In this extract from Kathryn Franco’s recent book on Sydney homebuilders Pettit and Sevitt, she explores Ironbark Architecture’s contemporary renovation to a 1967 home originally designed by Ken Woolley.
Find out more on the topic of Victoria’s Big Housing Build through expert insights, podcasts and more.
Our ever-growing global population demands millions of new homes, workplaces and community spaces. But to truly tackle climate change, we must find better ways to balance society’s need for new space with a commitment to curb emissions.
How do we recognise professional design expertise in a largely unregulated profession increasingly shaped by AI? Simone LeAmon, CEO of the Design Institute of Australia, makes the case for accreditation as a recognised standard of competence and accountability.
Responding to Elizabeth Farrelly’s September column on architectural literalism, Melbourne architect Eli Giannini argues that while sustainability is often reduced to tokenistic gestures, its architectural symbolism remains crucial to advancing a more environmentally responsible building agenda.
Jayson Blight, James Wilson and Isabelle Toland discuss the nature of collaboration between architectural practices, unpacking how fee and service agreements, as well as workflows, are managed to deliver projects of various scales and typologies.
Find out more on the topic of regenerating Country through expert insights, podcasts and more.
Successive eras of building and campus planning have reflected the changing needs and aspirations of Australia’s universities. They clearly display the layers of architectural and landscape styles that have also shaped our cities and suburbs.
The way we experience biological sex in cities is real and significant. According to Elizabeth Farrelly, our legacy of modernist urban planning has left us with a masculinist myopia: a fixation with towering phallic forms, which ignores the surrounding context that makes a city liveable.
Without careful design, data centres could increase power bills, put pressure on water supplies, and slow the transition to net zero. With it, they can do the opposite, stabilising the electricity grid, attracting investment to regions, and creating economic growth.
In this extract from Paul Couch, Field Studies , architect James Mugavin reflects on one of Couch’s characteristically robust and layered homes in western Victoria.
There’s no shortage of demand for new homes. What we lack is a construction system capable of delivering them reliably, sustainably and at scale.
Facing an urgent climate crisis and increasing professional demands, the profession can no longer afford the divide between classroom theory and real-world practice, Liz Brogden argues.
In this extract from the newly published book Riverside Modern , author Jake Taylor reflects on one of the last mid-century houses designed in Melbourne’s Studley Park, whose functional planning, richly textured materials and confident geometric arrangements make it still a wonderful example of a suburban family home.
Jeremy McLeod, Nic Brunsdon and Lee Hillam unpack the value of gaining sustainability credentials, such as B Corp certification – weighing the benefits against the costs to businesses, and discussing the right timing for practices looking to get accredited.
The federal government has softened its initial renewables-only stance.
Elizabeth Farrelly takes aim at architecture’s “tendency to grab and debauch whatever idea present[s] itself, however daft,” which she says “stands to make architecture the class clown.”
On a societal level, improving insulation in walls, floors and ceilings is one of the most effective ways to reduce peak energy demand – and this is increasingly important, as Australia faces a surge in electricity demand from data centres, electric vehicles and electric household appliances.
Research has shown the significant hidden toll of poor office design on productivity, health and employee retention – better design at work should be seen as a necessity.
The evolution of architecture presents opportunities that the industry must build upon. Where to from here?
Non-Indigenous practitioners have a vital part to play in challenging inequitable systems to support Indigenous colleagues and communities.
Built environment professionals have reported increasing interest and confidence in engaging with Country – but challenges remain.
First Nations Performance Criteria are now mandatory in the curricula of all nationally accredited architecture programs. How are students and educators responding?
Racism and discrimination are deeply embedded in the systems of Australian society, often enacted without awareness of their consequences. The architecture and design industries are no different.
The 2021 integration of First Nations-focused performance criteria into architecture competency standards has created the opportunity to directly recalibrate cultural understandings and create more enriching, impactful built environments. But what effect has this had on the industry, and what more needs to be done?
As part of their forthcoming book on the role of the architect after climate disaster, titled Adapt , founders of Melbourne architecture practice Card Jimi Connor and Tahj Rosmarin interview Victorian architect Christy Bryar on her experience rebuilding her home after the 2019–20 Black Summer bushfires.
As compared with other serious climate events, such as storms and wildfires, heatwaves pass with less visible impact, with their consequences counted only long after the event is over.
Key bodies from Australia’s built environment industry have shared resources for – and insights into the significance of – the country’s five-yearly Census.
ArchitectureAu Asks the Sydney architect, “Our building code ensures occupants’ safety, amenity, health and accessibility – what about their sense of belonging?”
In this extract from Flack Studio’s monograph, clients of the firm’s renovation to the first-ever residence designed by architect Robin Boyd – a 1943 home in Melbourne – reflect on their experience working with founder and principal David Flack.
The PB/5 pedestrian crossing button audio is a successful example of audio-tactile signalling and an early example of universal design principles: products and environments that are inclusive for a diverse range of users, irrespective of age and ability.
“So much architecture these days is about nothing,” argues Elizabeth Farrelly. She contends that what the profession needs is a set of beliefs fashioned “into a kind of theory to guide architecture and city-making into the future.”
While viral claims about data centre water-use don’t hold up, the real story is worth understanding. It comes down to where these centres are built, what water they use and how they report it.
ArchitectureAu Asks the Melbourne architect, “Our building code ensures occupants’ safety, amenity, health and accessibility – what about their sense of belonging?”
For decades, researchers have argued climate change adaptation is a collaborative and community-driven project, however, recent cases suggest that planned retreat is becoming a divisive issue affecting vulnerable residents. We can look to communities for answers.
ArchitectureAu Asks the Melbourne architect, “Our building code ensures occupants’ safety, amenity, health and accessibility – what about their sense of belonging?”
Australia has a growing pipeline of giant data centre developments – many planned for the outskirts of Melbourne and Sydney. It would make sense to build new data centres in regions with good renewable resources.
Fears the Iran conflict would trigger a surge in power prices have been quelled by the rapid roll-out of home and grid-scale batteries. A national push for efficient electric hot water systems could build on this momentum.
New research shows that, globally, trees almost halve how much heat is trapped by the urban heat island effect – but their effect is limited in the face of climate change.
ArchitectureAu Asks the Melbourne architectural researcher and advocate, “Our building code ensures occupants’ safety, amenity, health and accessibility – what about their sense of belonging?”
