All posts by Events Team
The Hütt 01 Passivhaus

Melbourne Design Studios (MDS)

The Hütt 01 Passivhaus is inspiring contemporary architecture that sets a positive example for regenerative urban densification, reconnecting a forgotten piece of land with its environment. Regenerative design, Passivhaus & biophilic design are core values of this project, together with being energy-efficient, carbon-neutral/negative and an easily maintainable near-net-zero-energy approach.

The house combines functional playfulness & attention to detail with highly sustainable construction techniques and materials. The resulting home showcases new technologies like CLT with low VOC finishes, natural wood-fibre insulation, thermal-bridge-free high-performance windows, heat-recovery ventilation, a super-airtight building envelope, green walls and planters, and aquaponics. It obtains “Passivhaus Premium” certification (the highest possible category), utilising high-efficiency appliances with heat pump technology, solar photovoltaic and battery, integrated active shading, and recycled and/or natural materials throughout. A green roof and a raingarden assist with stormwater retention as part of the WSUD concept, that calculates to keep and use over 90% of stormwater on site. Showcasing prefabricated structural CLT panels with finished interior surfaces not only provides carbon footprint reduction and time & cost savings, but also a reduction/removal of additional finishing trades and materials like plastering.

Timber is featured in raw and finished forms, as well as natural stone and clay render. In addition to E0 boards and low VOC finishes, the built-in planters and green wall further cleanse the internal air from remaining (low-level) emissions. Product selections are based on sustainability, longevity and embodied energy, e.g. recycled bricks (carbon-zero), natural wood fibre and mass-timber structure (carbon-negative), recyclable timber floors with natural oil finishes and cradle to grave/cradle certification.

Passive House design just works. Once you’ve done it, and once you’ve lived in one, you can’t go back and tell people to not build a passive house. It makes a huge difference, it is easy to manage and maintain if designed correctly, and it is just comfortable and healthy all year around. This is how we can achieve carbon zero and zero energy homes on a large scale easily.

Photography by Marnie Hawson, Maitreya Chandorka, Immanuel Bosse

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Furniture: Jensen & Row, Ethnicraft, Trit House, Armadillo. Lighting: Mint Lighting, Artefact Melbourne & Lightcore Brisbane. Finishes: Woca, Bauwerk Paint, Osmo Polywax. Fittings & Fixtures: Blum, Billi, V-Zug, Rogerseller.
Riverside Green

Hassell

Riverside Green establishes a new ‘green heart’ for Brisbane’s South Bank Parklands on the site of a former restaurant damaged by the 2011 floods. In creating an accessible and open place of recreation, the project favours public, green space over enclosed, private space, as once existed in the form of restaurants. The change of use, from privatised restaurants to natural landscape and shade pavilion was tested when a 2022 river flood impacted South Bank Parklands. Riverside Green emerged resilient. This was due to multiple factors, one being the open nature of the landscape and the resilience of the pavilion’s componentry and materials. The use of durable, hardwearing materials was key to ensuring a robust and low maintenance landscape outcome.

The most sustainable element of Riverside Green is its landscape – which is low maintenance. Riverside Green extends the adjacent rainforest by 650sqm, boosting the urban tree canopy of South Bank Parklands with more than 50 new trees. The resilience and sustainability of Riverside Green landscape and Pavilion is centred around being well-made and built to last. The pavilion itself uses materials chosen for their longevity or designed to be able to be easily replaced. An example of longevity is the copper roof and ceiling, the primary material, which has a lifespan of 100 years. Locally sourced Australian timber decking will last 15-20 years.

Building less with more. Relying on passive design – natural light, natural ventilation, natural shade via landscape to reduce energy demands and improve comfort particularly in warm weather environments. And finally, championing landscape over built form – it is a more cost effective and more sustainable strategy in every instance.

Photography by Scott Burrows
Thistle Hill

Light House Architecture & Science

This rural home is far from typical. A modern, super-space-efficient, energy-efficient, functional and beautiful home that nestles gently into a hillside in the extreme climate of Burra, just outside the ACT.

Using the sun for passive heating in winter, and shade and cross-ventilation for cooling in summer, this low-maintenance, climate-resilient, 8.2-star home costs very little to run. The living areas face north, where the exposed, fully insulated concrete slab soaks up the winter sun and releases the retained heat overnight as temperatures quickly drop outside. All year round, the solar panels on the roof generate electricity with the annual energy production far exceeding the annual consumption.

With stunning, expansive views across and along the valley this home is a true, rural retreat and a joyful, relaxing haven for its occupants at the end of their days which are often spent planting and restoring the land around them, a rejection of the idea that homes on rural properties must be larger than suburban dwellings. This thinking (which is so well entrenched in Australia) makes absolutely no sense. This project demonstrates that rural homes can in fact be much smaller than typical suburban dwellings and function beautifully.

The home has been designed to be climate resilient. It will be very temperature stable as our weather patterns and temperatures become more extreme. The simple, compact, rectangular form provides thermal benefits by reducing external wall area. The simple form also makes the home more resilient to extreme weather events including bushfires.

The home has been planned with universal design in mind to allow the occupants can remain in their lovely rural setting for as long as possible.

