Archinect - News

Zaha Hadid Architects and Cox Architecture's new Western Sydney International Airport reaches 75% completion

2024-04-23T19:00:00-04:00

Zaha Hadid Architects has updated its progress on the Western Sydney International Airport project with Cox Architecture. Construction is now 75% complete on the approximately 4,200-acre design, which is located in the expanding Parkland City region. The project cost is equal to $4 billion USD, resulting in ZHA's third major airport design after the Beijing Daxing International Airport and Navi Mumbai International Airport in India.

Previously on Archinect: Halfway through for ZHA & Cox Architecture's Western Sydney International Airport project

In the drone video below, the design's terminal structures appear in the first-phase terminal precinct. The project is expected to open in 2026 and serve 10 million travelers per year.

The firm says: "The design incorporates sustainable principles across its architecture & construction, integrating extensive use of daylight, natural ventilation and water recycling in a modular, energy-efficient design."

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Tadao Ando's MPavilion extended for another year in Melbourne

2024-04-10T13:26:00-04:00

The Naomi Milgrom Foundation and City of Melbourne have jointly announced they will be extending the run of Tadao Ando’s new MPavilion commission at Queen Victoria Gardens for another full year until March of 2025.

"We’ve been thrilled to see visitors of all ages and from far and wide flock to MPavilion, curious to experience what Tadao Ando, an extraordinary master of design, has created for Melbourne. Being in the pavilion, looking across water and out to the green of the surrounding parklands has an immediate and unique calming effect, a slowing down amidst the fast pace of contemporary life," the foundation’s founder Naomi Milgrom said.

Photo: John Gollings, courtesy of MPavilion.

"The pavilion has seen myriad curated and informal activities this last summer, from pilates and picnics to drawing, photography and more. Engaging in great architecture and design enriches our city and our lives, and this extended partnership with the City of Melbourne means even more of the community...

OMA debuts PRINCIPLES Square collection for Perth Design Week

2024-03-14T19:28:00-04:00

Photos of the central hub for Perth Design Week, the eight-day event taking place now in the Western Australia capital, have been revealed by OMA to go along with the start of festivities.

Their colorful design for PRINCIPLES Square is located inside Cathedral Square in Perth's city center and features the Australian debut of the firm's office furniture collaboration with UniFor, which first premiered at Milan Design Week in 2022.

Intended as the main gathering space for Design Week, the concept creates a variety of socializing and spatial scenarios. For the event's second edition, no less than 20 events will be hosted there. Philippe Braun, the project's associate-in-charge, told the press that its realization "stimulated us to further explore how the collection can be applied beyond the typical."

Photography by Frans Parthesius, courtesy OMA

OMA says of the arrangement: "PRINCIPLES Square is the manifestation of the potential of the collection. The installation takes advantage of ...

Art performance at Tadao Ando's concrete MPavilion features grayscale gelato

2024-01-26T17:26:00-05:00

An exciting and tasty art performance has taken shape at the Tadao Ando-designed MPavilion in Melbourne, Australia.

It comes in the form of grayscale gelato, created by Brazilian artist João Loureiro in collaboration with local creamery Piccolina Gelateria. The treat is available in six different flavors, each a different shade of gray ranging from light gray to nearly black. No flavors are labeled, stimulating a unique and surprising sensory experience with pavilion visitors during the Australian summer months.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Piccolina Gelateria (@piccolinagelateria)

The gelato colors mirror the pavilion’s aesthetic, which comprises enclosed concrete perimeter walls and an aluminum-clad, single-column main structure and roof.

Related: Tadao Ando's MPavilion opens in Melbourne. Image: Beatrice Eckermann

As stated by MPavilion, "...this work questions our sense of comfort and forces us to rethink associations that have been rooted in u...

Tadao Ando's MPavilion opens in Melbourne

2023-11-14T20:00:00-05:00

Tadao Ando’s oasis-like design for the MPavilion 10 has been revealed in Melbourne to coincide with the five-month commission’s grand opening this Thursday.

Photos taken ahead of the opening ceremonies reveal the intimacy of the low-profile structure in the city’s Queen Victoria Gardens, which includes a reflecting pool in homage to traditional Japanese gardens. Enclosed concrete perimeter walls frame an aluminum-clad single-column main structure covered by a 47-foot-wide roof.

