Boola Katitjin: Lyons with Silver Thomas Hanley, Officer Woods, The Fulcrum Agency and Aspect Studios

With game design or information systems alongside or replacing traditional subjects such as anthropology and history, expanding multiple campuses and online offerings, contemporary university architecture has become expressive of these shifts.

Wattleseed: Scott and Ryland Architects

Wattleseed is a collaboration between Scott and Ryland Architects, Royal Botanical Gardens, Sydney Community Greening, IndigiGrow, Taronga Zoo, Powerhouse Museum and Western Sydney University. The design draws on existing Biophilic design and Living Future Institute research and aims to facilitate environmental education through the retrofit of early childhood centres.

Gore Street Apartment: Rebecca Lewis

I was 26 when I bought my apartment. Young, inexperienced, green as an olive. I had been house-hunting for nine months when I stepped inside the 1960s Gore Street apartment.

Sonny’s: Design Theory

Nestled within tall tuart trees off a bustling strip, Sonny’s, with its articulately curated wine list, is Mount Hawthorn’s newest neighbourhood bar brought forth by passionate hospitality veterans Jess and Aaron, crafted by Design Theory.

Wangaratta District Specialist School: Sibling Architecture

The recent addition to the Wangaratta District Specialist School’s ageing buildings from the 1980s and mostly relocatable classrooms, provided an opportunity for Sibling Architecture to design for wellbeing through creating tactile and tranquil spaces in a new learning hub.

NextSense: WMK Architecture

The NextSense centre for innovation at Macquarie University by WMK Architecture has opened heralding a new era for hearing and vision loss in Australia.

His Majesty’s Theatre – Balcony reconstruction: Griffiths Architects

Located in Perth’s west end on Hay Street, His Majesty’s Theatre’s immediate context includes many former showrooms and offices from the early twentieth century. Like almost all Perth buildings, the theatre balconies were removed via a 1947 Act of Parliament enforced in 1953 and replaced with a simple awning, in common with many Perth and Fremantle buildings. In a touch of irony, COVID-19 recovery funds made the reconstruction of the balconies by Griffiths Architects possible, and they opened with huge fanfare in February 2023.

Clifton and Central: MJA Studio

Formerly a quintessential Australian icon, the corner store deli has regrettably given way to the expansive reach of supermarkets and servos in recent times. The deli has always symbolised more than convenience for locals. Across the suburbs, they have seemingly embedded themselves within our streets, generating activity and serving as vibrant meeting spots where residents and neighbours alike can socialise and interact with the wider community. Clifton and Central by MJA Studio with CAPA Studio is a boutique mixed-use development in Mt Lawley on an old corner store site.

Abbotsleigh School Library & Centre for Science and Art: AJC Architects

The built environment in education settings is often referred to as the ‘Third Teacher’ from the Reggio Emilia philosophy acknowledging the significant role the built environment has on student learning and engagement. So significant the Australian Children’s Education & Care Authority has a quality area dedicated to it, citing that “Behind educators and families, physical spaces hold the potential to influence what and how children learn.”

Deepwater House: AHA Studio

Deepwater House by AHA Studio references the nearby location at which the Djarlgarra /Canning River is at its deepest; but it is perhaps better understood as a metaphor of an architecture borne from a deeper critical engagement with its place among Perth’s Swan Coastal Plain.