Architecture

Fusing fine craftsmanship with irresistible textures, this collection of objects for the home is anything but ordinary.
Pioneer stool from Fredericia

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Pioneer stool from Fredericia. Image: Supplied

Exuding sculptural simplicity, Pioneer is Fredericia’s new seating collection by Danish designer Maria Bruun. Understated and distinctly Scandinavian, the stools have four timber legs that scoop up to support ovoid seats, and are available in three heights. Visit website
Kairos glassware from Saardé

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Kairos glassware from Saardé. Image: Supplied

Subtle fluting, tapered silhouettes and striking colours ensure this range of carafes and wine, coffee and water glasses is both sophisticated and memorable. The name Kairos – a Greek word that describes “an opportune time” – is a reminder to relish everyday rituals. Visit website
Slimline desk from Made by Morgen

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Slimline Desk from Made by Morgen. Image: Supplied

An appealing combination of minimalism and functionalism makes the Slimline desk an elegant option for a composed work-fromhome space. Designed and made in Melbourne by Made by Morgen, it features solid timber construction and soft-close pencil drawers. Visit website
Port light from Rakumba

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Port light from Rakumba – designed by Tom Fereday. Image: Supplied

Port, designed by Tom Fereday, is a refined lighting design that celebrates the refractive properties of crystal glass. The stepped, pyramidal form can be reversed for two distinct sculptural effects. Port is available as a round and stadium profile, and as a wall or table lamp. Visit website
The Duchess from Von Steel

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The Duchess from Von Steel. Stylist: Bridget Wald. Image:

Kristoffer Paulsen

Slender profiles and rippling undulations lend intrigue to the crisp metal of The Duchess dining, side and console tables from Geelong-based Von Steel. They are available in brass or stainless or powdercoated steel. Visit website
Dining collection from King Living

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Heritage dining table and Heirloom chair from King Living. Image: Supplied

King Living’s dining collection is both functional and elegant. The Heritage dining table effortlessly extends to accommodate larger family gatherings. The Heirloom chair’s open back and low profile offer comfort, while removable leather or fabric covers ensure practicality. Visit website More

A 38-storey mixed-use tower has been proposed for Festival Plaza in Adelaide in lieu of an earlier approved proposal for a three-storey retail building.
The property developer behind both the abandoned and new proposal, Walker Corporation, states on its website that the new plans deliver “an improved heritage outcome” as “the previously approved three-storey option would have obscured views of Parliament’s heritage facade and balcony entirely.”
Walker Corporation collaborated with architecture practice Johnson Pilton Walker on the proposal.
The slender high-rise would be sited alongside Walker Corporation’s recently completed 29-storey One Festival Tower, also a collaboration with Johnson Pilton Walker. Under the plans, public space would be introduced between the two buildings, supporting a range of outdoor dining activations.

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A 38-storey mixed-use tower has been proposed for Festival Plaza in Adelaide in lieu of an earlier approved proposal for a three-storey retail building. Image: Supplied

The proposed tower comprises 36 floors of commercial office space; approximately 3,000 square metres of public civic space across four podium levels; a glass foyer providing views of the plaza and Parliament House; two levels designated to food and beverage offerings including a terrace level dining option overlooking the plaza, and public artworks.
The proposed building form includes a tower with a curved glass facade situated atop a podium.

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The proposed tower comprises 36 floors of commercial office space and two levels of food and beverage offerings including a terrace level dining option overlooking the plaza. Image: Supplied

Minister for Planning Nick Champion said the creation of a second tower would assist with activating an “underutilised” area in the Riverbank Precinct. “The community space will add much needed retail, food and beverage options in an area that will be bustling with close to 10,000 daily workers,” he said.
“The new tower will be an important feature in the ongoing transformation of Festival Plaza, which also includes upgrades to the neighbouring Railway Station, Festival Theatre, SkyCity and Elder Park.”
Development approval will now be sought for the project. If approved, project construction is expected to commence in 2025, with the tower anticipated to be complete in mid-2027. More

The National Gallery of Australia in Kamberri/Canberra has launched an open, international design competition for the $60 million revitalisation of its three-hectare sculpture garden.
The competition is open to multidisciplinary teams from Australia and overseas, and teams are encouraged to include a landscape architect, an Australian First Nations practitioner, an artist, architect, and botanist or horticulturalist.
Conducted in two-stages, with the first stage anonymous, the competition seeks innovative and imaginative conceptual designs that incorporate a public place to experience art, education, cultural and social events and would be responsive and resilient to mitigate climate change, enhance mature trees, and embedded with sustainability, accessibility and First Nations principles.
It also seeks a design that would reflect the garden’s original design intent and heritage values. Originally established in 1981 and designed by Harry Howard and Associates, the garden was designed to respond to and extend the geometry of the gallery building by Col Madigan and his team. Spanning three-hectares surrounding the NGA building, the garden currently features a range of native plants that suit the sometimes severe weather of Kamberri/Canberra. More