Its production creates a sequence that plays on the architect’s career-long fascination with light and darkness. Ando said previously that he considers the design "eternal, not in material or structure but in the memory of a landscape that will continue to live in people’s hearts."

Photo: John Gollings, courtesy of MPavilion.

"It is the expression of human reason and the pursuit of ethereal space. With the circle and square, emptiness is given form. The emptiness, in its silence, lets the light and wind ente...

Sydney Opera House builders reflect on historic job as the icon turns 50

2023-10-20T16:55:00-04:00

The construction of the Sydney Opera House was a famously fraught saga, but as the city’s landmark turns 50, former workers remember a quite different atmosphere on the site itself.

Trade unionists and other workers were not the only sources of labor disputes on the site, as Jørn Utzon memorably quit midway over a payment dispute on the 14-year construction project that became essentially the Brooklyn Bridge of the Southern Hemisphere when it finally opened on October 20, 1973.

A design known for its engineering breakthroughs, it also was historic in terms of the concessions made to workers, says Solidarity Online. Their execution of Utzon’s complex vision went over schedule and budget by ten years and $95 million dollars. The result, as Frank Gehry said, was “a building that changed the image of an entire country.”

“The work was precise. You can see it in the building today. Everything is perfect,” one worker told The Guardian. The BBC also has a retrospective look back in pictures here.

Construction update: Halfway through for ZHA & Cox Architecture's Western Sydney International Airport project

2023-09-06T18:58:00-04:00

Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) has announced their team’s reaching the midway point for their ongoing Western Sydney International Airport in the Australian metro’s new Parkland City region.

The project will serve as a catalyst for economic development in Parkland City while supplementing Sydney’s existing Kingsford Smith Airport, which is considered one of the world’s oldest. ZHA is working with Australian firm Cox Architecture to deliver the approximately 4,200-acre design.

Image courtesy Zaha Hadid Architects + Cox Architecture.

The new airport will have a total capacity for 10 million annual travelers by the time of its initial opening. Plans are for the operation to ramp up progressively to a capacity of 82 million annually by the time the project is fully completed in the year 2060.

Image courtesy Zaha Hadid Architects + Cox Architecture.

Hopes are for construction to wrap up by 2026. The region’s Aboriginal heritage is said to be a focal point of the design, along with a slate o...

Melbourne considers the future potential of high-rise parking areas as urban farms

2023-08-17T12:17:00-04:00

Urban farms and communal spaces are among the ideas for repurposing car park floors in Melbourne’s skyscrapers in the future, when it is predicted that residents will rely more on driverless and shared electric cars. The architects of Melbourne’s tallest building, Australia 108, have created designs envisioning the transformation of the building’s 10 levels of car parking into space for a vertical farm, beehives, water collection and storage, pet care, podcast studios, co-working and education.

Downtown Melbourne's potential future scenario of widely-available self-driving cars has developers rethinking millions of square feet worth of parking garages, and vertical farms are seen as a solution (along with housing, retail, and dining options). An amendment to its planning rules that would require new parking structure designs to include their retrofitting consideration has been proposed that would add an extra layer to the pedestrian-friendly ambit that mirrors policies in Oslo, Barcelona, and other global cities.

According to The Age, a 2019 City Council survey suggests an overwhelming majority (95%) of Melbourne residents support the idea of reducing vehicle traffic in Southbank by 2030.

Tadao Ando reveals oasis-like MPavilion design

2023-05-11T16:18:00-04:00

Tadao Ando’s design for the 10th MPavilion in Melbourne has been revealed, showcasing the architect’s ambition towards placemaking and the social cohesion of memory and his related desire to "find a scene of eternity within the oasis" that is the city’s 12-acre Queen Victoria Gardens.

Ando says the pavilion will be "eternal, not in material or structure, but in the memory of a landscape that will continue to live in people’s hearts."

"To reflect the lively nature of the site, like a blank canvas, I imagined an architecture of emptiness," his statement to the press continues. "Pure geometry outlines the composition of this design. Ancient Egyptians used fundamental geometry to create ordered spaces and structures in the natural world. Geometry formed the foundation of philosophical study in ancient Greece."

