Architecture

A state significant development application has been submitted for the $250 million heritage renewal of Powerhouse Ultimo, designed by Durbach Block Jaggers, Architectus and Tyrrell Studio.
The renewal will allow the museum to accommodate international exhibitions and increase access to the Powerhouse collection of more than 500,000 objects.
The design will continue the adaptive reuse legacy of Powerhouse Ultimo, transforming a historic power station into a permanent home for the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences. Opened in 1988, the museum was one of a host of projects completed for the bicentenary of European settlement in Australia.
In its architectural design report, the architects said, “The design team further recognise that the Australian and Sydney cultural environment has also changed significantly from a celebration of European settlement in 1988 to a much more inclusive and diverse perspective on what it is tobe Australian and what elements of Australia are to be celebrated.”

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A courtyard at level one will reveal the heritage facade of Switch House. Image:

Durbach Block Jaggers

The project will deliver flexible, international standard exhibition spaces, as well as create a porous and connected precinct.
The museum’s main public entrance will be reoriented towards the nearby Goods Line, with a large public terrace, reinstating a primary heritage elevation as the public face of the museum.
Intrusive additions to the heritage facades will be removed. The mezzanines inside the original Turbine Hall and the 1988 Wran building will also be removed to create new exhibition spaces.
A new addition will activate Harris Street, with creative industry studios and potential retail spaces. A secondary entrance will also be created on Harris Street, which will adjoin a covered colonnade.
A courtyard at level one will connect to mid-level Macarthur Street and also reveal a full two-storey facade of Switch House.
A second courtyard space will connect the Wran building to the former Ultimo Post Office, which will also be adapted for museum use.

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A secondary entrance will be created on Harris Street. Image:

Durbach Block Jaggers

Circulation around the museum will also be centralised, which will support the visitor experience with an intuitive and accessible circulation system to the exhibition, program and education spaces.
“The design addresses specific community and stakeholder feedback through extending the lifespan of the built form, acknowledging and celebrating the social significance of the Wran Building, addressing circulation and legibility and improving sustainability,” said Powerhouse Museum Ultimo chief executive Lisa Havilah.
“This revitalisation will celebrate the best of the museum’s past while adding new and enhanced exhibition and programming spaces, along with educational spaces for future generations to engage with the applied arts and sciences.”
The new built form will be made using materials sympathetic to the existing heritage fabric, including a mix of recycled and new bricks, brick slips, stone, ceramics, glass, metal cladding, and concrete.
“The design demonstrates how the museum will be revitalised, whilst maintaining the heritage and character of the buildings,” said Minister for Lands and Property Steve Camper.
The state significant development application is on exhibition until 30 May. More

The family of the late Australian architect, Roy Grounds, have unveiled a new collaborative furniture collection with Kfive Furniture – inspired by Grounds’ distinctive design language.
Grounds made significant contributions to Australian design history during his career, earning renown for the design of major cultural institutions such as the National Gallery of Victoria and Arts Centre Melbourne.
Now, through a collaboration between Kfive Furniture and the Grounds family, the modernist aesthetic of the esteemed architect is once again in the spotlight following the launch of the Grounds Collection. In 2020, Kfive Furniture CEO, Erna Walsh met with Victoria Grounds, daughter of Sir Roy Grounds, to collaborate on the development of the licenced collection of modernist furniture as designed by Sir Roy Grounds.

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Bench from the Grounds Collection. Image: Supplied

The range offers a contemporary reinterpretation of Grounds’ iconic design language from the 1930s to the 1950s, influenced by furniture designed for the Clendon, Quamby, and Moonbria apartments completed in the early 1940’s, the Ramsey House completed in 1937, and the Grounds House completed in 1953.
Characteristics of the collection include clean lines, simplicity and functionality. Locally produced in Melbourne using rich timbers, the collection features classic silhouettes with modern sensibilities, offering a limited-edition range in vibrant hues for a contemporary twist.

