023–24.
    Mode Design, which previously had the highest gender pay gap in 2022–23, made remarkable progress, decreasing from 26.9 percent in 2022–23 to 13.9 percent in 2023–24. Other firms that showed notable improvements include Hassell, which reduced its gap from 26.4 percent to 20.9 percent, Bates Smart, which decreased from 17.5 percent to 10.8 percent, and Buchan Group, which dropped from 19.8 percent to 11.7 percent.

    Company

    Median total gender pay gap 2023–24 (%)

    Median total gender pay gap 2022–23 (%)

    Total workforce gender composition (women/men)

    Upper pay quartile gender composition (women/men)

    Had a gender pay gap policy

    Undertook payroll analysis

    Group GSA

    -0.6

    5.6

    45/55

    54/46

    Y

    Y

    NBRS Partners

    5.8

    6.7

    47/53

    48/52

    Y

    Y

    Lyons (Newpolis Pty Ltd)

    7.7

    N/A

    51/49

    38/62

    Y

    Y

    Clarke Hopkins Clarke (Vermont Lodge Pty Ltd)

    7.9

    N/A

    54/46

    54/46

    Y

    Y

    Aspect Studios

    9.3

    16.6

    53/47

    32/68

    Y

    Y

    Bates Smart

    10.8

    17.5

    51/49

    34/66

    Y

    Y

    Buchan Group

    11.2

    19.8

    40/60

    36/64

    Y

    Y

    Woods Bagot

    11.3

    9.4

    50/50

    39/61

    Y

    Y

    Wardle Studio

    11.7

    16.8

    48/52

    26/74

    Y

    Y

    Mode Design

    13.9

    26.9

    34/66

    20/80

    Y

    Y

    Cox Architecture (The Trustee for Philip Cox and Partners Unit Trust)

    14.0

    17.1

    43/57

    28/72

    Y

    Y

    Tract Consultants (The Trustee for Tract Consultants Unit Trust)

    14.6

    13.6

    55/45

    42/58

    Y

    Y

    Francis-Jones Carpenter

    14.7

    15.3

    49/51

    31/69

    Y

    Y

    Hayball

    15.4

    19

    46/54

    35/65

    Y

    Y

    Architectus

    15.8

    19.3

    47/53

    29/71

    Y

    Y

    Rothe Lowman

    19.4

    19.4

    51/49

    40/60

    Y

    Y

    Billard Leece Partnership

    20.6

    18.2

    54/46

    48/52

    Y

    Y

    BVN

    20.7

    18.5

    48/52

    24/76

    Y

    Y

    Hassell

    20.9

    26.4

    51/49

    34/66

    Y

    Y

    Nettleton Tribe (The Trustee for Nettleton Tribe Practice Trust)

    21.4

    20

    50/50

    19.81

    Y

    Y

    Silver Thomas Henley

    21.7

    N/A

    47/53

    38/62

    N

    N

    Balpara Pty Ltd

    22.6

    N/A

    19/81

    18/82

    Y

    Y

    HDR

    23.1

    21.1

    42/58

    19/81

    N

    Y

    SJB

    23.4

    N/A

    52/48

    38/62

    Y

    Y

    Designinc Sydney

    24.6

    23.8

    58/42

    35/65

    Y

    Y

    Cottee Parker (The Trustee f0r Cottee Parker Services Trust)

    24.6

    N/A

    50/50

    29/71

    N

    Y

    Grimshaw

    24.7

    16.3

    41/59

    22/78

    N

    Y

    Populous Design

    26.5

    N/A

    38/62

    16/84

    Y

    Y

    Table: ArchitectureAu. Source: Workplace Gender Equity Agency’s 2023–24 Employer Census.
    Nettleton Tribe and Woods Bagot have attained a balanced 50/50 ratio of female and male employees within their organisations. Meanwhile, NBRS Partners and Billard Leece Partnership are nearing parity in the upper pay quartile, with female employees representing 48 percent and male employees making up 52 percent.
    This year, several architecture firms have released statements to coincide with the release of the data outlining the steps they are taking to improve their median gender pay gaps. These firms include Architectus and SJB Architecture. A communique released by Architectus states that the practice is falling short on female representation at principal and senior associate levels, however, its executive management group is now 50 percent male and female, 51 percent of graduates employed are females, and females account for 62 percent of student intake.
    To view the data in full, visit the WGEA Data Explorer. More

