Architecture

Bates Smart has been announced as the winner of the City of Sydney Council’s Design Excellence Competition for Buildings F and I of the Erskineville Village project.
Buildings F and I form part of a wider proposal for a mixed-use precinct at a former industrial site at 155 Mitchell Road, Erskineville. The overarching vision for the project is to supply 1,000 build-to-rent residences, retail and dining offerings, and a 7,500-square-metre park known as McPherson Park. A 20-metre-wide pedestrian trail called the Kooka Walk will weave throughout the precinct.
Buildings F and I will house 360 one-, two- and three-bedroom residences with balconies, an outdoor cinema and bar, a yoga studio, a swimming pool, a sauna, workspaces, and landscaped outdoor areas with barbeque and cooking amenities for communal use.
Bates Smart was announced the winner by the project developer, Coronation Property, following a design excellence panel and detailed evaluation process.
Bates Smart director Matthew Allen said that the practice approached the competition by creating contextually responsive buildings that reflect the local landscape and heritage.
“Our aim is to craft a contextually responsive collection of buildings that weave together interpretations of country, industrial heritage and established built character,” Allen said. “In this urban setting, we have embraced solidity, with embossed precast concrete panels used as a civic canvas to tell stories of Country. Colour has been used carefully, with masonry tones recalling colours of the Indigenous landscape. The angled geometry of the building forms is interpreted in finer-scale details such as balconies and sun shading.”
Joseph Nahas, Coronation Property’s managing director, said the development marks the company’s first collaboration with Bates Smart.
“We are thrilled to partner with Bates Smart on their winning design, which captures the essence of Erskineville, while transforming it into a contemporary, inviting space for living, shopping, working, socializing, or simply enjoying the surroundings,” Nahas said.
“It’s rare to find a development of this size that offers an opportunity to balance high-end, design-led BTR residences with retail, green space, and culture all in one location. We are particularly pleased that the appointed team, renowned and award-winning, comprises local Australian architects who bring a deep understanding and passion for our neighbourhoods.
“As we move forward with the Erskineville Village project, our goal is to rejuvenate this site into a dynamic destination that will not only enhance the lives of its residents and visitors but also contribute positively to the wider community. This comes at a critical time, as we strive to provide affordable rental solutions in the midst of Sydney’s intensifying housing crisis.”
In addition to Bates Smart’s appointment, Architecture And (formerly Andrew Burns Architecture) has been engaged for Building D and Silvester Fuller for Building E. There is also a design competition underway for Buildings G and H, with an announcement of the winning firm expected shortly.
The build-to-rent residences will be managed by Coronation’s new subsidiary, Nation.
The entire Erskineville precinct is slated for completion by 2026. More

The jury has been announced for the esteemed 2024 Australian Interior Design Awards, with the program set to honour the nation’s most exceptional and groundbreaking interiors.
Founded in 2004, the program is a partnership event of the Design Institute of Australia and Artichoke magazine. Awards categories include Retail Design, Hospitality Design, Workplace Design, Public Design, Installation Design, Residential Design, Residential Decoration, Emerging Interior Design Practice, Award for Sustainability Advancement, Best of State Awards for Commercial Design, Best of State Awards for Residential Design, Best International Design Award, and Premier Award for Australian Design.
This year’s jury comprises eight industry-leading interior designers and architects, whose collective experience runs the gamut of contemporary Australian interior design application. The judges include director of Vittino Ashe, Katherine Ashe; director of Cox Architecture, Richard Coulson, principal and head of interior design for APAC at Populous, Paul Foskett; principal of Beatrix Rowe Interior Design, Beatrix Rowe; principal of Flack Studio, David Flack; director of houses at Breathe Architecture, Madeline Sewall; co-director and co-founder of Aileen Sage Architects, Isabelle Toland; and founder and design director of Foolscap Studio, Adele Winteridge.
Entries to the 2024 Australian Interior Design Awards are now able to be submitted until 16 February 2024. To find out more, visit the awards website.
The Australian Interior Design Awards are organized by Architecture Media (publisher of ArchitectureAU). The Australian Interior Design Awards are presented by the Design Institute of Australia and Artichoke magazine, with corporate supporters Dulux, Space, Laminex, Elton Group, Roca, Lightco, and GH Commercial. More