Photography Ben Wrigley

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Finishes: Pergola: Stratco steel frame ‘Gun Metal Grey’, Fixed louvres: Superior Screens aluminium ‘Gun Metal Grey’, Decking: Blackbutt 86 x 19mm finished with Organoil.
Eric Tweedale Stadium

dwp | design worldwide partnership

The design of the Eric Tweedale Stadium is driven by the stadium’s connection to the local environment and history of the Cumberland Plains. Located within Granville Park, once a widely forested area, its form and materiality responds to the site’s heritage and create a connection to its current sporting environment.
A canteen and community multipurpose room open out to the viewing platform on the South-eastern corner of the building enabling multiple community activities to have an option for indoor/outdoor connection for versatile use of space. The Stadium also includes a grandstand for 760 spectators, change rooms, admin and first aid room, first-floor function space, commercial kitchen and outdoor viewing deck on level 1. The flexibility of design allows for different community and sports activities to unfold throughout the building.
Sustainable design was an important objective of the project and timber construction was key to achieving this. The goal was to demonstrate that this scale of building can be a highly sustainable development that is low carbon, low waste and highly energy efficient.
The glulam roof cantilevers over eight-metres above the seating, creating a simple yet impactful and beautiful form that also gives historical reference to the forest that once dominated the site.
The use of a mass timber structure in the Stadium is the first use of glulam timber for this type of facility in Australia, representing an impressive achievement in timber engineering.

Photography by Brett Boardman

Dissections
Furniture: Interstudio, Stylecraft, Zenith. Lighting: Xerolighting, Trend Lighting, Ligman. Finishes: Regupol, Havwoods, Classic Ceramic, Living Tiles, Forbo, Above Left, Supawood, National Masonry Troldekt, Rubner. Fittings & Fixtures: Caroma, Clark, Britex, Thornthwaite, Reece, Metlam, Dyson, TPI.
Bay Pavilions Arts + Aquatic

NBRS in collaboration with Donovan Payne Architects

Bay Pavilions is an Aquatic, Arts and Leisure Centre for Eurobodalla Shire Council located in Batemans Bay on the south coast of New South Wales. Situated in a prominent location between the town centre and Mackay Park sports grounds, the design for Bay Pavilions has been inspired by the stunning natural landscape and features an organic design language that makes extensive use of sustainably sourced timber. The facility comprises two ‘Pavilions’ connected via a shared foyer ‘Link’.

The Aquatic Pavilion includes an indoor aquatic centre with a 25-metre, eight-lane pool with ramp access, separate 10-metre warm water program pool, a freeform indoor leisure pool that includes learn-to-swim and toddler areas, water play splash pads, waterslides, gym, group fitness and wellness areas.

The Arts Pavilion includes a theatre with large flexible, flat floor auditorium and retractable seating for 350 people, dressing rooms, green room, art gallery/exhibition space, rehearsal/dance studio/music room, wet and dry arts workshop spaces along with community meeting and multi-purpose rooms.

The foyer link provides the main entry into the building and includes reception and visitor information, café, retail, administration and support services. The facility has been carefully designed to allow the activities and events associated with the arts, leisure, health and recreation to be visible and coalesce. Bay Pavilions represents an innovative example of what inclusive and holistic community facilities can be. Through the many sustainability initiatives that have been used on the project this building also shares an important message about how we can better live in harmony with the environment and with a lighter footprint.

Photography by Alexander Mayes

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Furniture: Stylecraft, Maxwood, Mos Urban. Lighting: WE-EF, Erco, Kopa, Clevertronics. Finishes: Rubner Theca, Sculptform, Decor, Miliken-Ontera, Corian, Laminex, Holcim, Beashel Quarries, Boral, Metz Tiles. Fittings & Fixtures: Caroma, Enware, Metlam, Dyson, RBA Group, Bobrick.
Eden Port Welcome Centre

Cox Architecture

The Eden Welcome Centre is a maritime, cruise and tourist facility that heralds a new era for tourism in Eden and the Sapphire Coast of New South Wales, Australia.

The structure and cladding to the building are made from Australian hardwoods as a celebration of the local timber industry, and heritage interpretation, a tribute to Eden’s maritime and Aboriginal history. The building form references the wharf side buildings of the maritime fishing industry emblematic of Eden’s traditional vernacular architecture, while the function of the building welcomes visitors to the town and market from the expanding cruise industry.

The contractor scoured the country for recycled timbers for the structure and cladding. All timbers used were from demolished heritage buildings and redundant wharfing structures – and the main timber columns and beams are over 100 years old and in their third building life. The timbers were all carefully crafted using traditional hand building techniques.

The building design employs a modular system to allow for easy construction and future growth in the expansion of developments along the waterfront to redevelop Snug Cove. This plan is a linear two-storey rectangular building running parallel to the waterfront.

Adjacent to the waterfront is a tall skillion roof which creates a verandah over the markets to celebrate this activity forming a sheltered space which shades and cools the occupants through passive ventilation. The roof accommodates photovoltaic panels, taking advantage of the northerly orientation, while also housing windows for light to the depth of the market, and views from the first floor balcony and offices.