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    Launceston Airport renewal makes further progress

    Launceston Airport is set to undergo a multimillion dollar renovation to the building’s Departures Hall – the next stage in an architectural masterplan for the precinct developed by Cumulus. For the sixty-year-old building, originally designed by Hansen Yuncken, the transformation is the largest in nearly 20 years.
    CEO of Launceston Airport Shane O’Hare said the new Departures Hall experience is intended to capture the essence of the region for departing travellers.
    “Launceston Airport has been Tasmania’s tourism gateway for 94 years and as we embark on an ambitious vision for the future it’s important that we celebrate and embrace the incredible history of this airport,” he said.
    The project involves an expansion of the Departure Hall’s footprint to increase the leisure space for travelling passengers, as well as an overhaul of three amenity blocks and the addition of three new venues.

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    “These works, blending modern infrastructure design elements that capture our unique Tasmanian identity, are another step towards a complete terminal redevelopment which began with our $14 million Check-in Hall and security screening project and will continue next year in our Arrival’s [sic] Hall,” O’Hare noted.
    The airport has undergone various upgrades since 2008, including transformation of the Launceston Airport Retail Hall by Buchan (formerly The Buchan Group) in 2017. Buchan’s design for the building claimed an Award for Commercial Architecture at the Australian Institute of Architecture’s 2017 Tasmanian Architecture Awards.
    For the precinct’s current renewal, Cumulus has worked with Launceston Airport to develop identities for the airport’s new hospitality venues that aim to reflect the state’s landscape, waterways and history in material and colour.
    The new venues and expanded Launceston Store are set to open at the airport later this year. More

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    KTA’s new cultural hub at Tarrawarra Museum of Art opens

    Tarrawarra Museum of Art has opened the doors to its new cultural hub designed by Kerstin Thompson Architects (KTA) in collaboration with landscape architect Oculus, and Wurundjeri horticulturalist and artist Craig Murphy-Wandin. It joins a collection of historically signficant buildings by Graeme Gunn and Allan Powell on the property in Victoria’s Yarra Valley.
    The new centre, whose design was first unveiled in November last year, provides art storage and visual access to over 300 artworks from the museum’s permanent collection. It also includes flexible and adaptable spaces for exhibitions and events, such as workshops, lectures and concert performances, of up to 200 attendees.

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    Behind the building’s 46-metre-long secure glass wall, a system of 64 art storage racks showcases a selection of stored artwork donated by the late Eva and Marc Besen, after which the centre is named. According to a statement from Tarrawarra Musueum of Art, the innovation means that “the general public will have year-round viewing access to a curated selection of works by some of Australia’s most significant modern and contemporary artists.”

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    Director of KTA Kerstin Thompson said that along with the museum’s collection, Tarrawarra’s aspirations to foster artistic exploration, enrich cultural life and promote intellectual engagement motivated the architectural response of the new centre.
    “The new building, the Eva and Marc Besen Centre, has always been understood as a companion building to the actual museum,” Thompson reflected. “We intended for the museum to still be the main event, and the new building seen as a complement to that. In that regard, how the two buildings relate to each was a big part of the consideration of the qualities of our architecture.”
    A new sculpture walk connects the centre to the existing museum, framing views of the Yarra Valley. The outdoor walkway features sculptures from the permanent collection: acclaimed modern artists.