More than a dozen architectural projects have been named finalists in the 2023 Victorian Premier’s Design Awards, which recognizes the state’s designers who are creating positive change for communities and businesses.
A record 118 projects have been selected across eight categories which also include product design, fashion design and service design.
Design industries contribute $6 billion to the Victorian economy, including $400 million worth of exports.
“Good design has the power to change our lives and these finalists showcase the diversity of Victoria’s design industry – from vital medical advancements to products and services that are more efficient, safe and sustainable,” said creative industries minister Colin Brooks
“The Victorian Premier’s Design Awards recognize the work and ingenuity of the designers, architects and design-led businesses that make our state a world-renowned leader in the field.”
The architectural finalists are:
Architectural Design
Aboriginal Housing Victoria – Breathe
Bendigo Law Courts – Wardle
Budj Bim Cultural Landscape – Cooper Scaife Architects, Look Ear with Mono
Darebin Intercultural Centre – Sibling Architecture
Delatite Cellar Door – Lucy Clemenger Architects
Dunlop Avenue, Ascot Vale – Big Housing Build – Hayball and Tract Consultants
Glenroy Station – Genton
James Makin Gallery – Tristan Wong
Lilydale and Mooroolbark Stations – BKK, Kyriacou Architects, Jacobs, and Aspect Studios
Melbourne Holocaust Museum – Kerstin Thompson Architects
Nightingale Village – Architecture Architecture, Austin Maynard Architects, Breathe, Clare Cousins Architects, Hayball, and Kennedy Nolan
Pitch Music and Arts Festival Main Stage – Ambrose Zacharakis, Henry Howson and Untitled Group
Queenscliff Terminal – F2 Architecture
Streat Pantry – KHID
The Roundtable – Common and Enlocus
Victorian Academy of Teaching and Leadership – Designinc Melbourne
Victorian Family Violence Memorial – Muir and Openwork
Victorian Heart Hospital – Conrad Gargett and Wardle
Warrnambool Library and Learning Centre – Kosloff Architecture
Wesley Place – Oculus, Cox Architecture and Lovell Chen
Wurun Senior Campus – GHD Design and Grimshaw
Yarra Ranges Council Civic Centre Redevelopment – H2O Architects
Student
Forces of Nature – He Huang and Zhengxi Xian, RMIT University
Ngulu Djeembana (The Gathering of Voices) – Shao Tian Teo, Taylor Ristevski, and Alexander Barr, RMIT University More

The National Trust of Australia’s Victorian branch has released a discussion paper denouncing facadism as an acceptable architectural practice for heritage redevelopments.
The National Trust of Australia (Victoria), an independent heritage advocacy organization, has recently published The Facadism Discussion Paper 2023 in response to what the organization describes as a growing trend, over the past 15 years, for heritage redevelopment projects to preserve only the external faces of a building and demolish the remainder.
The paper states that to demolish everything but the external face of a structure erases all evidence of how a building was previously arranged, used, and constructed deleting any record of the characteristics that once “made that building a lived place.” It urges architects, developers and planners to “retain as much significant heritage fabric as possible,” including internal features, room arrangements and construction materials to “provide evidence of how and when the structure was built,” as well as “indicate former use and history.”
The document also encourages those within the built environment profession to “substantially set back” any new additions to a heritage retained building so as to clearly define the new form as a separate entity, avoid visual domination of the historic form, and be respectful of the original building’s character and architectural expression.
“If everything but the facade of a building has been demolished, it is no longer a building, and most of its heritage significance has been lost. Facadism should therefore not be considered an acceptable heritage outcome in the redevelopment of a heritage place,” the paper reads.
“The National Trust strongly believes that the heritage significance of a place is associated with that place as a whole. It is evident in the bricks and mortar, but also in its internal spaces, which provide evidence of its former use and story. It does not rest only in the facade, even if this may appear to be a building’s most notable feature from the street level.
“Furthermore, this loss of significance cannot be mitigated through a token setback of a new development only a few metres from the facade. Enough original fabric must be retained to ensure that the heritage place can be appreciated and understood.”
In accordance with the Planning and Environment Act (1987), local councils in Victoria are responsible for safeguarding heritage sites in their municipality by including a Heritage Overlay in their Planning Scheme. In recent years, many councils have revised and amended their heritage policies to discourage facadism, the paper acknowledged.
Certain councils have updated their heritage policies to ensure that a minimim depth of at least two rooms is retained when redeveloping. The document states that this specific policy modification is “a practical guide for most Victorian or Edwardian homes,” however, is not as useful for other building typologies such as “pubs, hotels or former industrial and commercial buildings,” leading the National Trust of Australia (Victoria) to call for more explicit, site specific guidelines.
The paper commends several projects for their preservation of a historical building, including the Holdsworth Buildings in Carlton’s Lygon Street. The terrace-style buildings were designed by architect George Johnson, with construction completed in 1871. In 1986, a shopping centre was added to the rear, with ten metres of depth from the original building retained. The redevelopment has been highlighted as an exemplary model of preservation.
To view the list of commended projects or read the full discussion paper, visit the website. More

