Architecture

2023 Australian Ceramics Open Studios
More than 200 ceramic artists around Australia are set to welcome pottery enthusiasts into their studios during the annual, nation-wide open studios event on 11 and 12 November. Offering behind-the-scenes access into Australia’s beloved places of creation, attendees will have the opportunity to meet the makers in the community, see how they set up their studio and purchase their handcrafted works, as well as participate or observe fascinating workshops, demonstrations, kiln firings and talks.
Sydney Open 2023

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Yirranma Place by SJB. Image:

Romello Pereira

Presented by the Museums of History NSW, the Sydney Open on 5 November provides visitors a chance to marvel at some of the most loved architectural gems across the city, from historic and culturally significant buildings to award winning contemporary designs. Highlights of the program include Argyle Well, an 1840’s terrace restored and extended with a contemporary addition by Welsh and Major; Mortuary Station, the only surviving example of purpose-built Victorian railway funerary architecture in Australia; Parbury Ruins, an archaeological treasure preserved under a large residential complex; and Yirranma Place by SJB, a restored former church reimagined as a social purpose precinct for philanthropy.
The Living Future Institute of Australia Symposium

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The Living Future Institute of Australia Symposium 2019. Image:

Krunal Padhiar

The Living Future Institute of Australia Symposium returns to Melbourne this 8 and 9 November, with the theme for 2023 ‘Ambition to Action.’ The fifth symposium seeks to empower and invite built environment professionals to contemplate about how their work can promote social justice, cultural richness and ecological restoration. The event will bring together thought leaders, regenerative design experts and built environment professionals such as Martin Heide of NH Architecture, Cameron McIntosh of Arup, and television host and best-selling author, Hannah Molony, who will each discuss the transformation of ideas into actions.
Open House Hobart

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Bozen’s Cottage by Taylor and Hinds Architects. Image:

Adam Gibson

This year’s edition of Open House Hobart will feature more than 70 building inspections, walking tours and speaker series to be held across 11 and 12 November. Some of the incredible homes on show include Bozen’s Cottage by Taylor and Hinds Architects, Pop Top by Licht Architecture, Dorney House by J. H. Esmond Dorney and Fusilier Cottage by Bence Mulcahy. Organised and run by the Tasmanian Chapter of the Australian Institute of Architects, Open House Hobart is the local version of a global event first held in London in 1992.
Illawarra Festival of Architecture and Design

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Butterfly House by Dane Taylor and Greensmith and Co. Image:

Daniel Mulheran

This 25 November, the Illawarra Festival of Architecture and Design will bring together design professionals, architectural innovators and voices from across the Illawarra community, through a series of talks and shared experiences. The festival will be split into three events – beginning with house tours in the morning, a University of Technology Sydney projects feature in the afternoon, and a series of three panel discussions from local industries. The event will offer a unique opportunity to explore the latest trends in design and construction, gain insight from regional communities and connect with design enthusiasts. More

A national design competition to establish a new mixed-use facility at the Suttons Beach precinct on Queensland’s Redcliffe Peninsula has launched.
The competition, commissioned by City of Moreton Bay and overseen by Citylab, will be open to expressions of interest from architects from November.
Mayor Peter Flannery said the objective of the competition was to create a new hub with potential for hospitality offerings, rooftop areas, and bathroom and changeroom amenities.
“Citylab will plan the competition including the design brief, competition structure and jury selection criteria. Council has also consulted with the Australian Institute of Architects to ensure industry best practice and is currently seeking their endorsement for the final competition guidelines and model,” Flannery said.
“We understand the significance of the previous Suttons Beach Pavilion to the local community, and the new building design will consider the history of the site, as well as extensive community feedback.
“The Sutton’s Beach precinct plays a key role in the Redcliffe Peninsula’s tourism offering and once revitalised, will bring new opportunities for employment and economic development to our city, ensuring City of Moreton Bay continues to be a popular place to live, work, visit and invest into the future.”
The 2023/2024 Moreton Bay Council budget has already allocated $1.25 million for the demolition of the existing 1937 beach pavilion and interim landscaping to return the park to community use, with planning for the new precinct occurring simultaneously. Council is hoping to repurpose bricks from the original pavilion in the new structure.
Moreton Bay councillor Karl Winchester said the design competition will ensure the new building has a unique presence, while also providing the most appropriate solution for the popular Redcliffe destination.
“We know the Redcliffe community wants to see this public space brought back to life, while still recognising the history and character of the space,” Winchester said.
“This design competition will consist of two stages – first we will take expressions of interest (EOI) from the architecture community, followed by a concept design development stage.
“We can’t wait to see the Suttons Beach precinct evolve into a vibrant new community space allowing a new generation to enjoy its place in the community.”
Architects on the shortlist will be notified in early 2024, with shortlisted candidates granted funds to advance their concept designs. A jury comprising independent and qualified design experts will announce the project winner in mid-2024.
See the City of Moreton Bay Council’s website for project and competition updates: Suttons Beach Public Space project. More