Photography by John Gollings

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Furniture: DesignByThem. Stylecraft, Steelcase, Aspect Furniture. Fittings & Fixtures: Brodware.
Gibbons Street

DKO

Gibbons Street sets the benchmark for quality, high-density social and affordable housing in Australia. DKO, SGCH and Lendlease worked collaboratively with the Government Architect through the Design Excellence process to ensure the best design and commercial outcome was achieved, delivering a 160-apartment complex in Redfern.

Built on the site of an old City of Sydney depot, the complex offers 40 social and 120 affordable housing units, tenure-blind and Gibbons Street has an average 8.3-star NatHERs rating for the energy-efficient unit design.

ESD is inherent in the DNA of the building with a fresh air system that supplies apartments from a roof-mounted fan, battery system and 50kW of solar. Double-glazed windows throughout promote the thermal qualities of the building and ensure the units will remain comfortable throughout the year. WELS-rated fixtures help to conserve water usage. It’s predicted a tenant in a two-bedroom unit should be able to save $500 a year on electricity costs or $350 a year in a one-bedroom unit because of the thermal efficiency.

The design takes inspiration from the built and cultural history of Redfern as well as elements from the surrounding streetscapes. The use of brick was important because the material is relatively maintenance-free, durable and appropriate to the locality. Artwork by Indigenous artist, Joe Hurst, from the Boomalli Aboriginal Artists Co-Op has been integrated throughout the building’s fabric.

Gibbons Street is the first project to run through the NSW Government Architects Design Review Panel and demonstrates what can be done when everyone works together.

Photography by Martin Siegner
Nightingale Ballarat

Breathe

Nightingale Ballarat marks a watershed moment for a regional city facing the challenges of urban sprawl and climate change. A celebration of Ballarat’s rich history in form and 100 per cent fossil fuel-free, Nightingale Ballarat includes one, two, and three-bedroom apartments, and shared rooftop garden and laundry designed with an overarching priority towards social, economic and environmental sustainability.

A stunning arched facade, created from locally sourced recycled red brick, forms part of the active street frontage that gives back to the broader community created by the downstairs cafe, deep root planting, and lush open courtyard. The building exceeds 8 star NatHERS rating and each home is cross-ventilated with access to open-air walkways and operable windows. Importantly, 20 per cent of apartments are allocated to Housing Choices Australia to provide safe, secure, housing to those most in need.

Photography by Kate Longley

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Lighting: Ambience. Fittings & Fixtures: Sussex, Assa Abloy, Taubmans, Binq, Automatic Heating, Fisher & Paykel, Fanco.
Terrace House

Austin Maynard Architects

Terrace House is an ethical, beautifully-designed, highly sustainable and 100 per cent fossil fuel free building in Melbourne. Terrace House takes a revolutionary approach to housing and delivers community-focused, environmentally, socially and financially sustainable homes that are robust and resilient in the face of the growing climate crisis.

Located on a busy high street, close to all amenities, the building comprises 20, (two and three bedroom residences, with 55 bike parks and three commercial spaces. Intended as owner-occupier, Terrace House is the re-imagining of a former inner-city suburban life, where rows of worker’s cottages generated a close community. Shared childminding, communal gardens, neighbourly lending and borrowing – these ideals are the basis of Terrace House. These are not apartments but terrace houses, stacked six storeys high.

The average Australian home measures 233 square metres and is, typically poorly designed, high maintenance and inefficient in terms of space and energy. By contrast, small inner-city apartment buildings seek to maximise returns. Responding to the unique site (a long block measuring 10 metres by 57 metres) the design emulates traditional terrace house plans – homes with big external outlooks, a front verandah, a study and a shared ‘backyard’ on the roof.

Multi-residential buildings are required to achieve 6 stars, within the Australian building code certification method. Terrace House is 8.1. Internationally equivalent to a 6-star Green Star rating (considered world leading) and ‘Platinum’ LEED and BREEAM ‘Outstanding’ classification.

Photography by Derek Swalwell. Maitreya Chandorka (see individual image credits)

Dissections
Lighting: Clipsal, Ambience Lighting. Fittings & Fixtures: Sussex. Fisher & Paykel.
Blackburn House

Light House Architecture & Science

Once ready for demolition, Blackburn house is now an elegant and understated home that was once one of Canberra’s original 1960s ‘ex-govies’ – the stock of homes constructed en masse to house the city’s burgeoning public service.

Working mainly within the original extended footprint, the existing external walls, roof and floor were all largely retained, as were some internal walls. The floor plan was rejigged and extended to the front by just 21 square metres to create a 145 square metre family home comprising four bedrooms, two bathrooms, family home with more functional space and better connection to the garden.

The new home achieves an energy efficiency rating (EER) of 7.7 stars, and an airtightness score of 4.95 m3/m2/hour at 50Pa. This level of airtightness was achieved using standard residential construction materials and methodologies, and without the use of internal air barrier membranes and services cavities, which keeps construction costs much lower. This is significant, because Blackburn house demonstrates that Australian homes can be made airtight – and therefore more comfy – without expensive imported technologies and materials.