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    Associate director of Oculus Claire Martin noted that the landscape design is centred around creating a dramatic arrival sequence that celebrates the site’s Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung landscapes and culture.
    Accessible to the public from 8 March, the Eva and Marc Besen Centre will host a range of activities in partnership with Arts Project Australia across the opening weekend. More

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    Keeping up appearances: A considered collection of exterior products for the home

    From sintered stone to retractable roofs, these products will give your home street appeal.
    Sintered stone from Neolith
    Neolith’s sintered stone combines aesthetic appeal and practical utility. The material’s robust structural integrity means it is resistant to heat fluctuations, water, abrasion, fire and UV rays, offering minimal maintenance. Visit website.
    Vulcan timber from Abodo
    Abodo’s Vulcan timber range uses FSC-certified New Zealand Radiata pine, which is thermally modified for enhanced performance. The range offers a variety of pre-coated colours for customisation. Visit website.

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    Patio skylights from Velux
    Adding skylights to an alfresco dining area maximises the space’s usability, providing shelter from rain without limiting access to natural light. Velux’s diverse product range offers solutions for both new builds and existing properties. Visit website.

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    Bowral Bricks from Brickworks
    The humble and versatile brick was transformed into spectacle in Ponds, a scalloped addition to an Art Deco house. WOWOWA Architecture used four shades of dry-pressed Bowral Bricks to acheive a striking gradient pattern. Visit website.

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    Seamless drainage from Stormtech
    Threshold drains enable door sills to be drained while also allowing internal and external floor surfaces to be flush for a seamless indoor-outdoor flow. Stormtech’s drainage system is available in a variety of grate styles and colour finishes, offering design flexibility. Visit website.

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    Shake profile tiles from Gerard Roofing
    Shake is a pressed steel roof tile that offers the organic texture of tile while retaining the strength of lightweight steel construction. An interlocking design provides strength and durability. Visit website.

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    Thermory Ignite cladding by McCormacks
    The dragon-scale texture of Thermory Ignite is created by embossing and tinting thermally modified spruce wood. Inspired by Yakisugi – Japanese burnt cedar – Ignite achieves a similar quality but is produced using a flame-free technique. Visit website.

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    Sintesi retractable roof from Aluxor
    The Aluxor Sintesi is a durable, all-weather retractable roofing system designed to create habitable outdoor spaces, regardless of changing weather conditions. Wide spans suit homes of different scales, and integrated LED lighting options enable customisation. Visit website.

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    Modular garden lighting by Edglit
    Edglit’s garden lighting provides continuous linear light to enhance outdoor spaces after dark. Different colour options allow you to define and frame garden beds, up-light trees or create seamless path navigation, and to control settings via smart device. Visit website.

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    Locations of Melbourne’s remaining Activity Centres announced

    The Victorian government has announced the locations of the next 25 “train and tram” activity centres across Melbourne. With the aim of easing the current housing crisis, the centres are intended to deliver more than 300,000 additional homes close to jobs, services and transport by 2051.
    The news follows last year’s announcement to expand the government’s ten Activity Centres with an additional 50 locations – 25 of which have been named so far. The locations of train and tram zones were chosen based on an analysis of transport capacity, access to jobs and services, and environmental considerations.

