RELATED 2015
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Project publicity is an integral part of the architecture and building design profession but too often those outside of the major awards programs receive little media attention. At Architecture & Design we pride ourselves on providing a platform for anyone in the profession to showcase their work.
Those wishing to submit a project for consideration please fill out the project submission form and forward it to [email protected].
Below is a list of our most popular projects for 2015 and it includes buildings from the much-publicised architecture and building design awards programs held throughout the year, as well as our own 2015 Sustainability Awards. It also includes projects from random submissions, so be sure to get your projects in during 2016.
While Australian perceptions of prefabrication in housing remain somewhat handcuffed to memories of traditional prefab design—think demountable school classrooms and craned-in toilet facilities—they are changing, and one Melbourne modular building design and construction outfit are enjoying this evolution. Modscape’s Brunswick West House in Melbourne, Victoria was 2015’s most viewed project on Architecture & Design.
It isn’t a flawless solution, nor is it meant to be, but Sawmill House by Archier architects demonstrates how Australia’s growing hoard of latent building materials can be used in new and innovative ways. Located on the site of an old sawmill which fell into remission in the late 90s, the house uses 270 recycled blocks made of waste-concrete from other projects in the region to form the perimeter walls.
In 2003 Rob Colquhoun established ‘Prebuilt’, a design-led prefabricated building outfit that endeavoured to distinguish itself from traditional kit / transportable building companies by offering custom prefab homes. Colquhoun and his team took just 12 weeks to construct Inverloch House, it helped that 95 per cent of it is prefabricated.
Box House by Rob Henry Architects (RHA) is a two storey rectangular box form designed on a single longitudinal axis and situated in a natural clearing within a Canberra forest. It has also been designed on a series of stepping floor plates that move down, and with, the topography. It goes against the Canberra trend to clear and flatten land to make way for build big houses.
Retiring to a quiet beachside location is a dream for many Australians, but for those already embedded within the surfing fraternity, location isn’t enough and a true “surfer’s shack” needs to be tailored accordingly.
The ocean, healthy living and “entertaining with gusto” were therefore the prevalent themes informing the plan of this North Queensland beachside residence, ‘Ridgeway at Sunrise’, recently renovated by Push Architects for their retiring surfing-obsessed clients.
On paper, the brief for 700haus seems pretty straight forward. But as it turned out for the designer, delivering a home that optimised site conditions while meeting client’s desires made the task of building this Trentham, Victoria residence a little more difficult. The project was a finalist in the 2015 Sustainability Awards and also won a host of building designer association awards throughout the year.
As the South Sydney Corridor readies itself for the massive expansion of apartment offerings at Green Square, a recently completed project in Alexandria demonstrates an alternative to building brand new, glamorous buildings—even for those targeting the high-end property market.
Cargo Lane Terraces by Turner + Associates and PBD Architects at 8 Brennan Street Alexandria saw the injection of six, three-storey terrace houses and 34 apartments into the existing brick veneer façade of an old industrial warehouse.
Sitting quietly above the luxurious new Audi and Maserati showroom at the junction of Melbourne’s Swanston and Victoria Streets is the new Victorian base and offices of Brookfield Muliplex. The fully-open 2,400sqm office space reflects Brookfield’s adoption of the new typology of workplace design, one that Woods Bagot says encourages greater interaction and efficiency of work flow.
Simple design done well isn’t necessarily as simple as it appears to be, and the backstory to Wonga Street House in Canberra by the architects at Jigsaw Housing is testament to that. The deception and detail in this project made this project a worthy recipient of a 2015 ACT Architecture Award.
The story of this Edwardian home, built in 1913 is fascinating and reads in parallel with the evolution of its surrounding neighbourhood. It began as a one-storey Edwardian home, built in 1913 by a speculative builder in what was the Centennial Parklands Subdivision Corporation and finishes with a new type of client who sought to redefine the tired property into a stately family home, one which preserved the historical aspects of the original house whilst incorporating elements of modern day living.