Blackburn House is now an all-electric home that requires very little mechanical heating and cooling. It is 43 per cent smaller, and uses 84 per cent less energy, than the average new Canberra home. With its 10.4 kW solar power system this home generates much more energy than it consumes even after charging the family’s only car, a Tesla. New materials (such as Weathertex cladding) were chosen for their durability and thermal properties, to allow for a lighter footprint over a longer lifetime.

Photography by Ben Wrigley
Pepper Tree Passive House

Alexander Symes Architect

Pepper Tree Passive House is a small secondary dwelling to a young family’s home in the Australian Illawarra region. It is located on a steep site and elevated into the canopy of the site’s 60 year old Pepper Tree. Built to the international Passive House standard, sustainability is at the core ethos of the project – embodied between the natural material palette, high performance design and strong biophilic connection. The ambition of this project was to do more with less – while light touches to the existing home were made to improve its thermal performance, building the new secondary dwelling to the Passive House standard has created a future proofed refuge to escape to in future peak temperature days.

The two cantilevered wings of the detached studio each host a green roof. The northern wing comprises living, office, kitchen and breakfast bar and there is a curated view of Mount Kembla. Recycled sandstock bricks line the floor and wall area and direct sunlight from the northern highlight windows create a thermal battery effect in winter. The private southern wing contains the bedroom, laundry and bathroom and the floating deck between the two wings has been carefully scribed around the existing Pepper Tree, providing a meditative retreat immersed in the tree canopy.

From the project’s outset it was critical for the design to use both materials and landscaping in a way that strengthened the biophilic connection to the Pepper Tree, as well as regenerate the biodiversity of the site. Despite the small building footprint, it was critical to the project’s success that the site’s natural environment was disturbed as little as possible. The building’s two wings each host an extensive roof garden and collect excess rainwater for the dwelling and the Shou Sugi Ban timber cladding allows the building to blend into the landscape. Internally, timber products with no-VOC finishes were used, reducing total embodied energy while still providing a warm material palette.

Photography by Barton Taylor

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Furniture: 55 Parrots. Fittings & Fixtures: Harvey Norman Commercial, Fisher & Paykel.
Koorootang Court Retirement Village – Community Centre and Lodge Building Corridor Refurbishment

Lendlease Retirement Living in collaboration with Arkee Creative

Koorootang Retirement Village consists of 89 Independent Living Unit’s and 33 Serviced Apartments which are located in the Lodge building. As a 35 -year-old building, the structure and in particular the corridors were in poor condition, and so, Koorootang has undergone a circa one million dollar upgrade.

The project scope delivers on the Lendlease commitment to sustainably refurbish the common areas to the Community Centre and Lodge Building and creates a sense of arrival, while improving the overall feel in the Lodge.

Arkee Design were engaged to undertake the initial design concepts and develop a comprehensive set of documentation for tender. The design and development process included full engagement with the Resident Committee and broader Resident group, with presentations, open discussions and feedback being the key focus areas.

The design concept focuses on the arrival experience to the Community Centre / Lodge buildings and contemporary refurbishment of the identified areas and surrounding landscaping. The scope of the works included upgrading the existing buildings with new automatic doors for the Lodge building entry, refurbished areas throughout, air purification system, new user friendly AV system (including a hearing loop), new furniture, upgraded residents kitchen throughout and previously underused spaces to include better functionality and landscaped areas.

Resident welfare and minimising disruption was the focus on successful delivery of this project. The construction works were tendered and delivered in stages, allowing the village to safely maintain an element of functionality in the communal areas during works.

Photography by Lendlease Retirement Living Marketing Team
Pivot House

SSD Studio

The Pivot House project saw the renovation of a small 1850’s cottage in the Heritage Conservation Zone of Paddington. It gave new life through connecting the interior with the exterior and bringing light and a sense of space into the tiny, yet charming cottage, completely transforming the home and the interior with a deceptively simple design.

Pivot doors open as wide as possible and a scallion roof rakes dramatically to take in the sky with exposed rafters adding to the character of the addition. The design is respectful of the heritage character of the home, creating a transition that is both contemporary yet seamless.

Photography by Sophie Solomon
Ampan

Ampan

The Ampan particle board is manufactured from rice straw bonded with a unique phenol-formaldehyde resin. The manufacturing process is similar to other particle board processes in that the rice straw is milled to a particle size of six to 10 millimetres and mixed with the resin (10 per cent) before being pressed into the particle board. Testing of samples to date haa shown the Ampan panel board to have high moisture resistance compared to other particle boards.
The Ampan panel has the potential to be used across a number of building purposes such as bracing for timber house frames, cabinetmaking and concrete formwork.

Photography by Ampan
ClinkaCRETE for Cygnet House

Core Collective Architects

ClinkaCRETE is a low density concrete material made with expanded Clinka clay and recycled crushed concrete. Clinka is a 100 per cent natural material, and its breathable qualities contribute to a healthier, chemical and mould-free indoor environment. It is non-biodegradable, non-combustible, and resistant to attacks from moisture, frost, and chemicals.

Clinka can also be used in standard concrete blends as lightweight aggregate to reduce weight and improve thermal performance.