Image courtesy of Tadao Ando Architects & Associates

"It is the expression of human reason and the pursuit of ethereal space. With the circle and square, emptiness is given form. T...

Work and study agreement signed between architectural registration bodies of the UK, Australia, and New Zealand

2023-03-31T13:19:00-04:00

A new Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) has recently been signed between the UK’s Architects Registration Board (ARB), the Architects Accreditation Council of Australia (AACA), and the New Zealand Registered Architects Board (NZRAB).

This follows the MRA reached between the ARB and the United States’ National Council of Architectural Registration Board (NCARB) in February.

Starting May 25th, a streamlined registration process, resulting in reduced costs and examinations, will make it easier for architects to register to work in the UK, Australia, and New Zealand. Additionally, architects educated up to and including a master’s degree will be able to complete their training in another partner country.

Previously on Archinect: NCARB and ARB sign Mutual Recognition Agreement affecting architects in the US and UK

“This is another welcome step that opens up the world for architects and architecture,” RIBA President Simon Allford said in response to the agreement. “Through these agreemen...

Tadao Ando is selected as the designer of the 10th MPavilion in Australia

2023-03-15T12:35:00-04:00

The Australian Naomi Milgrom Foundation has announced former Pritzker winner Tadao Ando will design the 10th MPavilion commission in Melbourne’s Queen Victoria Gardens.

Ando is now the seventh architect selected for the prestigious five-month-long commission, which began in 2014 and has since hosted over 3,500 free events for more than 900,000 guests since its inception.

The Chichu Art Museum / Naoshima by Tadao Ando Architects &Associates. Photo by Mitsuo Matsuoka. Courtesy Tadao Ando Architect & Associates

21_21 DESIGN SIGHT. Photo by Mitsuo Matsuoka, courtesy Tadao Ando Architect & Associates

The Pavilion will become his first-ever realized design within Australia and follows last year’s installation by the Thai studio all(zone), which will be on view until April 6th before being reinstalled elsewhere in the city.

Milgrom added that she has long admired how the architect’s work “responds to and incorporates the particularity of a place into his design, and his belief that archite...

Upcycled skyscraper earns 3XN a spot on Fast Company's 'world’s most innovative companies' list

2023-03-03T10:55:00-05:00

Copenhagen-based 3XN has been included in Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies 2023 list. The 50-company-strong list is described by Fast Company as the “definitive chronicle of the novel ideas transforming business and society,” ranging from ChatGPT creator OpenAI to the art collective Mschf.

Sitting at number 32 on the list, 3XN was included “for upcycling an aging skyscraper into a modern office building,” referencing their recently completed Quay Quarter Tower in Sydney, Australia. The 46-story tower has set a high-profile precedent for adaptive reuse and upcycling in tall buildings, with 65% of the original 1976 structure retained including 95% of its core.

Image credit: Phil Noller

“[Quay Quarter Tower] proves that even something as massive as an outdated office tower can be upcycled into something beautiful and relevant,” Fast Company said. “As a growing number of towers age in cities around the world 3XN’s innovative design presents a vision for how to implement a replica...

3XN and GXN offer insights into unique roof design behind Sydney Fish Market

2023-02-09T08:00:00-05:00

With construction underway on the 3XN-designed Sydney Fish Market in Australia, the firm has offered an insight into the design of the scheme’s defining roofscape. When completed, the 700,000-square-foot building will be the largest fish market in the southern hemisphere.

Image credit: 3XN

The building’s undulating roof is described by 3XN as “an integral aspect of the fish market’s iconic design” as well as being key to its overall sustainability strategy. Shaped to respond to the spatial demands of the market below, the roof is designed to harvest rainwater for reuse, protect retail spaces from the sun, and filter daylight through openings on the rooftop.

Image credit: 3XN

The shape of the roof was informed by the site’s prevailing winds, allowing the extraction of hot air while protecting users from southerly winds. Made from timber and aluminum, the roof is also designed to be as permeable as possible, minimizing the need for air conditioning while also deflecting direct sunlight....

