Architecture

Houses magazine has appointed the jury for its 2024 Houses Awards. Consisting of industry experts in the architecture and design space, these jurors possess sound knowledge of the standards of excellence and measures of quality in the built environment.
Sophie Bence is a founder and co-director of Bence Mulcahy alongside Shamus Mulcahy. Established in 2014 in Hobart, Bence Mulcahy is interested in practising with generosity, finding the potential in projects regardless of scale and budget. The practice has completed a number of awarded projects across residential, education and heritage spaces.
Adam Haddow is a director of SJB, a multi-disciplinary design practice with studios in Sydney and Melbourne. Heading up the Sydney studio, Adam is a specialist architect in the built environment and is interested in what makes cities vibrant, connected and civic with particular expertise in urban density, and the intersection of public and private space.
Marika Neustupny is a founding director of NMBW Architecture Studio and holds a PhD from the University of Queensland. NMBW’s projects have been widely published and exhibited in local, national and international contexts, and awarded numerous times by the Australian Institute of Architects for residential projects.
Lachlan Nielsen is a director of Brisbane-based architecture studio Nielsen Jenkins. The work of the practice explores landscape, subtraction, connections and materiality in order to achieve client-specific outcomes that are responsive to context and place. These explorations form the basis of all of Neilsen Jenkins’ projects.
Chairing the jury will be Alexa Kempton who is the editor of Houses magazine. She has more than 15 years’ experience in architecture and design media, and has been part of the editorial team at Architecture Media for 10 years. Alexa is a former editor of ArchitectureAU and managing editor of Architecture Australia.
Award-winning landscape architect, Simone Bliss of SBLA Studio will be the jury’s garden and landscape advisor; Pippa Soccio, the senior research scientist in building monitoring at CSIRO, will be the sustainability advisor, and Louise Honman, an architect and built heritage specialist, will be the heritage advisor.
Entries for the 2024 Houses Awards can be submitted until 8 March 2024. To enter, visit the Houses Awards website.
Houses Awards are organized by Architecture Media, supported by Cult, Artedomus, Blum, Brickworks, James Hardie, Sussex, The Heritage Council of Victoria, Roca and Latitude. More

The second stage of a competition to design the redevelopment of Parramatta’s Riverside Theatres in Western Sydney is now underway, following the announcement of five finalist design teams in early January 2024. The teams will now further develop their ideas and incorporate jury feedback from stage one. The brief for stage two crafted in collaboration […] More

Emma Williamson, architect and co-founder of The Fulcrum Agency, has been appointed as WA’s new government architect and chair of the state’s Design Review Panel, replacing Rebecca Moore, who held the position for three years.
Williamson has practised for nearly 30 years and is a member of the West Australian and South Australian State Design Review Panels. Williamson’s practice has been involved in several award-winning projects, such as Boola Katitjin by Lyons with Silver Thomas Hanley, Officer Woods, The Fulcrum Agency and Aspect Studios, which won a 2023 Daryl Jackson Award for Educational Architecture and a 2023 National Award for Sustainable Architecture; and the Groote Archipelago Housing Programme, which was a joint winner of the 2023 ArchitectureAU Award for Social Impact. The practice was also a state adviser on WA Museum Boola Bardip by Hassell and OMA, which won the 2021 George Temple Poole Award.
In 2022, Williamson was named a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Architects for her valuable contribution to the profession beyond architectural practice. She is committed to educating the next generation of architects through her role as adjunct senior research fellow at Monash University and through her written research, which has been published both nationally and internationally. In 2023, the Institute awarded Williamson the Paula Whitman Leadership in Gender Equity Prize.
Williamson frequently uses the profession as an instrument for highlighting and advocating for social issues that correlate with the field. She has often been invited to symposiums and events to speak on topics such as gender equity, leadership, design and practice management.
The Fulcrum Agency co-founder will supersede government architect Rebecca Moore, who accepted the role in September 2020. Moore was Australia’s first female government architect. She has provided design advice on more than $28 billion worth of state and regional projects. During her tenure, she provided consultation on key projects such as the Metronet station developments, the Causeway Pedestrian and Cyclist Bridge, and the Women and Babies Hospital project.
Moore has taken a leave of absence and will conclude her position officially this February. Architect, Barbara Gdowski has been serving as acting government architect and interim chair of the State Design Review Panel.
The role will entail providing design leadership and advice to improve the quality of the state’s built environment, as well as ensure that good design is prioritized in all development and major project opportunities. It also involves providing independent advice to the Minister for Planning, and the premier on key projects and strategic planning initiatives.
Planning Minister, John Carey, welcomed the appointment, saying Williamson is a “highly credentialled architect.”
“Williamson’s experience in design review will be integral to the position, as she will play a central role in the review and assessment of significant development proposals – through the new permanent assessment pathway – as part of our government’s planning reform agenda to take effect on 1 March 2024,” Carey said.
“I would again like to thank outgoing government architect, Ms Moore, for her contribution to the design of our state, and wish her well in her next endeavours.” More