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    Five stations along the Cranbourne/Pakenham Line add to the seven Metro Tunnel line destinations already slated for densification. These include Caulfield, Springvale, Noble Park, Yarraman and Dandenong Stations, along with Carnegie, Hughesdale, Murrumbeena, Oakleigh, Middle Footscray, West Footscray and Tottenham Stations.
    Along the Frankston Line, the four additional stations announced are Glen Huntly, Ormond, Bentleigh and Mentone. These join Toorak, Hawksburn, Armadale and Malvern Stations.
    The four locations newly announced along the Sandringham Line include South Yarra, Prahran, Windsor and Elsternwick Stations, adding to North Brighton, Middle Brighton, Hampton and Sandringham Stations.
    On the Alamein Line, two new centres include Ashburton Station, and a combined Activity Centre for Riversdale and Willison stations.
    The Glen Waverley Line also includes two new centres at East Malvern and Holmesglen Stations, adding to the three locations already announced, which include Tooronga Station, Darling Station, plus a combined location covering both Gardiner and Glen Iris Stations.
    In the north, Coburg and Brunswick stations have been targeted along the Upfield Line, and Heidelberg Station added on the Hurstbridge Line.
    Along key tram corridors, three newly slated Activity Centres include two centres in Darebin along High Street and St Georges Road, and one in Boroondara at Kew Junction.
    Finally, the state government will work collaboratively with councils on two “city-wide” activity centres in the Inner City (Yarra) and Inner City (City of Melbourne).
    At each of the Activity Centre locations, new planning controls are designed to encourage higher-density housing. According to a release from Premier Jacinta Allan, “The vision for train and tram zones is gentle density, with more multi-storey residential buildings in the immediate ‘core’ at the station or tram corridor, with gentler, scaled height limits and more low-rise apartments and townhouses alongside existing houses in the walkable catchments surrounding.”
    In order to roll out the Activity Centres, the government plans to work with councils to progressively introduce planning controls. “Lengthy structure planning processes – which can take up to five years – will be reduced to around 12 months through this program […] The process for all 50 new centres is likely to be complete by early 2026,” the release reads.
    According to the state government website, the first 25 centres will be delivered in 2 tranches over the next 12 months. Consultation with community on the first tranche of train and tram zones will open in April, with local residents soon provided with information on how to have their say.
    The plans for the 10 initial activity centres are currently being finalised and are scheduled to be implemented by the end of March. More

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    ‘State-of-the-art’ healthcare education facility opens in Melbourne

    Kangan Institute has opened the doors to its new Health and Community Centre of Excellence – a vocational education facility located in Broadmeadows, in Melbourne’s north. According to Architectus, who designed the project, the facility is designed “to tackle Australia’s urgent shortage of skilled professionals in the care and support sectors.”
    The new centre is situated opposite parkland within a mixed-use precinct. Visibility and accessibility have been key drivers in the architectural approach, with the aim of opening the centre’s learning environment to the broader community. Drawing inspiration from the nearby waterway, Architectus has created a facade with brick patterning that touches on themes of life and recalls the cellular patterns of an ultrasound image.

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    Inside, interactive education spaces spanning three levels have been designed to support Kangan Institute’s blended learning model – in Architectus’s words, “fostering collaboration and real-world application.”
    The centre includes simulation labs for practical skills-based training in nursing, pathology, aged care, childcare and disability support; an adaptable theatre, where students can experience augmented and virtual reality scenarios or engage in traditional theatre-style learning; and light-filled atria and informal study areas, offering flexibility in accessing learning resources.

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    Within the three-storey entry foyer, a sculpture by First Nations artists Aunty Kim Wandin and Christine Joy titled Three Bilangs incorporates “the colours of ochre on Wurundjeri Country […] reinforcing the centre’s deep cultural connections and commitment to inclusivity,” the architect’s statement notes. Elsewhere, the building’s materials include natural wood and inlaid bricks.
    Digital technologies have been essential in enhancing learning experiences throughout, with the building “integrating hands-on learning with tech-enabled simulation spaces to inspire and equip the next generation of healthcare and community service professionals,” Architectus’s statement reads.

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    The immersive theatre allows students, teachers and industry professionals to be surrounded by projection screens in order to simulate complex care environments. According to the architect, similar “virtual and augmented reality applications extend to various learning spaces, equipping students with cutting-edge tools to prepare for real-world challenges.”
    Architectus principal Ruth Wilson said, “We want to show people with vocations in the caring professions that they are valued, by giving them a state-of-the-art environment in which to study, build their skills and build the collegiate relationships and friendships that will follow them in their careers.”

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    According to a statement from Kangan Institute and TAFE Victoria, over 1,000 students will train at the facility in 2025, with that number set to double from 2026. These students will have access to placements and pathways available through Kangan Institute’s collaboration with universities, industry and community partners.
    The Health and Community Centre of Excellence is intended to revitalise Broadmeadows and connect Kangan Institute with the surrounding Broadmeadows Town Park and civic centre. Architectus notes that “this investment in education not only enhances workforce development but also contributes to a more thriving and connected northern corridor.” More