On the cultural implications of SANAA's latest Art Gallery of New South Wales expansion

2023-01-11T15:09:00-05:00

The Art Gallery of New South Wales, one of Australia’s most important art institutions, faces an especially acute cultural challenge. Museum building in a real-estate obsessed city that Mark Twain called “superbly beautiful” — in the sunny heart of a proud “sporting nation” — often requires overcoming a barrage of negativity. The Sydney Opera House was loathed before it was loved, and the Modern has traveled a rough road already.

The debate around SANAA’s newly-opened $344 million expansion in some ways mirrors the one leading up to the (then $102 million AUS) Sydney Opera House in the late-1960s, which, at the time. centered on a discussion over the value of cultural investments that culminated in philosopher Peter Singer’s groundbreaking text Famine, Affluence, and Morality.

“Most of the rulers and commentators really do believe that ‘culture’ is a nonessential or luxury additive rather than part of the educational, civic, ethical and moral systems whereby a society might govern its core values and activities,” University of Canberra professor Ross Gibson told the Times in summary of that history.

The gallery has reported a total of 120,000 visitors in the first ten days of opening.

all(zone)'s 2022 MPavilion opens to the public featuring an 'ingenious canopy'

2022-12-09T10:52:00-05:00

The 2022 MPavilion has officially opened in Melbourne, Australia. Designed by Thailand-based practice all(zone), the scheme is defined by an “ingenious canopy” comprising three fabric, tensile layers.

The outermost layer of the pavilion’s canopy is built from fishing nets, creating what the team calls a “stunning tactile texture.” The middle layer is formed of an STFE membrane; a weatherproof, anti-glare, transparent material ten times lighter than glass. Finally, the bottom layer is composed of a “waffle” of colored fabric made of 49 individual sections, designed to “move with the breeze and filter light, evoking the feeling of gently resting under trees.”

Photo credit: John Gollings

“Working on the MPavilion project with so many talented individuals has been an incredible journey,” said all(zone) design director Rachaporn Choochuey. “MPavilion is special because even though it’s called a temporary pavilion, it’s actually even more complex than a building. The engineering and manuf...

Explore SANAA's Art Gallery of New South Wales expansion ahead of its grand opening

2022-11-30T15:35:00-05:00

Sydney's highly anticipated Art Gallery of New South Wales expansion will open its doors on Saturday, December 3, expecting the arrival of 15,000 people who have already registered to visit.

Designed by the Pritzker Prize-winning duo Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa of SANAA, the new project is set to be the city's largest "cultural development since the dramatic opening of its Opera House nearly 50 years ago," as reported on Archinect back in May 2022 when updated project renderings were released.

Image © Iwan Baan/Courtesy of SANAA | The Art Gallery NSW.

Sejima and Nishizawa expressed their gratitude for the opportunity to work on the project. They shared with the press, "It has been a wonderful honor to design such an important public building in Sydney. Working closely with the Art Gallery of New South Wales team, we aimed to design an art museum building that is harmonious with its surroundings, one that breathes with the city, the park, and the harbor. We hope it will be a sp...

‘Temple of Boom’ adorns Parthenon replica with optical illusions and floral motifs

2022-11-25T14:14:00-05:00

The National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) in Melbourne, Australia has unveiled a new installation that celebrates and explores the role of The Parthenon in global cultures. Titled Temple of Boom, and designed by Melbourne-based architects Adam Newman and Kelvin Tsang, the installation sees a one-third scale replica of the famous Greek site adorned with floral motifs, optical illusions, and other designs.

Photo credit: Sean Fennessy

Situated in the NGV Garden, the scheme will host a gradually-changing set of large-scale artworks and murals painted by local artists in three phases between November 2022 and August 2023. The ever-changing artwork within the installation is intended to invite audiences to “consider the effect of time on all architecture.”

Photo credit: Sean Fennessy

The artwork series will begin with floral motifs and optical illusions by artists Drez, Manda Lane, and David Lee Pereira. Themes within the artwork range from bold murals sitting at the intersection of abstract ...