Photography by Chris Craven, Core Collective
Coharo Coatings Levelling Coat

Casafico Pty Ltd

Coharo Coatings Levelling Coat (CCLC) was launched in June 2020. CCLC is a levelling compound used to level and prepare walls and floors. CCLC adheres to all substrates and is used to create a finishing coat such as rough cast. The CCLC formulation is also used to create lightweight mouldings, blocks, and walls. Sixty-six per cent of the product formulation is actual landfill waste. The highest-ever use of recycled landfill waste in a cementitious coating.

CCLC’s increased amount of recycled landfill waste aggregate has had huge economic and environmental benefits, providing a solution for businesses to achieve zero waste landfill.
Coharo Coatings Levelling Coat is made in Braeside Victoria, where only specific landfill waste is accepted from job sites, councils, local businesses, and the community, reducing their disposal costs and providing them with a responsible recycling service.

Casafico is an Australian owned family business, building a product range around preserving the environment for our future generations. We do that by conserving natural resources and eliminating all sand and marble from our products, replacing it with landfill waste that is readily available above ground. Sand is not infinite and traditional coatings manufacturers extract sand faster than it can be found and mined. Casafico’s mission is to raise awareness to the issue and produce coatings that are more sustainable.

Also, by replacing sand and marble a product is created that is one third the weight of traditional materials, supporting a more sustainable life for tradespeople. Furthermore, using waste avoids greenhouse gases caused from mining natural resources. We calculate that 8.21 tonnes of carbon can be saved for every one tonne of Polystyrene that is recycled.

Photography by Casafico
CONQOR B50 Sustainable Waterproofing Admixture

​​MARKHAM

The aim of MARKHAM is to add life to concrete.
Increasing durability, and making structures stronger to last longer, ultimately saves re-building costs and the associated cost to the environment of producing new concrete.
CONQOR B50 is a sustainable, liquid waterproofing admixture, single-part (rather than a hybrid, or two-part), that once mixed in the concrete (this is done at the batching plant), transforms moisture in the porosity into a colloidal silica hydrogel as the concrete cures – offering superior sub-surface concrete waterproofing and durability. It is designed to extend service life and reduce maintenance cost of concrete.

Increasing durability reduces maintenance costs associated with concrete structures by extending the time between necessary maintenance works due to deterioration of the concrete. CONQOR B50 increases impermeability of the concrete matrix, which in turn reduces deterioration of the concrete. This is because concrete deterioration is mostly caused by contamination of the matrix via moisture movement in the porosities in concrete. Immobilising the moisture means that contaminants cannot pass through the concrete. Halting moisture movement and contamination takes away the reactants required to corrode the reinforcing steel in concrete, which in turn prevents spalling and other deterioration of the structure.

CONQOR B50 performs in the most demanding environments to waterproof concrete structures – exposed or submerged, above or below ground. The product is used for waterproofing concrete in marine environments, basements, below-grade piles and foundations. It increases the durability of concrete in delicate environments, such as marine and water storage, and in aggressive conditions, such as marine, and sewerage treatment plants.

Photography by Hannah Wright
Frontier™ 24mm , Cube™ 24mm , ASL, Quietspace® Panel

Billard Leece Partnership (BLP) & Autex

Autex Acoustics® Cube™, Quietspace®, Frontier™, and ASL products are market-leading acoustic solutions designed to enhance the acoustic performance of interior spaces by controlling reverberation and echo.

Acoustic treatments are essential in creating acoustically balanced interior environments that are not just comfortable to enjoy but improve the physical and cognitive health of occupants. However, as with many building industry products, the carbon footprint of acoustic applications can be significant.

Autex Acoustics is the first in the acoustics industry to reduce and balance all carbon emissions from its entire global business operations and acoustic products to zero.

The embodied carbon impact of Cube, Quietspace, Frontier, and ASL are assessed and communicated in a third party verified Environmental Product Declaration (EPD), in accordance with ISO 14025 and EN 15804 standards.

Each product contains a minimum 45% – 60% recycled polyester fibre (PET) – as much as possible before the performance of the product is compromised. Autex’s sustainability team calculate the amount of recycled polyester used annually—a calculation that is independently verified under ISO 14021.

Photography by Dianna Snape Photography
SR2 – Systems Reef

BVN and the University of Technology Sydney (UTS)

SR2 is the world’s first 3D printed air distribution system. Developed from a research collaboration between BVN and the University of Technology Sydney, it is made from recycled waste plastic and designed for circularity.

In 1928, air conditioning systems revolutionised the way we occupy buildings. Since then, we have seen the development and evolution of many building technologies, but little attention has been paid to how we deliver air onto commercial floorplates. Despite the inherent inefficiencies of both the system and the product, steel ductwork technology has remained essentially unchanged for almost a century.

SR2 (patent pending) is a radical approach to how air is delivered in buildings – a new air distribution system designed to replace traditional steel tertiary air distribution systems in applications without suspended ceilings. It is designed to connect to standard VAV terminals, or similar, and combines the functionality of ductwork and diffuser into one cohesive product.