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Ottoman bench from the Grounds Collection. Image: Supplied

Kfive will debut the collection during Melbourne Design Week at their Smith Street, Fitzroy, showroom. The premiere of the collection during design week signifies a tribute to Grounds’ enduring legacy and dedication to well-crafted, functional design.
The Grounds Collection has been developed by Kfive Furniture CEO, Erna Walsh, assisted by research undertaken by Tony Lee. To find out more about the range, visit the Kfive website. More

The W Sydney Hotel features 600 sophisticated suites inspired by New York City in the 1990s and Sydney’s very own Darling Harbour. The design team, spearheaded by Bowler James Brindley (BJB), opted for deep blue hues on the guest room bathroom surfaces, inspired by the hotel’s harbourside location. They selected Corian Evening Prima, a solid […] More

Two proposals for a 58-storey building above Sydney’s Hunter Street Station East and a 51-storey building above Hunter Street Station West have received planning approval. The high-rise above Hunter Street Station East will be sited between O’Connell Street and Bligh Street, while the buiding above Hunter Street Station West will be located on the corner […] More

The federal government has released an interim report from the Circular Economy Ministerial Advisory Group, which identified the built environment as a key sector in the transition to a circular economy.
The report found the built environment sector produces 40 percent of Australia’s solid waste, which in 2020-21 amounted to 29 megatonnes. It is also the largest growing source of all materials received and processed in recycling and waste re-use.
“As a sector, the built environment is primed to take on circularity, especially in commercial buildings, future liveable cities and sustainable infrastructure,” the report states.
The report also identified several barriers preventing the circularity in the built environment including a lack of centralised policy, lack of central coordination and collaboration among supply chains, lack of prioritisation in planning and procurement procedures, issues on both supply and demand sides of recycled materials and a lack of information regarding recycled materials.
“Stakeholders reported that even when buildings are designed for disassembly they are often demolished because the information about the design is lost,” the report found.
Additionally, it found that sending waste materials to landfill is cheaper than recycling.
The report made several recommendations in relation to circularity in the built environment, including adding end-of-life considerations to the National Construction Code, embedding circularity across public procurements, and national policy settings that prioritise refurbishment as it is “one of the most effective ways to reduce the material footprint of the built environment sector,” as well as design for modularity and disassembly.
The report follows a CSIRO report that found Australia’s circularity rate lags behind the rest of the world by half (4 percent versus 8 percent) and that transport and housing make up more than half of Australia’s material footprint. CSIRO also calculated a theoretically achievable circularity rate of 32 percent under today’s economic structure, an eight-fold increase on the current circularity rate.
In addition to the release of the interim report, the government also announced a new Environmentally Sustainable Procurement Policy, the first phase of which, beginning 1 July 2024, requires businesses bidding for government construction services projects above $7.5 million to meet sustainability outcomes including climate, environment and circularity. More

The City of Wagga Wagga has released a draft masterplan for the upgrade and expansion of Wagga Wagga Civic Theatre. Designed by ARM Architecture, the concept would see two additional venues built adjacent to the existing Civic Theatre, which include a new live music venue with a retractable window/wall for indoor/outdoor events on the Wollundry […] More

The 2024 Australian Architecture Conference is drawing close and the Australian Institute of Architects has revealed the full line up of fringe events, alongside the two-day conference.
Diversity in Architecture Brunch
10:30am–12:00pm, Thursday 9 May
Rob Henry, executive director of the Institute’s ACT chapter will lead a panel discussion with Gunjan Shah and Jamileh Jahangiri on the importance of diversity in creating an equal playing field in architecture.
Generation Exchange Brunch
10:30am–12:00pm, Thursday 9 May

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A Generation Exchange panel discussion in 2021. Image:

Australian Institute of Architects

The Institute 2022 Gold Medallist Sean Godsell will be joined by a panel of speakers who will share the unexpected twists and hurdles in their professionals journeys and how they’ve become catalysts for professional and personal growth. Speakers include Hamish Lyon and Emily Von More (NH Architecture), Hudson Smith (Phorm Architecture and Design), and Elizabeth Watson Brown (Greens Member for Ryan).
Architecture tours
12:30–2:30pm, Thursday 9 May
These four tours of Melbourne architecture will run concurrently across the city.
Join Open House Melbourne executive director Tania Davidge to explore the history of Melbourne’s public spaces. The tour takes in the State Library of Victoria, City Square, Federation Square, Collins Arch and the future Melbourne Arts Precinct and Greenline.

