Architecture

Finland considers itself a “young” country. It only emancipated itself from centuries of Swedish and Russian rule in 1917, and for most of the twentieth century, the country’s efforts in nation-building and expressing its national identity have been palpable through its arts, culture, architecture and urbanity.
Helsinki Central Railway Station by Eliel Saarinen was completed just two years after Finland declared independence. Its monolithic granite structure and vivid copper roofs epitomize Finnish materiality. Commissioned in 1904 through a design competition, the station was set against a backdrop of Finnish nationalism and opposition to Russian rule among the country’s cultural circles. Paintings protesting restrictions on autonomy were popular, and Sibelius’s rousing tone poem “Finlandia” was composed to add voice to the national uprising.

View gallery

Helsinki Central Railway Station by Eliel Saarinen. Image:

Linda Cheng

Red granite can be found everywhere across Helsinki, from boulders to cobblestoned streets to buildings. They call it “helsingite” here because it is unique. Copper too is abundant, thanks to the Finnish mining industry, as is the spruce that fills the forests surrounding the city.
“I think that’s really clear in Helsinki, and they have a really strong material identity. It’s very textural and very grounded in the materials they have,” observed Bradley Kerr, one of five winners of the Australian Institute of Architects’ Dulux Study Tour.
“The strongest identifier in Helsinki on all of the architecture was the consistency of the very textured red granite and copper, and the way that they use those materials in so many different ways on buildings over the last 100 years just tells a really nice story of that place.”
Ellen Buttrose added, “We didn’t see any plasterboard, we didn’t see any composite materials – we saw materials that were very specific to this place, and I think that has naturally generated a particular language. And it’s been used in so many different ways.”

View gallery

Temppeliaukio Church by Timo and Tuomo Suomalainen. Image:

Linda Cheng

Post-war building in Helsinki has also accelerated a distinct feel to the city. Sarah Lebner remarked that “the periods of austerity [post-war] and needing to be frugal [have] taught the Finnish how to use pattern, repetition and layout of really simple materials very well, which has seeded part of their design culture.”
“You see a lot of brick, but it’s often a different bond to standard, so it’s the same material but used differently,” Lebner said.
“There’s a lot of national pride in the way they have developed identity through public buildings,” Tiffany Liew added.
The group’s Helsinki tour guide, Marianna Heikinheimo, estimated that approximately 60 percent of architects’ work comes from the public sector, the majority of which is awarded through design competitions. Museums, galleries, concert halls and public libraries have all been procured through design competition.

View gallery

Helsinki Central Library Oodi by ALA Architects. Image:

Linda Cheng

In a high-tax, progressive country such as Finland, public infrastructure on the public purse is to be expected. Nonetheless, “the amount of investment from the public policy side to the point of extreme debt is quite impressive [compared with] a parallel timescale of the past 100 years in Australian public infrastructure and community spaces,” Liew said.
The €100 million Helsinki Central Library Oodi, designed by ALA Architecture, was commissioned to celebrate the centenary of Finnish independence. Facing the Finnish parliament and a public square, the library occupies an important place in Helsinki’s cultural-political precinct.
Again, a competition was held in in 2012, and from more than 500 entries, ALA Architects was chosen as the winner. The project has been celebrated all over the world and draws in millions of visitors a year.
It shows that “there’s a real commitment to the delivery of the detail,” said Edwina Brisbane. “It’s not just if you win the competition, you have to provide a lot of detail. The project gets built, but it also gets delivered with the amount of detail that was intended in the first place.”
The legacy of Aalto looms large over the city, not only in the buildings dotted across the city but also in the zeitgeist of contemporary practise. “My professor in architecture always said Finland is an outdoor museum for modernism,” said Kristiina Kuusiluoma, CEO of Collaboratorio, which the group visited on the tour. She also said the Finnish are brave and like to experiment with new things.

