The built environment’s new cycle is well and truly in full swing following a number of stories in March. The housing crisis, artificial intelligence and the deserved recognition of Australian architects sit at the top of the major stories for the third month of 2023.
Without any further adieu, here’s our Top 10 from the month that was.
Murcutt makes history on NSW Heritage Register
The Marie Short Farmhouse, designed by Pritzker Prize winning design luminary Glenn Murcutt, has been placed on the NSW State Heritage Register for its significance as an early example of an environmentally responsive building.
The house was originally designed in the 1970s and was purchased and altered by Murcutt in 1980. Retractable metal louvres control levels of light and privacy, with glass louvres controlling ventilation. The pavilions are clad in overlapped corrugated metal sheets with openings furthering ventilation. The textural palette and design configuration is a direct response to the local climate.
Read more about the future-thinking dwelling here.
Warren & Mahoney ranks in top ten of world’s most innovative practices
Warren & Mahoney’s pioneering approach to built environment projects has been recognised by business publication Fast Company, who rates the practice as one of the top ten most innovative architectural practices in the world for 2023. Published yearly, the list seeks to showcase businesses that sit at the coalface of their industry.
Read more about the ranking here.
Assessing the abilities of AI in the built environment
Artificial Intelligence, or AI as it is known across the globe, serves currently as a tool that assists in day-to-day operations in many an industry. The advancements of the likes of ChatGPT and DALL·E 2 has resulted in the constant questioning of ‘what comes next’?
The built environment is one such industry that will benefit from the evolution of AI. From basic image creation to company learning modules, its immediate future will see it work alongside architects, as opposed to rendering them redundant.
This line of thinking has been adopted at Rothelowman, who have begun to utilise AI programs to reduce the timeframes of painstaking tasks. Nigel Hobart (pictured below), one of the practice’s Managing Principals, began researching the software five years ago, convinced of its inevitability.
Read more about the industry-shaping technology here.
WA housing fund to boost development
The Western Australian Government has removed a number of barriers that have slowed housing development in recent past via its new Infrastructure Development Fund.
The $80 million allocation will assist local governments and developers in offsetting costs of providing water, sewerage and electricity services to new housing developments, improving the economic feasibility of these projects.
Find out more about the fund here.
Newcastle theatre to reopen after 60 years in the wilderness
Scott Carver is assisting in the restoration of Newcastle’s historic Victoria Theatre. The theatre is close to reopening approximately 60 years since it closed its doors, with the venue stripped back to its historic core.
Read more about the restoration here.
TURNER turns 21
Renowned for its involvement in the delivery of a number of city-shaping projects across Sydney, TURNER has officially turned the page on its 21st year.
To celebrate, the practice has released a book, titled Transforming the City, written by Patrick Bingham-Hall. The book outlines the work the practice has undertaken to complete the likes of Green Square, Washington Park, Waterloo Metro and Wentworth Point’s Sanctuary (pictured top), all of which have seen pockets of the city thoughtfully renewed.
Find out more about the practice’s milestone here.
Four major housing groups call for Senate to pass housing fund
The Community Housing Industry Association, National Shelter, Homelessness Australia and the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Housing Association have released a joint statement, calling upon the Senate to pass the $10 billion housing fund currently before Federal Parliament.
The Housing Australia Future Fund Bill 2023, National Housing Supply and Affordability Council Bill 2023 and the Treasury Laws Amendment (Housing Measures No. 1) Bill 2023 are all currently being mulled over by the upper house.
Find out more about the plea here.
Sydney’s George Street Plaza and Community Building pay tribute to site’s Aboriginal roots
The George Street Plaza and Community Building designed by Ghanaian-British architect David Adjaye and Australian Indigenous artist Daniel Boyd for the City of Sydney is now complete. Developed by Lendlease in partnership with the City of Sydney, these public spaces in Sydney Place will provide a place of refuge and also serve as a multipurpose cultural venue for the community.
Chosen by the City of Sydney in 2019 to create the structures by drawing design inspiration from Indigenous architecture, culture and gathering, Adjaye and Boyd referenced simple unitary forms and placemaking in Aboriginal culture, imagining “the new community building and plaza as a ‘found place’ based around the notion of the shelter, a symbolic respite away from the busy streetscape that is discovered and dissolves through light”.
Read up on this gift to the city here.
Sod turns on Melbourne’s largest adaptive reuse project
Construction has commenced on Younghusband in Melbourne’s Kensington, regarded as the largest carbon-neutral adaptive reuse precinct in the garden city.
Designed by Woods Bagot, the new precinct will create a vibrant village that intersects commercial and retail. The first stage will preserve and showcase the heritage of the century-old woolsheds, which will be transformed into over 17,000 sqm of premium office space. A town centre, village-style F&B offerings and an activated retail laneway will also be constructed.
This premier project can be read about here.
HomeBuilder deadline to be extended pending state approval
The Australian Government says it will work alongside state and territorial governments to extend the deadline for current HomeBuilder applicants that have been put back by supply chain and industry delays.
Minister for Housing Julie Collins has indicated that those who will miss the 30 April 2023 deadline will have until 30 June 2025 to produce supporting documents, pending state and territorial government approval. Extensions are only applicable to already-approved HomeBuilder applicants, who have received formal approval under the scheme for off-the-plan purchases or renovations.
Find out more about the proposal here.