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City of Melbourne’s Greenline project by Aspect Studios and TCL. Image:

Apsect Studios and TCL

The architects own homes walking tour will involve traversing the banks of Birrarung/Yarra River in Kew to the private homes of some of Australia’s most celebrated architects.
The Open Firm walking tour focuses on a cluster of architecture studios around Flinders Lane in central Melbourne who will open their doors to curious visitors.
The Robin Boyd Foundation will also open the Walsh Street House, home to seminal architect Robin Boyd.
Return to the Centre: the Future of Australian CBD
4:30–6:30pm, Thursday 9 May
This panel discussion will explore the future of city centres in the aftermath of the pandemic, as well as how rapid adaptations, climate change, significant rises in living costs have also had impacts on CBDs around the country. Speakers include deputy lord mayor of Melbourne Nicholas Reece, Kellie Payne, director of Bates Smart, Katrina Sedgewick, director and CEO of Melbourne Arts Precinct Corporation, Mark Tait, group executive and head of developments at Investa, and Philip Oldfield, University of New South Wales.
Speculative Futures with Liam Young
6:00–7:00pm Friday 10 May

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Liam Young. Image: Supplied

Explore the fields of design fiction and critical design in this in depth conversation between architect and film director Liam Young and architecture critic, writer and educator Naomi Stead.
Bondor Metecno Gala Dinner
7:00–10:00pm, 10 May
Following the announcement of the 2024 Gold Medallist at the Australian Architecture Conference, the gala dinner will be in celebration of their achievements, alongside past gold medallists Maggie Edmond and Ian McDougall. Hosted by NSW chapter president Adam Haddow and moderated by Justine Clark, the three visionaries will share their insights in the future of architectural innovation.
The 2024 Australian Architecture Conference takes place in Melbourne from 8 to 11 May. Registrations close 29 April.
See also the full program of speakers and program for the Wellbeing of Architects Symposium. More

A proposal has been submitted for the construction of a 19-storey student accommodation building in Adelaide on the site of a 171-year-old locally heritage-listed pub Crown and Anchor.
Designed by Brown Falconer, the proposed building would supply more than 700 beds to tertiary students.
Plans show the facade of the Grenfell Street pub would remain relatively intact, however, the interior would be gutted and replaced with a lobby, a gym, a laundry, a bike storage area and retail offerings. The proposal has received some backlash, including from Adelaide’s lord mayor, Jane Lomax-Smith, who, in an interview with ABC Radio Adelaide on 22 April described the project as “hideous […] facadism.”
Dash Architects prepared the heritage impact statement, submitted as part of the development application. The report confirms the Crown and Anchor is a local heritage place and therefore the site is subject to a local heritage places overlay, however, it also noted, “the building interiors, and parts of the building not visible from the street, were not considered to be of heritage value.”
Additionally, the heritage impact statement mentions the City of Adelaide conducted a local heritage survey in 2012 but they did not revise the heritage listing to include the interior.

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Plans show the facade of the Grenfell Street pub would remain relatively intact, however, the interior would be gutted and replaced with amenities. Image:

Brown Falconer

The planned accommodation block is approximately 63 metres in height. A recessed separation has been proposed on the Grenfell Street exterior, forming a gap between the original facade and a new podium. On Union Street, restoration works would be undertaken to restore the remaining facade to its original 1920s form.
The planned material palette for the tower’s exterior includes precast panels, curtain glazing and aluminium panels. If constructed, the building would be within close proximity to the University of Adelaide, Flinders University, the University of South Australia and Adelaide University.
The plans are on exhibition until 10 May. More