View gallery

Collaboratorio developed a concrete alternative made of compacted clay mixed with aggregate made using discarded materials such as marble from Alvar Aalto’s Finlandia Hall refurbishment. Image:

Linda Cheng

Collaboratorio is taking the spirit of bravery and experimentation even further, developing its own materials such as a concrete alternative made of compressed clay (sourced from building site excavations) and aggregates that come from marble discarded during the refurbishment of Alvar Aalto’s Finlandia Hall. In fact, the group was most in awe of the Collaboratorio’s commitment to material exploration.
“I think there’s a new wave happening. We’ve seen a few practices who are moving away from the hyper-rational,” said Buttrose. “Aalto has started to give small gestures of moving away from that, and it’s almost like the current contemporary architects feel like they’re taking that to the next level again but using the same values of light, space and air in a new articulations.”
Linda Cheng is travelling with the Australian Institute of Architects’ 2023 Dulux Study Tour. Follow along on social media and the Institute’s blog. More

Designs for a Western Sydney mental health hospital that will become New South Wales’s largest have been placed on public exhibition.
The $460 million Westmead Integrated Mental Health Complex, announced by the state government in May 2022, will replace the existing mental health facilities at Cumberland Hospital.
Across 10 storeys, the hospital will house acute beds for young people, adolescents, adults, older persons and people living with eating disorders, as well as intensive care and high dependency units. There will also be sub- and non-acute beds, along with ambulatory and outpatient services.

View gallery

Westmead Integrated Mental Health Complex by Jacobs Australia. Image:

Jacobs Australia

The centre has been designed by Jacobs Australia to reflect contemporary models of care, connecting to the public realm and public transport to support the de-stigmatization of mental health care, while embracing biophilic design principles to create a therapeutic environment.
Aboriginal storytelling, histories and identities are also reflected in the design, developed in consultation with Traditional Custodians, consultant Cox Inall Ridgeway, and an Aboriginal psychologist.
The design includes graphic representations inspired by the eel and its stories, as well as three surrounding rivers: Parramatta River, Toongabbie Creek and Darling Mills Creek.

View gallery

Westmead Integrated Mental Health Complex by Jacobs Australia. Image:

Jacobs Australia

The primary facade is adorned in blue aluminium shingles that represent the “bubbling water” of the river streams, while the walkway between the entry forecourt and the northern landscaped area tells the story of mature eels going out to sea to have babies and younger eels coming back on the currents to fresh water.
Landscaped areas, including those in the courtyards and balconies, will include Aboriginal bush medicine plants such as emu bush, flannel flowers, waratahs and the snake vine. The hospital will sit on the land of the Dharug people.
The project is on public exhibit until 21 June. More

Kerstin Thompson Architects (KTA) has unveiled designs for an apartment and townhouse development in St Kilda, Melbourne that offers a “new take on the mansion block.”
Together with landscape architect Myles Baldwin Design, the architecture firm has developed a design that maintains a sense of the existing scale of the neighbourhood while offering a greater diversity of housing options. The project at 97 Alma Road will include 21 townhouses and 41 apartments, just across the road from Alma Park.
KTA director and 2023 Gold Medal winner Kerstin Thompson said the project paid tribute to St Kilda’s architectural heritage.
“97 Alma Road offers a graceful return to treasured memories, forging a connection with a valued part of Melbourne’s urban history while offering a new approach to multiple housing,” Thompson said.
The building is characterized by unique details and materials, including the expressive use of stucco, metalwork, textured glass, coloured tiles and ornamental sun screens. Each apartment has its own distinguishing architectural element: a bay window, an arch, a sunroom, an oddly shaped window, or a Juliet balcony.
“We really considered what it means to arrive home, celebrating the ‘homecoming’ with civic-scaled entries to the apartment building and activating differentiated laneways between the townhouses,” said Thompson.