3XN completes 'world’s largest upcycled tower' in Sydney

2022-11-18T11:07:00-05:00

Copenhagen-based studio 3XN has completed Quay Quarter Tower in Sydney, Australia, described by the firm as the “world’s most comprehensive upcycling of an existing tower.” The scheme, which sees the retention and transformation of an existing 1970s tower near the city’s waterfront, was recently awarded the 2022 International High Rise Award for what the jury determined to be an “extraordinary combination of upcycling and densification.”

Situated on 50 Bridge Street, the project centers on the former AMP Centre, which, when constructed in 1976, was the tallest building in Sydney at 617 feet in height. The building’s transformation into the Quay Quarter Tower saw 3XN retain 65% of the original building’s structure, including beams, columns, and slabs, and 95% of its original core. In addition, new floorplates were added to the existing plates in order to double the usable area and increase the building’s capacity from 4,500 daily occupants to more than 10,000.

Image credit: Adam Mo...

Portland State University enlists Australian architect to develop Indigenous Center and surrounding oak savanna

2022-10-13T10:02:00-04:00

Kevin O’Brien, an acclaimed Indigenous architect from Australia, has embarked on a year-long collaboration with Portland State University. His involvement centers on the restoration of a campus oak savanna and the design-build of a facility at the site that will host the school’s Indigenous Traditional Ecological and Cultural Knowledge (ITECK) program.

O’Brien joins the University’s School of Architecture as its 2022 Distinguished Visiting Professor. He will lead a one-week Indigenous design methods workshop for undergraduate and graduate students. He will also meet with students in PSU’s Indigenous Nations Studies program, engage with architects from local firms, and host a public lecture. As stated on PSU’s website, “O'Brien will challenge students to rethink their assumptions about architecture's relationship to the land, how they imagine the city, and how we learn through doing.”

The Queensland-based architect works as a Principal at Australian practice BVN Architecture. He als...

Company that projects life-size plans for client walkthroughs is coming to the U.S.

2022-10-06T11:20:00-04:00

A company that projects architectural plans at a 1:1 scale is planning to expand its operations to the United States. Lifesize Plans, headquartered in Australia, describes itself as "the world’s first patented projection system allowing clients to walkthrough their building project in life-size before construction begins."

The company was founded in 2017 by Chris Ghaleb, whose early days included an appearance on the television show Shark Tank. In their large showrooms across Australia, Lifesize allows any project to be projected at a 1:1 scale, while also providing real furniture, household items, partition walls, and decorations to offer clients a deeper understanding of their proposed scheme’s spatial qualities.

Image: Lifesize Plans / Instagram

"With the use of state of the art technology and tailored programs we are able to show your complete dwelling – including upper and lower floors, backyards, swimming pools and entertaining areas, along with driveways and parking spaces to...

Don't expect much from King Charles' reign architecturally, these two of his constituent critics say

2022-09-26T12:25:00-04:00

Poundbury, Paisley and Perspectives all ultimately failed to conquer the complex commercial and political challenges they faced. Their royal patron’s attempts to create human-centred townscapes have led to car-dominated suburbs. His efforts to uplift grand historic buildings have carved them into dreary flats. Our King is someone who sees the right problems but, ensconced in the very establishment that prevents meaningful solutions, he can only meddle around the edges of effecting real change.

The new British King is memorably the originator of the panned Poundbury estate that has failed to fall in line with its stated goals towards sustainability and car-free pedestrian orientation, according to Phineas Harper. He thinks the scion is hemmed in by a stolid commercial banking system and arcane land ownership laws and that class differences have otherwise made Charles' ability to gain perspective on the needs of his constituents otherwise impossible. As the Open City director sees it: “His view of society, as of architecture, is restricted to what can be seen from the tinted window of a chauffeured car.”

Previously on Archinect: Richard Rogers challenges Prince Charles to public debate over built environment

Meanwhile, in a different corner of the empire, new ArchitectureAU monthly critic Elizabeth Farrelly says she felt he “proved himself thoroughly unrepentant” during his time as Prince, citing his statements in support of traditionalism, and asking, “is he, as a constitut...

Construction begins on SHoP's record-setting Atlassian HQ hybrid timber tower

2022-09-21T17:42:00-04:00

SHoP has begun work on the 39-story Australian Atlassian HQ project it says will eventually hold the title of the world’s tallest hybrid timber tower upon its completion in 2026.

