Architecture

Linear collection

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Linear collection by Coco Flip. Image: Supplied

Coco Flip, a Melbourne-based furniture and lighting design studio, presented its Linear collection at Melbourne Design Week 2023. Created in collaboration with Melbourne’s last remaining pleating factory, Linear lights combine pleated linen with reclaimed timber. Visit website
Manta Pilti credenza

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The Manta Pilti (dry sand) series tells the story of an increasingly arid landscape in remote South Australia Image:

Fiona Susanto

The result of a cross-cultural design collaboration between Tanya Singer and Trent Jansen, the Manta Pilti (dry sand) series tells the story of an increasingly arid landscape in remote South Australia, expressed through detailed timber carvings. Visit website
Salt Pig

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Salt Pig by Henry Holland Studio. Image: Supplied

The Henry Holland range of Salt Pigs are hand-built from earthenware clay. Designed to sit proudly on the kitchen counter, these retro-inspired vessels are available in a selection of marbled colourways and hold a generous amount of sea salt, herbs or spices. Visit website
Haze sideboard

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Haze sideboard by Ferm Living. Image: Supplied

Constructed from reeded glass and powder- coated steel, the Haze sideboard from Ferm Living is both a storage solution and an elegant display cabinet. Its sleek metal frame blends with a range of interior styles, and its glass doors blur the cupboard’s contents. Visit website
Overlay rug collection

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Overlay rug collection by Danielah Martinez. Image:

Pete Daly

Designed by Danielah Martinez, Overlay balances playful shapes with plush layers in a modern collection of geometric rugs. Carefully hand-tufted in India from New Zealand wool, Overlay is designed for long- lasting comfort. Visit website
Crafted Collection

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Crafted Collection by Made By Morgen. Image: Supplied

Made by Morgen’s Crafted Collection features a range of bespoke furniture including beds, tables, seating and storage. The pieces highlight the simplicity of Scandinavian design, combining traditional Danish cord weaving techniques with the beauty of natural timber. Visit website
Vero dining table

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The Vero dining table by Arte Brotto has been designed to age gracefully. Image: Supplied

Italian furniture brand Arte Brotto, available from Domo, is a family-owned company that has been implementing traditional making techniques for more than 50 years. Crafted from FSC-certified wood, the Vero dining table and L21S chair celebrate the natural beauty of solid walnut. Visit website More

The ABC has announced it will be the home of a new Grand Designs television series to be released in 2024, featuring two new hosts and a fresh direction. Grand Designs Transformations will concentrate on renovations rather than new builds, unlike its Foxtel predecessor Grand Designs Australia, which wrapped up in early 2023 after 11 […] More

In a bid to decarbonize buildings, the federal government has allocated $100,000 in funding to support a new training program for architects, to be delivered by the Australian Institute of Architects.
The program intends to “equip architects with the tools to tackle the complex challenge of reducing embodied carbon in buildings,” the communiqué reads.
Aimed at lowering emissions before the construction phase starts, the initiative seeks to provide insight on how to decrease embodied carbon emissions produced through processes such as material extraction, production and transportation of building products, as well as construction, maintenance, repairs and renovations.
Assistant Minister for Climate Change and Energy Jenny McAllister said clever approaches to design could assist Australia in achieving its target of net zero emissions by 2050.
“Architects can dramatically reduce emissions from our built environment before one brick is even laid, just by making different design choices,” said McAllister. “Rethinking opportunities and making smarter choices in building design will help decarbonise the industry, but also save costs. Cost effective solutions already exist, we want to help bring these solutions to more architects across Australia.
“Clever design strategies, like repurposing an existing structure in the Quay Quarter Tower, saved 12,000 tonnes of embodied carbon. This is equivalent to taking 2,600 cars off the road.
“We want to help our architects design for a net zero future. This new training program will do just that.”
According to a statement released by the federal government, current market solutions suggest a 5 to 18 percent reduction in embodied carbon could be accomplished while a 0.4 to 3 percent decrease in material costs for typical building and infrastructure projects could be achieved.
“As the electricity grid decarbonizes and energy efficiency is embraced by homes and businesses, embodied carbon will overtake operational emissions, growing from 16 percent of a building’s total emissions in 2019 to 85 percent by 2050.”
The program will comprise a roadmap and toolkit developed by industry experts, to be delivered in person and online via the Australian Institute of Architects. More

Recipient of the 2023 National Award for Public Architecture, the much-anticipated Melbourne Holocaust Museum will reopen its doors to the public on Sunday 12 November.
The Kerstin Thompson Architects-designed museum adaptively reuses the original building on the site, constructed in the 1920s and purchased by the museum in 1984.
A significant site for memorializing and preserving history, the form visually and physically interacts with the street through its facade and internal views to the surrounding neighbourhood. The frontage of the building prompts passersby to pause, reflect and remember.

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The facade uses a combination of clay and transparent glass bricks woven together, enabling light to be drawn through the clear bricks. Image:

Derek Swalwell

The concept of light was central to the design, with light not only being a symbol of knowledge, but also a beacon of hope. The facade uses a combination of clay and transparent glass bricks woven together, enabling the light to be drawn through the clear bricks, and again creating a relationship with the street. Soft natural light fills the interior, while complementary timber features offer a subdued yet visually pleasing aesthetic.

