Tiwu Kumangka (Blackwood Library and Community Centre) | DesignInc

Tiwu Kumangka’ celebrates the coming together of community services and a library within the hills-based suburb of Blackwood. The project is a catalyst for the revitalisation of the town centre, catering to the needs of locals and responding to the council’s vision for a vibrant and active public realm. Tiwu Kumangka responds to its local context with a natural material palette and architectural details referencing the wide variety of landscapes within the City of Mitcham. The building’s scale, visibility, and accessibility invite the community to wander through its central ‘street’, providing pedestrian access to the adjoining street, shops, cafes, and Waite Street Reserve. The transparency and permeability of the building’s design promote the shared experiences and activities within. Shifts in volume and scale invite enquiry, connection, creativity and exploration through flexible community spaces.

Michael Kirby Building | Hassell

The Michael Kirby Building at Macquarie University tells a story of sustainable adaptation and growth, crafting new gathering spaces that encourage interaction and promote the exchange of ideas.

The design utilises the concrete framework of a pre-existing administration building as a foundation for a new timber structural system. The transformation extends beyond the structural, replacing the concrete shell with a transparent, glazed façade directly connecting the building to the tree canopy along Wally’s Walk.

A previously exposed courtyard is now transformed into an enclosed, naturally ventilated atrium space. A series of skylights provide controlled lighting, providing equal parts sun and shade.

The decision to re-use rather than fully demolish has extended the life of the building. Creating a high quality crafted timber interior speaks to Macquarie University’s ongoing commitment to a sustainable campus.

Canberra Grammar School Centre of Music and Snow Concert Hall | Cox Architecture

COXs proposal the CGS Centre of Music and Snow Concert Hall was selected by the competition jury for its originality, innovation, and integration with its heritage context. The design proposed the 1400 seat auditorium be built underground with music rooms of various sizes placed adjacent, forming a plinth for the heritage buildings behind/above. Additional uses that went beyond the requirements of the brief were suggested as result of the additional space generated by the siting strategy. Critical to this approach is a three-dimensional circulation system that integrates both new and old movement patterns into a series of new circuits and points of entry/egress. A new library now sits atop the ceremonial front door of the campus, overlooking the historic Dining Hall, Quadrangle to the South, and Main Oval to the North. The intent was to enhance the context and not design from a tabula rasa.

Campbell House Private Office | Tonkin Zulaikha Greer

Campbell House Private Office is the adaptive reuse of a Federation style house from the early 1890s into a contemporary office. TZG’s approach to this design was to weave the built heritage fabric into the contemporary commercial design to unify the significant building and positively contribute to its Heritage Conservation setting.

The threshold between interior and exterior spaces is blurred by layered transparencies that welcome the established front garden and abundant natural light deep into the building. A mature Weeping Fig Tree was planted in the office atrium and is the central focus of the new building. The surrounding contemporary design interventions, like the tree, breathes new life into the building.

The office is an exemplar of environmental design based on natural light, passive ventilation, enduring materials and harvesting green energy facilitated by a contemporary intervention to a heritage building.

Australia Place Lobby Refurbishment | COX Architecture

Australia Place is a highly considered lobby experience that celebrates art, light and texture. At the heart of the project is a previously concealed existing stained-glass window now braced by black quartzite to become a beacon set deep within the lobby. The white Carrara marble that wraps lining the walls opposite, create a texture symbolic of a curtain, creating a secondary back drop for the lobby.

A focus was placed on providing low level mood lighting to the voluminous lobby space to create a sense of intimacy, comfort and privacy. The lobby is delineated with bespoke joinery and key furniture selected to provide an array of user experiences. The feature ceiling pendant lights anchor the lounge space centred within the lobby whilst the loose furniture and fixed high bench joinery adjacent to the glass curtain wall offers café patrons another experience and welcoming transition into a revitalised lobby experience.

Olive Tree House | Bastian Architecture

Olive Tree House has an internal material palette which shies away from the trend of all white interiors and take cues from the exterior; warm plywood linings counter cool concrete floors and offset colourful joinery and doors. The house feels like a home to live in, it has been designed for scuff marks and weathering, it is not precious. Every corner has been taken advantage of; built-in furniture allow for smaller rooms and more storage, a hallway to the guest toilet has a second function of doubling the size of the laundry.

Wet areas are warm and textured to create sense of intimacy and a separate experience to the rest of the house. While the house is compact it makes every square meter work hard .

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