The project for local Sydney developers Dexus combines mass timber elements with a diagrid steel tube exoskeleton and staggered glass envelope to achieve a 50% reduction in carbon emissions throughout the total 112,000-square-meter (1.2 million-square-foot) structure. It is envisioned as the anchor of Sydney’s new Tech Central district and will run completely on renewable energy sources according to Built, the Australian company serving as one of two main contractors for the $1.4 billion construction.

Image courtesy of Dexus

SHoP explains: “The tower is organized as six discrete but interconnected ‘habitats.’ Each four-level habitat is a freestanding mass-timber construction supported within the efficient steel exoskeleton. A naturally-ventilated zone, akin to an outdoor garden, is located at each level.”

I...

WilkinsonEyre's next office project promises a range of amenities in downtown Melbourne

2022-08-22T13:20:00-04:00

WilkinsonEyre has released updated renderings of their winning conceptual design for an office project in Melbourne’s central business district called 600 Collins.

Commissioned by Hines, the 180-meter-tall (590-foot) development will comprise a total of 60,000 square feet of “state-of-the-art collaborative office spaces” developed with the help of Architectus to “transform Melbourne into a dynamic and stimulating place to work and meet, and from where you can enjoy the best of the city.”

Image courtesy WilkinsonEyre

According to WilkinsonEyre's project announcement: “The building will deliver amenity provisions on levels not yet seen in Melbourne, including premium F&B offerings, rooftop terraces, conference and collaboration zones, wellness center, and open green spaces.” The building will be situated on a 70-meter-wide (229-foot) plot along Collins Street and be connected to nearby transit nodes Spencer Street and Southern Cross Station to offer itself to workers as one of Melbourn...

Researchers from Flinders University have developed bricks made from waste materials that don't require mortar to bond

2022-08-15T19:00:00-04:00

Researchers from Flinders University’s Chalker Research Lab have developed a more sustainable alternative to making bricks by using waste products.

The team used low-cost feedstocks to make lightweight but durable polymer building blocks, which can be bonded together with an adhesive-free chemical reaction. Their study tested the strength of these materials and explored ways they can be reinforced in construction.

Cover image of international chemistry and physics journal, "Macromolecular Chemistry and Physics" Sustainability Edition. Graphics by Animate Your Science. Image cover courtesy of Flinders University.

"In this study, we tested a new type of brick we can make from waste cooking oil, mixed with sulfur and dicyclopentadiene (DCPD)," says Justin Chalker, Professor of Chemistry at Flinders and the project leader. "Both sulfur and DCPD are byproducts of petroleum refining. These bricks bond together without mortar upon application of a trace amount of amine catalyst. All the s...

Bond University's Abedian School of Architecture announces LLDS co-founder Paul Loh as next dean

2022-08-01T15:40:00-04:00

One of Australia’s leading architecture faculties is getting a new department head after the Abedian School of Architecture at Bond University announced the selection of architect and University of Melbourne professor Paul Loh as its next dean.

A co-founder (along with David Leggett) of the Melbourne-based studio Power to Make/LLDS, Loh has practiced in Australia, the United Kingdom, and Malaysia. His past academic experience includes stints at Lund University, Tsinghua University, the University of East London, and the ETH Zurich. At the University of Melbourne, he is the Senior Lecturer in Digital Architecture Design and co-director of the Advanced Digital Design and Fabrication research hub. Loh has been affiliated with that school since early 2012.

Professor Derek Carson, Bond's current Executive Dean of the Faculty of Society & Design, referred to him as “leading name in robotics, digital fabrication, and patented technology,” adding that his reputation for research and innovat...

all(zone) will push new material boundaries in the ninth MPavilion

2022-07-12T12:51:00-04:00

Two months after being named the designer of the prestigious annual MPavilion commission in Melbourne, Australia, Thailand-based practice all(zone) has revealed an experimental concept featuring a mixture of materials and forms they claim are previously unseen in the country's architectural history.

The ninth edition of the pavilion will be displayed prominently in Melbourne's historic Queen Victoria Gardens and query audiences to “think more deeply about different ways of using materials in a sustainable future,” according to a new project announcement.