View gallery

97 Alma Road by Kerstin Thompson Architects. Image:

Kerstin Thompson Architects

Toby Pond, principal at Kerstin Thompson Architects, said the project represented a unique response to infill development on a brownfield site, providing a variety of housing options. He noted that the design embraces the landscape, with the block divided by landscape pockets, providing garden areas, natural light and ventilation to all apartments.
Outdoor shared spaces include linear gardens with native planting, a garden spine to the east, a barbecue area, an apartment rooftop terrace that supports communal food production, and a courtyard that protects significant existing trees.
The building will incorporate passive design principles to maximize natural light and ventilation and reduce the need for airconditioning – there are no south-facing apartments. It will also feature solar panels, rainwater harvesting systems and high-efficiency appliances.
The project is being developed by Neometro. The developer’s design director, James Tutton, said the project was all about creating a “healthy building.”
“Entries are welcoming, stairs and corridors are imagined as a social and joyful path to everyone’s front door – open-air, light-filled with glimpses to garden, encouraging healthy and incidental engagement with the neighbours,” Tutton said. More

Iredale Pederson Hook Architects has been appointed to design the Aboriginal short-stay facility in the suburb of Cannington, south Perth. To be built on a 7,000-square-metre site on Hamilton Street, the facility will be for Aboriginal people across Western Australia who have travelled to Perth. “Iredale Pedersen Hook Architects will consult with stakeholders across Western […] More

Works are underway on an urban renewal precinct at a disused TAFE site in south Brisbane, where the project will deliver 281 homes that include 75 social and affordable units and a 169-apartment retirement living facility.
Designed by Archipelago, the 3.1-hectare Parkside Yeronga precinct will also include commercial tenancies, small-scale retail, a community centre and more than 4,000 square metres of open space.
Archipelago has designed the commercial building, community centre and whole-of-site master plan, which provides the guiding principles and urban design framework for the development. The firm’s landscape architecture team has designed the public realm.
“It will be a place that is sensitive to its context and respectful to its neighbours, demonstrating diversity done well,” Archipelago says of the project. “The unique combination of proponents permits an abundance of residential offerings – from private luxury residential, to supported retirement living, to social and affordable housing – this will be a neighborhood that is welcome to all.”

View gallery

Parkside Yeronga community centre by Archipelago. Image: Archipelago

The site between Park Road and Villa Street in Yeronga was identified as a “Priority Development Area” in 2019, allowing the state government to override council planning processes. But as the Brisbane Times pointed out, the site sat neglected up until this year, with “disintegrating bunting emblazoned with ‘unite and recover’ government messaging and declarations of ‘coming soon.’”
The state government is contributing $40 million to the project, which is being delivered as a public-private consortium led by Economic Development Queensland, alongside JGL Properties, Brisbane Housing Company and Retire Australia.
“This development is [a] great example of the private sector and government working together to deliver a range of housing options including private housing, social housing and retirement living,” said premier Annastacia Palaszczuk.
Deputy premier Steven Miles added, “Parkside Yeronga is a great example of how we’re activating under-utilized urban land to deliver more homes for Queenslanders.
“Not only will this partnership deliver over 280 new homes, it will also be a great place to live and raise a family with open green space and a community centre.” More

Liverpool Civic Place, a $600 million development that combines council chambers, community facilities, commercial offices and a hotel, is taking shape, with the first stage of the precinct topping out on 17 May.
Designed by FJC Studio (formerly FJMT Studio), Liverpool Civic Place will set two office towers, a public library and an art gallery around a new public square.
The most prominent building on the corner of Scott and Macquarie Streets will be the new library, distinctive for its circular plan and offset levels.

View gallery

Liverpool Civic Place by FJC Studio. Image:

FJC Studio

Liverpool mayor Ned Mannoun said the precinct, which is being developed in a public-private partnership between Liverpool City Council and developer Built, would be fitting for Sydney’s so-called “third CBD.”
“South West Sydney is one of Sydney’s fastest-growing districts, and the opening of the Western Sydney International Airport and Aerotropolis has catalysed investment in a wide range of knowledge-intensive industries that will also generate significant employment and economic opportunities for the south-west region,” he said.
“Liverpool will be at the centre of this growth and will strategically connect businesses from east to west. It will also be home to one of the city’s fastest-growing and most inclusive populations, which is expected to double to half a million people in the next 20 years. It represents the modern face of multicultural Australia, with more than 40 percent of our residents born overseas and half of our population speaking a language other than English.”