J. H. Esmond Dorney’s 1970s family home has earned global recognition from Docomomo International.
Dorney first constructed what is now known as Dorney House in 1978. The home sits atop an abandoned fort in Porter Hill, Tasmania, and remains one of the great modern houses of Australia. A humble masterpiece, the circular house features open plan living arrangement with sunken lounge and stunning 360 degree views of Hobart.
Dorney house is admired by many eminent Australian architects, many of whom have visited the heritage-home, including Glenn Murcutt and Carey Lyon.

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The sunken lounge at Dorney House. Image:

Ray Joyce

Born in 1906, J. H. Esmond Dorney trained under Walter Burley and Marion Mahoney Griffin before completing his first project in 1929. His portfolio between 1929 and 1940 featured a diverse range of building typologies from Old English revival (tudor) to streamline moderne. During this period, he predominantly designed flats located in Melbourne’s St Kilda, Elwood, South Yarra, Sandringham and Toorak.
After being drafted in World War II, Dorney relocated to Tasmania where he completed what are now seen as his most revered works. During this time, he transitioned to a modernist style, that was distinguishable by asymmetrical compositions and functional design elements.
Dorney’s Tasmanian projects are seminal to the field of architecture, with the Dorney House being one of his most recognizable and influential works. His Melbourne apartment complexes have also had an enduring affect on the character and aesthetic of Melbourne’s bayside suburbs, however, two separate bushfire incidents resulted in the devastating loss of a significant amount of documentation regarding his Melbourne projects.
A site steeped in history, Dorney House continues to be held in high regard by many within and outside the architecture profession. Ironically, it was actually the third home to be established by Dorney on the Fort Nelson site. The first house was built in 1949, the second in 1966, followed by Dorney House, which was constructed in 1978. Being that the property is located in bushland, both of the earlier homes were destroyed by separate bushfires.
Dorney House was acquired by the City of Hobart in 2006 for $5.5 million. More

City of Sydney has released concept plans for the revitalization of Chinatown on Haymarket’s Dixon Street. Designed by Aspect Studios, with Sibling Architecture, Electrolight, and Studio Yu and Mei, the upgrades will “bring vibrancy back to the heart of chinatown with creative lighting, improved flow and traditional cultural features.” Concept plans indicate the heritage and […] More

Internationally revered industrial designer, Paul Cockburn was influential in the careers of many Australian designers through his employment, work experience and mentoring programs. Cockburn formed his design studio Design Field in 1969, which undertook projects for diverse clients including Apple, AWA, Acrow, Tytel, Victa, Black and Decker, and Eveready. Under his leadership, was one of the first industrial design consultancies in the country to offer a regular work experience program for secondary and tertiary students. In addition to growing the consulting design industry, he was instrumental in shaping an Australian approach to the design of functional objects. Cockburn passed away in late 2021 and is posthumously inducted into the Hall of Fame.