Western Australia’s Residential Design Codes (R-Codes) have been revised in an effort to streamline the planning approval process and supply more housing diversity across the state. Under the amended codes, the minimum lot size requirement of 350 square metres for ancillary dwellings will be scrapped. Planning approval will no longer be required for compliant granny […] More

Tadao Ando’s MPavilion is set to remain in Melbourne’s Queen Victoria Gardens until June 2025, after City of Melbourne approved a request from the Naomi Milgrom Foundation to extend the temporary structure.
Each year the MPavilion installations are dismantled after a summer season of programming and relocated elsewhere in Melbourne.
Ando’s pavilion comprises two right-angled concrete walls, offset from each other to form a square with two entrances, and an interior reminiscent of a Japanese walled garden with a reflection pool. A 14.4-metre-wide aluminium-clad parasol supported by a circular concrete column partially shelters enclosure.
“It’s the only piece of [Ando’s] architecture that’s in Australia, so that in itself is remarkable and deserving of extension of its presence in our city,” said lord mayor Sally Capp, who moved the motion to support the extension at a meeting of the Future Melbourne Committee on 9 April.
“[The pavilion] has had so many challenges to it being built and to it being dismantled. In fact, in its current form, it will never, ever appear again. So giving Melburnians and this city and our community an opportunity to continue to value and utilise this extraordinary space is important and deserving of support.”

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A large-spanning parasol supported a concrete circular concrete column partially shelters the enclosure. Image:

Rory Gardiner

Deputy lord mayor Nicholas Reece also commented on the “extraordinary design,” and added that “the build quality is absolutely world class.”
In its request to the council, Naomi Milgrom Foundation include several testimonials of support from Melbourne’s architecture and design elite, include the Victorian government architect Jill Garner, Australian Institute of Architects CEO Cameron Bruhn, architect Peter Maddison, garden designer Paul Bangay and architectural photographer John Gollings.
Jill Garner wrote, “I consider [Ando’s’ pavilion to be an extraordinary work of architecture that works as a ‘place’ both with and without programming. The renowned qualities of his architecture – simplicity, beauty and spatial experience, are all quietly present in this year’s MPavilion.”
Cameron Bruhn also expressed the Institute’s interest in partnering with the Naomi Milgrom Foundation in activating the pavilion during the upcoming Australian Architecture Conference.

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The interior of the pavilion is reminiscent of a Japanese walled garden with a reflection pool. Image:

Rory Gardiner

While support for the extension was recommended by City of Melbourne’s General Manager Infrastructure and Amenity, Rick Kwasek, his report to the Future Melbourne Committee also expressed some concerns, including that the design community is divided on the retention of the pavilion and that the design is not consistent with best practice gender equity place principles.
It also raised concerns about the ongoing safety and security of the structure, including that “design precludes through views and movements across the site. This presents potential risks to the structure, public safety and City of Melbourne’s reputation.” The report also stated that the concrete walls are climbable and susceptible to tagging and graffiti.
The Naomi Milgrom Foundation will be responsible for the safety, security and maintenance of the pavilion during the one-year extension at no cost to council, as well as the dismantling and repurposing of the pavilion when the extension ends.
The report also pointed out that retention of the pavilion “could invite public scrutiny on heritage impact and suitability of this arrangement for the site” and that “supporting the extension could be viewed as opening the door for further advocacy on permanent retention.”
Queen Victoria Gardens is both listed on both the state and national heritage registers as an ornamental garden and a fragile environment that does not support permanent structures or regular large events.
Councillor Rohan Leppert, who “wholeheartedly” supported the one-year extension stressed that it did not equate to wholehearted support for a permanent extension.
The Naomi Milgrom Foundation’s extension request only applies to one year.
While City of Melbourne councillors voted unanimously to support the extension, it is subject to further approval from Heritage Victoria and the Department of Energy Environment and Climate Action. More

The Victorian government has announced that early works on Nyaal Banyul Geelong Convention and Event Centre have begun. In July 2023, the government appointed a consortium led by Plenary Conventions to deliver the project. The consortium includes Woods Bagot, Built, BGIS and Quintessential Equity. The project will comprise a 1000-seat venue, two large exhibition spaces, […] More

A proposal to construct a $36 million major club venue near the NSW/ACT border has been submitted to a local council. Designed by Benson McCormack Architecture, the project would occupy a patch of pastoral land on Tompsitt Drive in Jerrabomberra. The project for Viking Group comprises two structures – an entry pavilion building with reception, […] More

A development application for a 12-storey building in Hobart’s CBD has been lodged with Hobart City Council. The planned building, designed by Gray Puksand, accommodates more than 15,000 square meters of office space, 32 parking spots, and 114 bicycle spaces. The 46-metre-tall structure stands atop two podiums and features a red brick and glazed facade. […] More