Consisting of 3D printed components and standardised connections, seals, and fixings, SR2 allows for a simple click and connect approach to existing and new HVAC systems. Air is diffused through pores integrated into the linear component, improving human comfort by creating a more even coverage of air. SR2 is also 3D printed using recycled PET-G plastic, a lightweight circular material sourced from waste products. The circular nature of PET-G allows components to be easily disassembled, crushed, re-extruded, and fed back into the material supply chain to create new products. Coupled with the use of waste plastic, SR2 reduces embodied carbon by 90 per cent when compared to conventional steel ductwork.

Photography by SR2 Design Team
Volt Solar Tile

Volt Solar Tile

Volt Solar Tile is an Australian-designed building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) roof tile. Volt has been designed to interlock with adjacent roof tiles, creating a seamless, solar you can’t see aesthetic.

Unlike traditional solar panels, Volt’s installation requires no mounting system or roof penetrations, making it more aesthetically appealing to consumers. Innovative Metal-Wrap-Through (MWT) design removes the white lines (busbars) seen on the front of solar panels, allowing Volt Solar Tile to blend with adjacent roof tiles.

Volt has the highest wattage of any solar tile on the global market in terms of maximum power output at 114W. Volt also has a very high solar efficiency at 18.6 per cent compared to other BIPV products on the market.

Volt’s interlocking system, integrated gutters and drainage channels ensure waterproofing of the roof, and Volt has achieved certification for roof pitches beyond the standard roof tiles that Volt integrates with.

Volt provides an option for homeowners who want to improve their carbon footprint and be more sustainable but refuse to invest in solar panels that ruin the home’s aesthetics. Volt allows consumers to have a home with sustainable features and a beautiful roof- something standard solar panels cannot achieve. The product improves the sustainability of homes by generating renewable energy on buildings owned by people who would not consider traditional solar panels.
Volt is also made from 100 per cent recyclable components.

Photography by Natassja Lindrea
Water Yuludarla Collection

Milliken

Milliken’s collaboration with Saltwater Freshwater Arts Alliance and the National Aboriginal Design Agency is part of our “Reconciliation Through Design” initiative resulting in the Water Yuludarla commercial carpet collection – a contemporary interpretation, based on the artwork of Gumbaynggirr Artist, Brentyn Lugnan.

The “Reconciliation Through Design” initiative provides a platform for collaboration between Indigenous artists and designers and the commercial interiors industry. Indigenous communities have much to offer in the way sites and spaces are designed and inhabited. Culture, community, and connection to place become integral to the creation of these environments, which pay respect to Australia’s history.

Inspired by the many elements within Brentyn’s artwork, the collection hosts six designs, signifying a connection to both the land and people of the Urunga region, mid-north coast of NSW – past, present and future. The patterns and natural colour palettes in the “Water Yuludarla” collection exude biophilic designs and are envisioned for use across multiple market segments and spaces. Designs include:

Guunu (Life): Traditional take on the ‘dot painting’ with a modern look, this design is inspired by the land and the natural environment of the Northern Regions of NSW, combining the land boundary elements which has been layered into the background.
Yildaan (Dreaming Track): is the reverse to the Guunu design. Both designs can be installed together creating a balancing effect from light to dark tones with subtle dot elements.
Bindarray (River): Captures the textural elements of the riverbank and movement of the sand connecting to the water’s edge.
Guluuna (Rain): Soft ambience of water and the combination of rain and sunlight reflections, capturing the movement and essence of the landscape.
Mayala (Moving): Blended elements of organic movement of land and water, creating an abstract appearance.
Jagun (Birthplace): A layered pattern with Mayala design in the background, while incorporating the dot elements.

Photography by Star of Sea Project_David Sievers, Coffs Harbour International Stadium_Gethin Coles
Angaston Hill

Taylor Buchtmann Architecture

Angaston Hill is a cluster of dwellings designed to house four generations. Comprising Park House, the Long House and the Pickle House, this is a family of dwellings, each different, yet clearly related.

The three houses are organised as a series of plateaus connected by ramped and stepped circulation, around a central linear axis. The street presence is deliberately informal, with a blurred boundary in keeping with the edge of township location. The cluster of buildings respects the settlement pattern of Angaston, being a series of pavilions in the landscape. Traditional forms rendered in a contemporary interpretation.

Elongated forms, with a slender section, are central to the design – evolving from the site topography, and to reinforce the original stone wall defining the rear boundary.

Views are both framed of the existing township middle ground and larger open vistas to the distant hills. Low sills accommodate the seated perspective. Significant tree views are achieved from borrowed landscape, while views to the South capture the original stone boundary wall.

The material palette is deliberately neutral with some subtle highlights to the interiors, these become more saturated stepping up the site. Each house has an individual identity achieved through the use of similar materials, but with different emphases.

Angaston Hill is a complex approach to multi-residential living, housing three distinct, varying sized, dwellings in a single development. While a very specific response to both site and client, it is designed to function equally well with unrelated occupants. It provides a concept that could be successfully deployed elsewhere.