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Industrial and graphic designer, Richard Haughton James. Image: Supplied

Industrial and graphic designer, Richard Haughton James co-founded and ran the Design Centre from 1939 to 1940 with Dahl and Geoffrey Collings, who he had met earlier in London. In 1939, he worked with publisher Sydney Ure Smith to establish the Design Industries Association of Australia (DIAA), which was a forerunner of the Design Institute of Australia. Throughout his career in Australia, James was passionately committed to raising people’s understanding of modern art, design and photography, and is credited with helping to develop a more enlightened attitude to modern art and industrial design through articles, talks, radio broadcasts and publications. In 1947, he was elected president of the Society of Designers for Industry (SDI), a precursor to the DIA – a role he remained in until 1955. James passed away in 1985 and is also posthumously inducted into the Hall of Fame.

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Graphic designer, art director, and interior, food, and lifestyle author, Stafford Cliff. Image: Supplied

Stafford Cliff has an illustrious design history. A graphic designer, art director, and interior, food, and lifestyle author, his impressive repertoire never ceases to amaze. Cliff designed the striking Habitat catalogues for Terence Conran’s UK retail chain for ten years from 1971, leading the brand to achieve substantial growth and recognition. In 1974, he designed The House Book, the best-selling home book ever to exist, which led him to later achieve the role of creative director of the Conran Design Group in the 1980s. He left the group in 1990 to work full-time on book design and art direction. Stafford’s favourite quote, which exemplifies his life and career, is “My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to excel, and to do so with some passion, some compassion and humour, and some style.”
The Design Institute of Australia will officially present this year’s esteemed hall of fame inductees at their 2023 awards celebration night on Thursday, 2 November. More

Danish furniture manufacturer And Tradition is the custodian of various iconic Scandinavian designs, including those of Jørn Utzon’s lighting. Their newly introduced edition of the JU1 pendant draws a respectful thread from Utzon’s early design days to the present, while also highlighting his skill as both designer and architect. Launched as part of the Sydney Opera House’s 50th anniversary, the Utzon Pendant in a new “Steel Blue” colour is the outcome of And Tradition’s research into Utzon’s body of work in Denmark, Spain and Australia, across which blue hues were a consistent source of inspiration to Jørn Utzon.
Utzon’s lamp and the Opera House may not share the same scale or cultural gravitas, but both were born of the architect’s penchant for sailboats, nature, and the sea. His 1947 lamp can be thought of as a precursor to the Opera House; the layered steel shade was inspired by the young designer’s time at the shipyard where his father worked as a naval architect and his exposure to ship engineering drawings. These influences continued to inform Utzon’s design oeuvre, with the Opera House representing the conceptual apex (Utzon studied nautical maps of the harbour before commencing the design). The Utzon JU1 Pendant combines four steel components constructed through deep drawing and spinning – metal-shaping techniques developed by the navy – into a lyrical, wave-like form that softly disperses light with a calculated (and typically Danish) precision.

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The Utzon Special Edition JU1 Pendant in “Steel Blue.” Image:

And Tradition

Save a few optimizations to suit modern production, the lamp’s organic silhouette has largely gone unchanged since 1947; the anniversary edition debuts a “Steel Blue” colour that Utzon loved and used in many of his buildings, including sea-side family residences in Denmark and Majorca. The curvaceous, deep-blue lacquered metal’s high-gloss finish reflects light in much the same way as the sea’s surface. The sheen is also reminiscent of the pearly ceramic glaze on the Opera House’s Swedish-made, chevron-shaped roof tiles, which so beguilingly reflect Sydney’s sky from dawn to dusk. And Tradition’s creative and brand director, Els Van Hoorebeeck, said, “The more time we spent digging through archival materials, the more we saw the ‘Steel Blue’ shade reappear in his work. Additionally, since the Sydney Opera House is surrounded by water, ‘Steel Blue’ also serves as a reference to this, making the colour and high-gloss finish a wonderful tribute to its 50-year anniversary.”
Maritime stories
In conjunction with the product launch, on 19 October 2023, Jørn Utzon’s design legacy was honoured with an intimate discussion hosted by And Tradition, Cult and the Utzon Centre. The lamp was displayed in the Utzon Room during the conversation, impressing upon the audience the relationship between the lighting design, the building, and the nearby sea.

