As we turn and head for home, there’s plenty that went on in November. Expo 2025 designers, National and Sustainability Awards winners announced, Australian architecture on the world stage and Sydney’s most important cultural building in decades opens.
Let’s take a deep dive in the month that was. Here’s our picks for the biggest stories to come out of November 2022.
Buchan named Expo 2025 Australian Pavilion designer
Buchan was announced as the Lead Designer of the Australian Pavilion at Expo 2025, to be held in Osaka.
It is the first time the 130-year-old firm has been selected to oversee the design of the pavilion. The entire practice was honoured to have been selected to represent Australia on the world stage after being chosen by the Australian Government's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Read more about the appointment here.
‘Spirit of Australian architecture’ celebrated at 2022 National Awards
Projects that truly capture the spirit of Australian architecture were celebrated at the 2022 National Architecture Awards held last night at a completely sold out in-person event at Taronga Zoo, Sydney.
Notable among these projects was Bundanon by Kerstin Thompson Architects, which was one of the most awarded projects, receiving both The Sir Zelman Cowen Award for Public Architecture, and a National Award for Sustainable Architecture.
Read the full list of award winners here.
Hansen Yuncken to deliver $600M community-focused UNSW Health Translation Hub
Hansen Yuncken will lead the design and construction for the $600 million UNSW Sydney’s Health Translation Hub project.
Representing the next phase of the landmark Randwick Health & Innovation Precinct, the Health Translation Hub builds on more than 60 years of teaching hospital affiliations, helping realise the university’s long-term aspiration to work in close partnership with the Randwick precinct.
The major tertiary project can be read about here.
2022 Sustainability Award Winners announced
After two years of virtual events, the 2022 Sustainability Awards returned to their original and popular live format at Sydney’s Shangri-La hotel.
The 250 strong crowd celebrated the year’s most outstanding people, projects and products in the world of sustainable built design, recognising the contribution that these exemplars have made to the ongoing betterment of our environment.
Catch up on the winners of our awards ceremony here.
Sydney tower takes home major international gong
The 3XN and BVN-designed Quay Quarter Tower has been awarded the International High-Rise Award in Frankfurt, Germany, picked by an esteemed jury from a field of 34 projects across 13 countries.
A decade in the making, Quay Quarter Tower is recognised as the world’s largest upcycled building. A flagship of sustainable design, the tower features five shifting glass pavilions, imagined as vertical villages’ stacked on top of one another. Large atriums and stunning staircases act as informal spaces, with views out to Sydney Harbour.
Find out more about the project and its award here.
Australian architecture gains recognition on world stage once more
The design pairing of Woods Bagot and SHoP Architects have been recognised by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) for their Collins Arch project at the Council’s 2022 awards ceremony.
Located at the epicentre of Melbourne’s CBD, the practice’s regard Collins Arch as the first ‘true’ mixed-use precinct in Australia. The project encompasses a pair of 164-metre-high towers connected by a sky bridge and comprises 184 apartments, a new five-star hotel, nearly 50,000 sqm of WELL-rated offices and 950 sqm of ground-floor retail.
Another international accolade for Australian architecture. Read more here.
Rezoning of Waterloo pushes forward state-significant housing renewal
The renewal of Waterloo Estate is moving closer to reality, with rezoning in Waterloo South paving the way for one of the world’s largest community housing redevelopments.
The rezoning will allow for approximately 3,000 new homes to be constructed, with at least 847 of those to be social housing and 227 allocated towards affordable housing.
One step closer to reality. More info here.
World-first Biobank to be built in QLD wins major sustainability accolade
The Coral Biobank, designed by Contreras Earl Architecture for the Great Barrier Reef Legacy, has been recognised as a leader in sustainable design at the Energy Globe Awards.
Currently in concept phase, the Biobank received a National Award for Sustainability at the Energy Globe Awards. The Biobank, the first of its kind in the world, will eventually preserve more than 800 species of hard corals under threat from coral bleaching caused by climate change.
This project is special. Find out more here.
Advisory Group pushes forward circular economy by 2030
Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek has announced a Ministerial Advisory Group on Circular Economy will be created to overcome the adversities faced by the government to develop an end-to-end supply chain framework.
Huge news in the race to net zero. More here.
Sydney Modern opens with the air of ambition
The NSW Art Gallery’s North Building, designed by Tokyo-based practice SANAA in collaboration with Architectus, has reached completion, with the design culminating in a world-class facility most worthy of its siting and cultural significance.
Unveiled at an exclusive media briefing on Tuesday, the new gallery is imagined as a series of boxes wrapped in a glass facade that jut out at slightly offset angles and cascade in step with the topography of the site. The intricacies are countless, with handcrafted textures culminating in an ethereal, elegant, light and moving experience.
New South Wales’ biggest cultural project since the Opera House. Click here for more.