Photography by Peter Barnes, Stuart Blackwell, Michael Buchtmann

Dissections
Lighting: The Light Impact, Belin, Gubi, Umage. Fittings & Fixtures: Caroma, Johnson Suisse, Ram Tapware, Stiebel Eltron.
Carrington Terraces

MDC Architects

This infill development provides an alternative model for medium density housing in Perth’s established suburbs.
Comprising seven two- and three-bedroom homes on a 1050 square metre site in Palmyra, just outside Fremantle, the total footprint of 690 square metres is a compact envelope that maximises useable outdoor space for residents.

The apartments are accessed via a landscaped pedestrian walkway along the site’s northern boundary, and each apartment enjoys a private north-facing courtyard. The focus on passive solar design principles that drove the orientation and spatial planning sets this development apart from others in the area, where much of the ground plane is typically given over to paved surfaces that contribute to the urban heat island effect.

Along the southern boundary, car circulation is minimised, giving access to covered car parking bays. Communal landscaping helps to further embed this new development into its established surroundings.

The modest and efficient walk-up homes enjoy amenities similar to terrace houses, and each home has its own set of internal stairs. All of the rooms make the most of verdant outlooks whether to the ground floor courtyards or district views through tree canopies upstairs.

The relatively shallow depth of each apartment allows for maximum cross ventilation and ample exposure to northern winter sunlight, creating spaces that are comfortable all year round.

The continuous brick facade creates a homogeneous approach to the built form, and timber battens provide visual privacy to the upper floor balconies.

Photography by Dion Robeson
Ali Galbraith

Breathe

Ali Galbraith joined Breathe in 2019. Her passion, ambition, talent and confident communication skills saw her quickly rise through the ranks to become Design Lead, an integral role that sees her work on nearly every project that comes through the studio. At heart, Ali cares deeply about the planet and everything she does is viewed through a holistic sustainability lens.

Ali is a big-picture thinker who enjoys collaborating with others. Her capacity for design, ability to think beyond the brief, and her incredible efficiency led her to be promoted very quickly. Ali specialises in concept design, developing the conceptual framework, facade design and working with clients to deliver on their project aspirations. She has a strong understanding of Development Feasibility and Urban Design, working across a range of scales and typologies to prepare strategic masterplans, feasibility studies and design guidelines.

Photography by Kate Longley, Tom Ross, Anson Smart
Austin House

Evissa P/L

Austin House is a single-storey late Edwardian weatherboard villa with a terracotta tiled roof and double-fronted asymmetrical façade with return veranda. It was erected in late 1914 for accountant James Bruce Lake as the first house in the street.
The cultural significance of the existing Edwardian house is embodied in the place itself, its fabric, its setting. The site provides a deep and inspirational sense of connection to the community and landscape, starting from the past towards the lived experiences. The contemporary addition is representative for its time and creates a strong dialog with the Edwardian values, bringing a clear style demarcation between the two different centuries. While structural updates, material refurbishment and well insulating levels were achieved, the authenticity of the building fabric was fully preserved.
Heritage and high-performance aren’t mutually exclusive.
The transition from old to the new is more than skin-deep. The existing structure and addition have been merged into a highly-insulated, thermal-bridge free and increased airtight envelope made from structural insulated panels by Evissa SIPs, maintaining year-round comfortable temperatures of approximately 22 degree with minimal electricity use. Ensuring a low air exchange rate between inside and outside, triggers a significantly less need for heating or cooling.

Photography by Tom Wilkinson
Emily Taylor and Warders Hotel

Matthew Crawford Architects

The Warders’ Block W1 was built in 1851 in the Victorian Georgian style as the first of three rows of terrace houses designed to house the Warders serving at the Fremantle Prison and their families. The Warders’ Cottages represent places of significant cultural heritage and are registered on the National Heritage List. The challenge facing any adaptive re-use such as the Warders Hotel with such sensitive heritage is to ensure that not only is the fabric retained but that the essence of the building is not lost.
Eleven suites have been created, six on the upper floor and five on the lower floor all with their original doors and windows. The remaining ground floor rooms have been used to house the hotel reception and a small aperitivo bar, named Gimlet.
The internal staircases have been sealed and a secondary vertical circulation system developed to the rear of the cottages. The void created over the internal stairs is used as a services riser to allow for the concealed distribution of water, electrical, data and mechanical systems.
Emily Taylor, the 450-person bar and restaurant is named after an East India Company ship that serviced the spice routes. The trusses reference the history of the site by following old fence lines, further reinforced by jarrah inlays on the floor. Imported Chinese face bricks line the walls of the restaurant and represent the ballast that ships carried, the bamboo embossed soffits, jade green quartzite bar and emerald green tiles reference the exotic Asian influences discovered on the east-west trade routes.
At the macro level an overriding architectural motif on site was to carve away the northern component of the restaurant building creating a garden area and maintaining the visual connection and setting values between the old Fremantle prison and the rear of the cottages.