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From left to right: Dana Tomić Hughes, Richard Leplastrier, Mika Utzon Popov, Els Van Hoorebeeck and Line Nørskov Davenport in the Utzon Room at the Sydney Opera House. Image:

Anna Pihan

With harbour views stretched behind the 200-or-so seats of the Utzon Room – one of two internal spaces entirely finished to the architect’s specifications – and one of Utzon’s vibrant tapestries displayed behind the panellists, there couldn’t have been a more fitting space for hearing stories of Utzon’s life, work and affinity with the sea. The audience was also reminded of cultural exchanges between Australia and Utzon’s native Denmark … though at this celebratory occasion, there seemed to be an unspoken agreement that certain exchanges needn’t be revisited. Instead, tales flowed between Utzon’s family members, collaborators and design custodians, forming a narrative about the poetry and passion that fuelled the architect’s work.
The conversation resonated with me on many levels – I lived in Copenhagen for six years, visited Utzon’s home-turned-museum in Majorca, and was raised by a seafaring father – but there is also something inherently relatable about stories of the Opera House and Utzon’s design genius. The whole audience was moved by the common themes of family, friendship, and nature that underpinned every tale told about Utzon’s daring project; despite being not only one of the world’s most recognizable buildings but also infamous for its political and construction challenges, the Opera House is, ultimately, a deeply personal work.
The panel included architect Richard Leplastrier, who worked (and sailed) with Utzon in the 1960s; artist (and Utzon’s grandson) Mika Utzon Popov; Line Nørskov Davenport, director of exhibitions at the Utzon Center in Denmark; and Els Van Hoorebeeck, And Tradition’s creative and brand director. Yellowtrace’s founder, Dana Tomić Hughes, moderated the conversation with reverence while Richard and Mika offered personal, heartfelt memories about Jørn Utzon’s love of sailing and ways of talking about light and thinking about architecture. Among the anecdotes was one about Utzon finding design inspiration in seagulls flying across coastal land formations, exemplifying his poetic perspective. Explanations of Can Lis’s sundial-esque architecture and simple amenities spoke to Utzon’s mastery of light and disinterest in fussy decor; recollections of Sydney Opera House construction workers being moved to tears as their perfect formwork was revealed poignantly highlighted a great achievement that pushed the boundaries of architecture, building, and human emotion. The knowledge that Utzon didn’t witness the final unveiling silently rippled through the room. Later, Line Nørskov Davenport informed the audience about the Utzon Centre’s ongoing work to educate children about the impact of architecture and design on wellbeing, and Els Van Hoorebeeck recalled the site visits and archival drawing excavations that guided the development of the reimagined pendant.
The Utzon Special Edition in “Steel Blue” is available in Australia through Cult – and, naturally, it is suitable for both houses and boats. More

The 2023 Architeam Awards finalists have been announced, with 30 built projects across five categories recognized for innovative design.
Awards categories include Residential Alterations and Additions; The Residential New Award; Commercial, Community and Public; Unbuilt; and Innovation and Contribution.
The awards jury comprises director of Gray Space and Architeam chair Ajith Kuruvilla, Philip Stejskal of Philip Stejskal Architecture, Claire Scorpo of Agius Scorpo Architects, Peter Knights of Taylor Knights, Tania Davidge of Open House Melbourne, Lynn Chew of Kerstin Thompson Architects, and Ben Peake of Carter Williamson Architects.
The winners of this year’s program will be formally announced at the Architeam Awards Opening Night on Thursday, 16 November.
Residential New Award – up to $1 million

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Dachshund House by Maxwell and Page. Image:

Toby Scott

Brown Hill House – Eldridge Anderson Architects
Glen Huntly I – Agius Scorpo Architects
Middle House – Nobel Carter Architects
Dachshund House – Maxwell and Page
Silvertop House – Ben Callery Architects
Studio Uno – Mihaly Slocombe
Residential New Award – above $1 million

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Remnant House by Moloney Architects. Image:

Benjamin Hosking

Huff’n’Puff Haus – Envirotecture
Park House – DiMase Architects
Remnant House – Moloney Architects
Stumpy Gully House – Markowitz Design with Stavrias Architecture
Residential Alterations and Additions – up to $500,000

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Echidna Studio by Musk Architecture Studio and Session Architecture. Image:

Tom Blachford

Escher House – Inbetween Architecture
Cremorne Townhouse – Winter Architecture
Monty Sibbel – Nuud Studio
Garden Wall House – Sonelo Architects
North Fitzroy House – Fowler and Ward
Portsea Surf Shack – Blair Smith Architecture
Coburg Frieze – Mihaly Slocombe
Echidna Studio – Musk Architecture Studio and Session Architecture
Residential Alterations and Additions – between $500,000 and $1 million

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Quarry House by Winwood Mckenzie. Image:

Rory Gardiner

Quarry House – Winwood Mckenzie
Smith House – Fowler and Ward
Sunday – Architecture Architecture
Silvertop House – Tom Robertson Architects
Residential Alterations and Additions – over $1 million

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Fitzroy Laneway House by Andrew Child Architect. Image:

Tom Ross

Crown Street Terrace – Studio Arkive
Fitzroy Laneway House – Andrew Child Architect
Wheatland House – Tom Robertson Architects
Commercial, Community and Public Award

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Dianella Community Centre by Canvas Projects. Image:

Tom Blachford

Central Goldfields Art Gallery – Nervegna Reed Architecture
Delatite Cellar Door – Lucy Clemenger Architects
Dianella Community Centre – Canvas Projects
Facade Redevelopment – Shorts Place Gym – Joyce Architects
Queenscliff Recreation Reserve Amenities – Stonehouse and Irons Architecture
Unbuilt Award

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Future Proof House by Elena Cazacu. Image:

Elena Cazacu

Natural Settings – Jack May
Future Proof House – Elena Cazacu
Innovation and Contribution Award
Office Talk Podcast – Dave Sharp
Advocating for the built environment Opinion Pieces – Michael Smith More

The NSW government has announced plans to repurpose up to 20-hectares of Sydney’s 45-hectare Moore Park Golf Course into a public park.
The public golf course is currently under agreement with the NSW government for the entire site until June 2026. When the agreement expires, the NSW government has revealed it intends to transform less than 20 hectares of the course into a new central park, with the objective of providing Sydney-siders with more green space for sports and recreation.
The preferred portion for repurposing is the western boundary and north of Dacey Avenue to maximize accessibility to Green Square, Zetland and Waterloo suburbs, which are forecasted to experience significant population growth.
In a communique issued by the government, it stated: “It’s time this green space in the heart of the city shifts from being used only as a public golf course accessible only to paying golfers into parkland that supports our growing city.”
NSW premier Chris Minns said Sydney has changed significantly since the golf course was first constructed.
“When the golf course was first established, the surrounding areas were largely industrial lands,” he said.
“Significant urban regeneration has seen housing density around Green Square and Zetland transform industrial land into a vibrant community. As we work to tackle the housing crisis facing NSW by building up, we know that delivering public infrastructure including parks is more important than ever before.
“There is huge demand from residents in the city for a variety of community sporting facilities in the city’s inner south, and with further density planned this will only grow.”
The public consultation phase will soon commence with the City of Sydney, the local community, and other stakeholders about how best to revitalize the public asset. A discussion paper will be released in early 2024 to guide the consultation process, which will include dialogue with the current operator of Moore Park Golf Course.
A proposal to half the Moore Park Golf Course was first suggested by City of Sydney in 2016. In 2020, the then-planning minister Rob Stokes knocked back the proposal after intense lobbying from golfers.
Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Paul Scully said they are committed to supporting an increase in housing and public infrastructure.
“This land is part of Sydney’s backyard. We can repurpose this area as public open space while retaining a golf course and driving range. We know that getting more people into homes closer to the city through increased density, needs to be supported with more open space,” Scully said.
“The communities of Redfern, Waterloo, Green Square and Zetland are crying out for more green space and this change will go a long way to satisfying their needs.”
Green Square urban renewal area is expected to become one of the most densely populated areas in Australia, with the City of Sydney forecasting that 80,000 residents will live within two kilometres of Moore Park by 2040.
The NSW government will soon engage in discussions with the City of Sydney about a memorandum of understanding on the ongoing maintenance of the new park. More