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Timber features offer a subdued yet visually pleasing aesthetic. Image:

Derek Swalwell

The project has garned significant praise from those within the architecture profession. The 2023 National Architecture Awards jury observed in their citation “the details are rigorous and pared back, granting a calm order and elegance. From outside to within, this building is perfectly positioned as a sophisticated and appropriate place to tell the stories of the Jewish community.
“This simple, warm space is a comforting adjunct to the immersive exhibition spaces which are at times confronting.”
Similarly, the 2023 Victorian Architecture Awards jury said the realization of the Melbourne Holocaust Museum is simultaneously sensitive and powerfully symbolic. “A humane architectural language and materiality define the museum’s centralised circulation.
“Moments of vertical connection evoke reverence and the clever manipulation of natural light through openings and reflective surfaces provide relief from the museum’s exhibits, as well as facilitating opportunities for contemplation and contextualisation. The museum is successful in its balance of the pragmatic, poetic and sustainable.”
The museum, comprises three exhibition spaces, as well as learning, memorial and research facilities. With the launch of the museum marks the debut of its permanent exhibition Everybody Had a Name, a tragic and moving retelling of survivor stories, accompanied with photographs and artefacts. Melbourne Holocaust Museum opens on 12 November 2023. To find out more about current exhibitions visit the Melbourne Holocaust Museum website. More

A five-tower mixed complex has been proposed for the centre of Adelaide, which will accommodate a 220-room hotel and 600 residential apartments, as well retail, wellness and recreation facilities.
Designed by Elenberg Fraser with landscape architecture by TCL, the $1.25 billion project is proposed for the former Australia Post site on the corner of Grote and Gouger Streets.
The site is, incidentally, one of three Australian Institute of Architects’ alternative suggestions for the proposed Women’s and Children’s hospital.
The towers will range between 15 to 28 storeys high. Tower 1, housing a hotel and facing Grote Street, will be 17 storey, and its design will retain the existing Walton’s Biscuit Factory facade.
The remaining four towers will accommodate residential apartments, with 90 units reserved for affordable housing, thanks to an affordable housing overlay on the site that allows the developer, Gurner, to exceed the height limits for the area. The affordable housing units will be dispersed among towers 2, 4, and 5. Tower 3, the tallest of the five towers at 28 storeys, will occupy the prominent corner of Blenheim and Gouger Streets.

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Tower 3 in the proposed Grote and Gouger designed by Elenberg Fraser and TCL. Image:

Elenberg Fraser and TCL

The proponents say the project is “aiming to achieve the most significant carbon-neutral project in the city.”
“The design of the project draws inspiration from the rich architectural heritage of Adelaide, specifically emphasizing the principles of order, symmetry, and the repetition of elemental and local materials,” said the architects in the projects planning application. “Influenced by the city’s historic buildings, the design seeks to create a harmonious and visually appealing environment. By carefully analyzing the architectural language of the heritage structures, the project incorporates similar design elements to evoke a sense of continuity and connection to the past. The use of locally sourced materials not only pays homage to the region’s heritage but also contributes to the sustainability and authenticity of the design.
“The design of the towers takes inspiration from classic modernism buildings. Drawing from modernist houses, the tower design seamlessly integrating lush greenery and terraces that blur the boundaries between the built environment and the natural world.”
The towers will be connected a private network of laneways and gardens as well as a “cenote” at the centre of the site that will form a plaza.
The application will be considered by the State Commission Assessment Panel on 8 November. The planning report recommends consent be granted. More

The South Australian government has unveiled designs for a $74 million upgrade to Noarlunga Hospital in Adelaide’s southern suburbs. The government first announced the redevelopment project in January 2023. Wiltshire Swain Architects and GHD Woodhead were appointed by SA Health and Department for Infrastructure and Transport to design the upgrade in consultation with clinical teams […] More

The ACT government has announced a new six-storey office complex will be built adjacent to the existing Constitution Place in the centre of Canberra. Designed by Bates Smart, the $150 million development will be situated on the corner of Vernon Circle and Constitution Avenue, adjacent to the existing Constitution Place, also designed by Bates Smart, […] More

The University of Sydney’s Fisher Library celebrates 60th anniversary on 6 November 2023.
Designed by NSW Government Architects Office (architect: Ted Farmer, designers: Ken Woolley and Tom O’Mahoney), Fisher Library broke the mold of traditional academic libraries.
“The new library marked a transition from an older conception of the institute as a privileged enclave of scholarship and elite networking towards a modern, knowledge-centred public resource,” wrote Cameron Logan in Australia Modern (Hannah Lewi and Philip Goad (eds), Thames and Hudson).
Fisher Library was constructed in two stages. The first, a five-storey column-and-slab structure housed the undergraduate library. It had an open terrace on the top floor which, to mark the 60th anniversary, will reopen for the first time in 30 years.

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The roof terrace on the top floor of the undergraduate library will be reopened for the first time in 30 years. Image:

Courtesy University of Sydney

At the completion of the first stage in 1962, the building received the Sulman Medal (the highest award for public architecture in New South Wales), and a Bronze Medal from the Royal institute of British Architects.
The second stage comprised an eight-storey book-stack building, which was linked to the earlier building via a vestibule.
At the time of its construction, Fisher Library was the first building in Australia to use reverse cycle air-conditioning.
Fisher Library was a place for students to meet and collaborate. It had telephone booths, lounges, a music listening area.

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Fisher Library originally housed a music listening room. Image:

Courtesy University of Sydney

“Known for its modernist and celebrated architecture, Fisher Library as we know it now was officially opened in 1963 at a time of great social change and investment in education,” said Philip Kent, librarian at the University of Sydney.
Fisher Library is heritage listed in the City of Sydney. Its statement of heritage significance described the building as “a triumph of modernist theory.”
“The horizontality of the Undergraduate Wing is balanced by the vertical emphasis of the Bookstack, resulting in a functional articulation which is the most resolved of the University’s post-war modern buildings,” the statement reads.
“The Fisher Library is one of the buildings at the University of Sydney which makes the university an outstanding architectural precinct.” More