Image courtesy Naomi Milgrom Foundation.

By incorporating layers of colorful netting and a waterproof mesh membrane produced by the French manufacturer Serge Ferrari, the pavilion’s presence expands on the commission’s legacy of producing cultural incubators that form the basis for critical exchange in the marketplace of ideas. AECOM and the specialist engineering consultancy TENSYS are now working with all(zone) on a construction pr...

Sydney Opera House completes extensive concert hall renovation

2022-07-05T12:47:00-04:00

After two years of renovations, a room once blighted by poor acoustics and outdated machinery can now accommodate musicians previously turned away, with a push of a button

Ahead of its 50th birthday next year, the famed Jørn Utzon-designed Sydney Opera House is set to present the newly renovated concert hall which sought to remedy significant acoustics and accessibility issues.

Andrew Haveron, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra's concertmaster, seemed more than pleased with the improved sound performance of the upgraded concert hall, telling The Guardian: "You can hear every minute detail now, every nuance — right up to the back row, everything pings through. It’s a miracle."

The project, led by ARM Architecture, commenced in early 2020 and will officially open to the public on July 20th.

Previously on Archinect: Sydney Opera House closes for its first major renovation

New first-of-its-kind office tower in Melbourne sports an integrated solar façade

2022-06-07T17:55:00-04:00

Australia’s first office tower with a “solar skin” is expected to be built next year in a landmark moment for the construction industry and decarbonisation efforts. The eight-storey building at 550-558 Spencer Street in West Melbourne will cost $40m and has been designed by the architecture firm Kennon on behalf of Dr Bella Freeman.

The first-of-its-kind structure for Australia will be covered by 1,182 solar panels with the equivalent thickness of a conventional glass façade. The cladding is called Skala, developed by German solar energy technology company Avancis. The system utilizes a thin-film PV module that sits atop a network that channels the generated electricity into the building’s power supply. As reported by The Guardian, it has the ability to produce 50 times the energy of an average rooftop photovoltaic array used in residential housing.

When the building is completed, the solar skin will reportedly provide nearly all its energy needs. The addition of extra roof panels will cut almost all ongoing power costs, and after a few years, the site is expected to be carbon-neutral. While involved in projects in Europe, the technology is a first for Australia, given its strict building codes. It is currently undergoing a final round of testing before it can be approved, which would make Skala available to u...

Thailand's all(zone) will create the 2022 MPavilion

2022-05-20T13:56:00-04:00

Innovative Thai practice all(zone) has been named the winner of Australia’s coveted annual MPavilion commission, now in its ninth iteration coming out of a two-year pandemic hiatus. The Bangkok-based studio will reveal its design for Melbourne's Queen Victoria Gardens site in July in advance of a public opening slated for November 17th.

The Naomi Milgrom Foundation, which manages the commission, commended the “playful” firm for having a “commitment to designing built environments where people can feel at home in the world,” adding that co-founder Rachaporn Choochuey’s direction “hold[s] people at the heart of their designs, viewing the spaces they are creating not just as physical architecture but as platforms for people to cheerfully convene, converse, and celebrate.”

all(zone)'s MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Image courtesy The Naomi Milgrom Foundation.

The Aussie answer to the UK’s yearly Serpentine Pavillion commission has seen past contributions from Gle...

SANAA's Art Gallery of New South Wales expansion will deliver the city's largest cultural commission in 50 years

2022-05-05T12:59:00-04:00

SANAA has released renderings and added a new opening date for their expansion of Sydney’s Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW).

Touted as the city’s largest cultural development since the dramatic opening of its Opera House nearly 50 years ago, the Sydney Modern Project entails the creation of two new buildings connected by a public garden and will make its public debut on December 3rd.

The expansion will increase the institution’s gallery spaces by almost double from 96,875 to 172,222 square feet, including a new 23,680-square-foot underground gallery which was repurposed from a decommissioned World War II-era oil tank. Overall, 70% of the new gallery is being constructed above existing structures.

Per SANAA, sustainable design initiatives include over 16,000 square feet of photovoltaic cells covering the Entranc...