City of Melbourne councillors have unanimously endorsed a 24-year-old development application in Melbourne’s Docklands, following amendments to the original 1999 application.
The 1999 plan sought to establish a 50-metre commercial building on the site at 396-416 Docklands Drive. A revised application has proposed a mixed-use precinct with two triangular podiums – east and west – on the site. Across both podiums is a total of five towers.
Designed by ARM Architecture with Rush Wright Associates, the precinct features retail and dining options within each podium, office floor space, podium car parks, a 700-square-metre public park adjacent to Docklands Primary School [to be maintained by council], and a new laneway connecting the primary school to the tram depot and New Quay Central Park.
Plans state the development could result in the delivery of between 500 and 600 residential dwellings and 20,000-square-metres of commercial spaces. The site, at nearly one hectare, is the only remaining undeveloped piece of land south of Little Docklands Drive, and currently functions as a car park.
The west podium comprises three residential towers, while the east contains two. Planning documents propose podiums mirror the existing context and character of the streetscape, with each tower articulated in such a way that each frontage has a “varied architectural language and material language” yet still presents as a complementary collection of buildings. The concept plan additionally recommends the podium car parks be “sleeved, concealed or architecturally treated to achieve an active and attractive public realm.”
Each of the five proposed buildings has been depicted at varying heights – three at 70 metres, one at 50 and one at 75. The towers are all separated by a minimum of 10 metres and have been positioned at oblique angles to create clear sight lines between and beyond each form.

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Community park at the corner of Little Docklands Street and St Mangos Lane. Image:

ARM Architecture with Rush Wright Associates

The planned laneway is slated to have a minimum internal width of 11 metres, which will expand to 13 metres at the opening of Docklands Drive. The thoroughfare will be landscaped and “will have a fine-grain human scale with resident-oriented ground floor uses that are complementary to the other main street activities.” The proposed park, sited at the corner of Little Docklands Street and St Mangos Lane, features sandstone boulders, a children’s play area, a cafe terrace, and bike ramp access.
In endorsing the plan, Acting Lord Mayor Nicholas Reece expressed that he was extremely pleased with the proposal.
“This is a happy day for Melbourne, a happy day for Docklands and a happy day for the community at Docklands Primary School. This application is 24 years in the making, and I’m really pleased with what is before us,” he said.
“The most exciting aspect of this proposal is the 700-square-metres of new green space, which is directly opposite the Docklands Primary School. For those of us who know this area, we know that there’s a desperate need for green space around the Docklands Primary School.
“This proposal is going to deliver a new park right in the spot where it is most needed and that is fantastic.”
The project applicant and property developer, MAB Corporation, closely collaborated with the City of Melbourne throughout the application process. The development is expected to occur in four stages, with either the west or east podium being the first stage of development. The park will concurrently begin with whichever stage is the first to proceed. More

A development application for a high density urban village in downtown Belconnen, Australian Capital Territory, has been lodged.
Designed by Stewart Architecture, the application proposes the development of two buildings (stage 2A), to be integrated with two additional buildings of lower scale fronting Eastern Valley Way (stage 2B). Plans show staggered towers, rising progressively from the south to form part of a four building ensemble at the corner of Eastern Valley Way and Cameron Avenue.
The application has been submitted following the completion of stage one of the project, which saw the Linq Apartments being established on the corner of College Street and Eastern Valley Way.
The first two buildings, consisting of 277 dwellings, are positioned around a central landscape with native plants and a designated deep soil planting area. A substantial tree canopy extends from the central landscaped area to Cameron Avenue, providing more access to shade.