Photography by Dion Robeson

Dissections
Furniture: Mobilia. Lighting: Alti and Emotion Lighting.
Midtown Centre

Fender Katsalidis

An Australian first, Midtown Centre sets a benchmark in adaptive reuse, representing a new era of sustainably designed commercial office space.
The project re-purposes two ageing inner-city office towers by strategically merging them, upgrading the inefficient façade and services infrastructure to align with GreenStar, WELL and NABERS targets. The result is the creation of single macro commercial floorplates with improved access to daylight and natural ventilation.The heritage-listed Walter Reid facade has also been respectfully reconditioned, improving the connection within its context and exposing it as part of the interior laneway experience.
Landscape has been used to mark various transitions between old and new structures in key locations. This includes a ‘green seam’ which runs vertically down the middle of the building in addition to 3,000 square metres of activated greenery across outdoor terraces, double-height sky gardens, mixed-mode atriums and balconies.
The creation of an internal, publicly accessible link between Mary and Charlotte streets provides the ‘missing piece’, connecting seven city blocks through a collection of laneways. This repositioning has elevated the urban experience, activating the laneway to engage with the public realm through a highly permeable streetscape.

Photography by Angus Martin, Milli Stuurop (Fender Katsalidis)

Dissections
Furniture: Five At Heart, Interloc, Grazia and Co, Space, Hub, Cult. Lighting: Living Edge (Tom Dixon). Finishes: SRG global, EuroPrecast, First Line engineering Pty Ltd, Iron Fist Metalcraft & Design, Aclad, Robertson’s Building Products, Earp Brothers, Signorino, DuluxGroup, Godfrey Hirst, Armstrong Ceiling Solutions, Laminex, PGH Bricks, CSR, SNB Stone, RC+D. Fittings & Fixtures: Schindler Lifts Australia Pty Ltd, Bradco (QLD) Pty Ltd, Barben, Caroma, Con-Serv
SubStation No. 164

fjmtstudio

Substation is the eclectic combination of high-tech architecture and restorative heritage design. Below the sculptural bubble sits the 1909’s Shelley warehouse and next to it the 1930’s former Electrical Substation No 164. The amalgamation of the three buildings is a synthesis of advanced materials and form, pared with regenerative architecture.
The triple sheathed glass structure, housing seven floors of workspace, employs the latest manufacturing techniques and environmental strategies. Its form is inspired by technology and industrial design. The futuristic structure is designed with softened edges reducing the impact of its scale. By tapering at its base, a rooftop terrace emerges above the heritage buildings, giving access to sunlight and fresh air. The two deteriorating heritage buildings fronting Clarence St have been sympathetically restored and reimagined as a single entity. Co-joining the buildings offers dynamic and engaging workplace settings, along with retail opportunities and a refurbished Machine Hall in the former Electrical Substation – a magnificent space of industrial scale for curated cultural and commercial events.

The interior retained many of the original features, combining structure with exposed services and minimal new ceilings. Creative design solutions merge the buildings and address the issue of their unaligned floor plates. The gap between the buildings now serves as a slender internal atrium.

Photography by Toby Peet, John Gollings, Raw Life Studios

Dissections
Furniture: AWM Furniture. Finishes: Ontera/Milliken, Dulux, Laminex, Instyle.

Sue Hutton’s Stephenson’s Mill

Hector Abrahams Architects

The project is situated on the lands of the Gundungurra people.
Stephenson’s Mill in Crookwell is exceptionally significant as a purpose-designed mill building built-in 1871 in a vernacular architectural style, using local bluestone walling 600mm thick. It is a well-known and loved landmark in this historic town.

Employing the rarely used heritage incentives clause of the Local Environmental Plan leveraged public interest which lies at the heart of the provision. Zoned commercial, it is allowed to be used for residential use in return for conservation works to the historic fabric. This particularly enabled the retention of embodied energy, the first sustainability initiative. The second was the sealing of the envelope through new sarkings, new eaves linings, and new double-glazed window sashes in existing frames. A complete suite of low-tech energy systems was provided to address the harsh climate and local habits.

This project shows that having the will, imagination and skill makes for a kind of sustainability that is low-tech, energy-wise, and fitted to the needs of people and communities.

Photography by Sue Hutton’s Stephensons Mill_Neil Waldron

Dissections
Furniture: Recycled.
ANZ Breathe

Breathe

At the first meeting with ANZ, a new vision for the company was explained that does more than just answer to its shareholders, it is encapsulated by three pillars, environmental sustainability, secure housing and financial wellbeing for all Australians.
ANZ has a proven track record as one of two of the Big Four Banks that are committed to carbon neutrality, having been carbon neutral since 2010. They invest in social and affordable housing and work with their clients to divest from fossil fuels.

The design of the project not only to include carbon neutral operations, but was also about building a branch that reduces its carbon footprint, that was a part of the circular economy, where items could be reused rather than sent to landfill when the branch changes over time.

ANZ cares deeply about the well-being of its staff and customers. Biophilic design was integral to the design with a huge amount of live plants included in each branch to not only improve indoor air quality but enhance the connection to nature for branch occupants.

Photography by Tom Ross, Kat Lu

Dissections
Furniture: Winya, Ross Gardam. Lighting: Ambience. Finishes: Zenith, Autex, Robertson’s Building Products, Interface, Sustainable Living Fabrics, Forbo, Briggs Veneers. Fittings & Fixtures: Sussex, Caroma, Billi, Assa Abloy, Market Timbers



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