Kaolin Tiles and Taubmans have launched a collaborative collection, featuring eight large-format porcelain tiles in four different colour schemes. The Equilibrium collection references Taubmans paint with a unique, paint-like finish that mimics textured brushstrokes. Four colour palettes have been released as part of the collection –Euphoric, Grounded, Composure and Centred – each of which were […] More

The former Hendersons Hat Factory in Sydney’s Surry Hills, which was destroyed in a devastating fire in 2023, will be rebuilt, as part of an amended development application to construct a hotel on the site. The original application to convert the heritage-listed warehouse into a hotel was submitted to the City of Sydney in 2019. […] More

The Queensland government has announced its soon-to-be-released housing plan, Homes for Queenslanders, which includes a target for 53,500 new social homes by 2046. Premier Steven Miles said the state government has committed an investment of $6 billion to social and affordable housing, with a down payment of $1.25 billion already having been made. “Every Queenslander […] More

Construction has now commenced on Melbourne’s Suburban Rail Loop East, in a project that will see Box Hill and Cheltenham connected via a new rail line and six underground stations.
The train stations include Box Hill, Burwood, Glen Waverley, Monash, Clayton and Cheltenham. Of the six stations, Box Hill, Glen Waverley, Clayton, and Cheltenham already have existing train stations, and upon project completion, will serve as interchange stations for multiple rail lines. Burwood and Monash are the only locations without an existing railway line.
The Suburban Rail Loop East (SRL East) is part of a wider Suburban Rail Loop project, which will involve the introduction of a 90km metro line and 13 stations. Architectus has led the initial design of all six SRL East stations, working within the AJM Consortium (Aurecon, Jacobs, Mott McDonald) together with the Suburban Rail Loop Authority to develop the concept and reference design and SRL East business case.
Premier Jacinta Allan and Minister for Suburban Rail Loop Danny Pearson visited the tunnel boring machine at the Burwood site on 5 February to provide a project update.
Works on the first tunnel access structure in Heatherton are set to begin in February 2024, followed by construction of a temporary bridge in Box Hill to reduce traffic congestion while works progress beneath Whitehorse Road. Early works in Cheltenham are also currently underway, with crews in Glen Waverley, Clayton and Monash University in the process of relocating utilities in preparation for construction.
Tunnelling is anticipated to begin in 2026. The first tunnelling contract to build tunnels between Cheltenham and Glen Waverley was awarded in 2023, with detailed survey works for this section to continue through 2024. The contract for tunnels between Glen Waverley and Box Hill will be granted later in 2024.
“By 2026, we’ll have four tunnel boring machines in the ground, twin tunnels being built, major contracts awarded and major construction underway at every one of the six station sites,” the premier said.
The SRL East metro line is expected to be operational by 2035. The project is jointly funded by the Victorian government and the federal government, with a $11.8 billion and $2.2 billion investments respectively.
The draft Suburban Rail Loop Precinct Visions is currently on exhibition until 3 March 2024, and has already received more than 2,000 responses. More

The Tasmanian government announced the scope of works for the $130 million redevelopment of the University of Tasmania Stadium in Launceston. Initial designs by Populous and Philp Lighton Architect indicate the project will include two new stands: an eastern stand with new and more accessible spectator facilities, food and beverage outlets and amenities, and a […] More