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Veryard Lane extension, facing south from Cameron Avenue connection. Image:

Stewart Architecture

Plans detail the extension of Veryard Lane, which would connect through to Cameron Avenue, allowing for a break down in scale of the oversized city block, as well as improved pedestrian and cycling flow. Additionally, it has been proposed that the laneway be activated with retail tenancies, building entrances, and a resident bicycle hub.
The buildings feature a complementary warm and textured facade that is sympathetic to the surrounding context and creates visual consistency between each form within the “urban village.”
“These are quality buildings with a sense of solidity and privacy. By limiting the extent of glazing, we are not only creating comfortable, private dwellings that feel good from the inside, but we are reducing energy bills by reducing reliance on mechanical heating and cooling,” said Stewart Architecture practice principal, Marcus Graham.
“The density of development in Belconnen’s town centre must be coupled with exceptional pedestrian experiences and streetscapes which connect people together and encourage walking where ever possible. The architecture responds to place, echoing the Lake Ginninderra landscape with textures and tones that bring warmth to the town centre. The buildings twist to limit overshadwing of adjacent sites whilst creating opportunities for terraced landscapes above ground,” said Stewart Architecture’s Sydney director, Felicity Stewart.
The proposal scheme was selected from a design competition, aimed at setting a new benchmark for residential development in the Belconnen CBD.
The application was lodged by NDH Development. More

The NSW Department of Planning and Environment and the University of New South Wales’s High Performance Architecture team have partnered together to create a new national body to monitor urban heat in Australia’s towns and cities. The National Heat Vulnerability Observatory will measure and report on heat vulnerability and cooling potential of Australian’s urban centres. […] More

The $44 million revitalization of Sydney’s Haymarket precinct, including Chinatown on Dixon Street, has been given the green light, following a unanimous decision by City of Sydney council members.
Concept plans designed by Aspect Studios, with Sibling Architecture, Electrolight, and Studio Yu and Mei, were released in October 2023.
The enlivened Chinatown will feature an ever-changing light canopy, new public seating, paving inserts with inlaid traditional Chinese symbols, and the planting of additional trees to increase access to shade.
The design team has made a conscious effort to be sympathetic to the already existing heritage and character of Chinatown through the preservation of the cherished Chinatown Ceremonial Gates, as well as several mature fig trees.
The project involved one of the largest multilingual consultations in the history of the City of Sydney, with more than 1,150 residents, businesses and community members taking part in discussion over the early plans and 350 responses to the public exhibition. Consultations revealed a desire for a hub that is diverse, friendly, safe, easily navigable, has a wider variety of dining experiences, and is respectful of culture.
Lord Mayor Clover Moore said the community warmly welcomed the plan’s expanded space for pedestrians and sitting and dining outdoors, as well as the creative lighting, support for business and celebration of culture.
“Haymarket is one of Sydney’s most iconic urban villages and has long been recognized as a focal point for Asian food, cultures, and communities both locally and internationally. But the last few years have been incredibly challenging for the area,” Moore said.
“This is a perfect time for a new overarching plan for the area, and our communities have enthusiastically embraced the opportunity to work with us to celebrate the important precinct’s past and help safeguard its future.”
As part of the project, a series of works have been proposed to enhance the surrounding areas, including a reconfiguration of Sussex Street to encourage walking and cycling, streetscape improvements to Thai Town, revamp of Belmore Park, as well as public domain upgrades at Harbour, Goulburn, Ultimo, Quay and Hay Streets.
“Our plans include a long-term upgrade of public space, with more trees, seats, lighting and integrated public art, as well as a proposed review of planning controls to support vibrant building signage and renewal of smaller buildings as a point of difference from the city centre,” Moore said.
“The community told us clearly that our first priority should be the heart of Chinatown, Dixon Street, so that work is already underway, and we will be restoring the iconic Ceremonial Gates next year.”
Since 2010, the Haymarket area has undergone a significant transformation through projects such as the $43.5 million pedestrianization of George Street south, new public space at Thomas Street, as well as upgrades to local streets such as Kimber Lane.
“The new plans take this work to another level while continuing our focus on bringing together different cultural groups to celebrate the area’s heritage, history and features,” Moore said. “The City of Sydney will invest millions of dollars over the next ten years to upgrade Goulburn, Sussex, Harbour, Quay and Thomas streets, to complete public domain improvements and reinstate light catenaries on Dixon Street, and upgrade Belmore Park.” More