View gallery

Liverpool Civic Place by FJC Studio. Image:

FJC Studio

The first commercial office tower is expected to be completed later in 2023. Stage one will also include the opening of the new council chambers and offices, public library, art gallery and public square.
Stage two of the precinct will include a nine-storey hotel and the second commercial tower, with construction expected to begin shortly.
“Liverpool Civic Place will also be one of Greater Sydney’s most connected precincts, offering just a 30-minute connection to Sydney Airport and the new Western Sydney International Airport, less than four minutes’ walk to Liverpool train station and direct access to the M5, M7 and new M12 motorway connection to the new airport,” said Built development director Jono Cottee. More

The Western Australian Planning Commission has approved a proposal to build the state’s largest spa facility: the $25 million Tawarri Hot Springs, designed by Plus Architecture.
Looking out over the Derbarl Yerrigan/Swan River in the ritzy Perth suburb of Dalkeith, the facility will be built on the site of the run-down Tawarri Reception Centre – once home to the historic open-air Dalkeith Hot Pool, which was known for attracting skinny dippers.
The facility will feature pools, saunas and Turkish baths alongside a restaurant, rooftop bar, cafe and day spa. It will cater to up to 220 guests at a time.
The built form will comprise a series of orthogonal pavilions, which Aspect Studios carefully integrated with the landscape design. Plus Architecture Perth director and project lead Patric Przeradzki said the design aimed to emphasize the site’s natural beauty through an interplay of natural materials.
“We have focused on a series of design contrasts in this project, such as hot and cold, dark and light, indoor and outdoor,” he said. “These encourage a sense of curiosity as guests explore the different pavilions and routes they can take across the site.”
Plus Architecture looked to Europe for inspiration, incorporating features seen in spas in France and Italy.

View gallery

Tawarri Hot Springs by Plus Architecture. Image:

KiP Creating

“Our research enabled us to understand how these wellness destinations serve both the individual and the community,” said Przeradzki.
“People use these places to relax in the spa, but they also want to explore the space, take photos and socialize. It was therefore also important to give equal attention to the moments that exist between the ‘spa’ experiences, such as dining and leisure time.”
Spearheaded by property developers Barry Jones and Kathryn Gunn, the spa proposal has proved controversial. The City of Nedlands council opposed the project, fearing floods and loss of public access to the foreshore.
At a public meeting on Thursday 18 May, Nedlands mayor Fiona Argyle labelled the project a “monstrosity of concrete” and said its goal of 6 Green Stars amounted to “greenwashing,” WA Today reported.
The redevelopment of Tawarri Reception Centre was first proposed in 2016. The council refused to lease the land for the spa proposal in 2022 but was overruled by the state government, which deemed the project to be of state significance.
The State Development Assessment Unit unanimously approved the project on Thursday. Co-owner Kathryn Gunn said the Tawarri Hot Springs had already generated enthusiasm in Perth.
“While we expect to attract visitors from interstate and overseas, the Tawarri Hot Springs has been designed for and by the people of Western Australia and Dalkeith – using local materials and stories to deliver a peaceful and sustainable wellness destination for the suburb we’re proud to call home,” she said.
“There’s nothing like it in WA, which is why we are so excited to be working with our community to deliver the project.” More

The Australian exhibition has opened at the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale with an immersive installation that reconstructs the semi-fictional “Queenstown.” At the end of the second Elizabethan Age, when the voices of First Peoples call for truth-telling and self-determination and the climate crisis feels increasingly like an unwinnable race, Unsettling Queenstown explores colonialism and its […] More