Indesign issue 55 Preview Mag

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NAB Docklands The BRAGGS Bentleigh School Charles Wilson Veldhoen + Company 60 Richmond

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welcomeindesign

letter from the editor issue 55, 2013

Sydney Indesign manages to get the best of both worlds Paul mcgillick

By the time you read this, the inaugural Sydney Indesign will be well behind us – although the equally inaugural Hong Kong Indesign is just around the corner (30 November, 2013) as this issue of Indesign hits the newsstands.

It is worth reflecting on the Sydney event because, apart from being a great success, it was also highly innovative and opened up a host of possibilities for the future. Its predecessor, Saturday in Design, was a game-changer because it offered an alternative to the traditional trade fair which was expensive for participants and limited in its appeal. By simply linking all the showrooms with free and convenient transport, showrooms were able to stay at home and attract as much through-traffic in a day as they might get in a year. As we know, the event quickly became a celebration, a kind of design mardi gras, bringing party and product together over a two-day period.

Sydney Indesign manages to get the best of both worlds. The showrooms become destinations, now organised in a geographically more compact way. But the showroom circuit is now complemented by the Galleria, a central venue of pop-up showrooms and displays which becomes the hub of the event.

The Galleria is a central meeting place and also the venue for talks and presentations, again complementing the showrooms who offered their own programmes of talks and presentations.

Like Saturday in Design, Sydney Indesign was not an original concept. It was adapted from Qubique in Germany which recognised that the venue was all-important if the idea of the trade show was to have fresh legs. The railway workshops at Eveleigh in Sydney proved to be perfect – the site of yesteryear’s innovation to showcase the innovation of today. Contemporary products were set in high relief against the soaring industrial space of the former locomotive workshop.

At the end of the day, the game is about getting one’s product to market – and in an informed and inspirational-cum-aspirational context. The Indesign events offer new ways to do this, presenting the latest products within the context of a stimulating venue with supporting talks and presentations.

PAUL McGILLICK – editor

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contentindesign

dec–feb, 2013

Issue 55 regulars

portfolio

027 EVOLVE Bite-sized portions from the latest people, places, products, events

COMMERCIAL 100 NAB Docklands, Melbourne, by Woods Bagot

059 All in the family The series continues with Artemide, the Italian lighting manufacturer, a name synonymous with innovative design.

118 Adobe, Sydney, by ODCM

067 Fuse André Tammes argues the business case for quality lighting

124 Resolution Studio, Sydney by TFAD

078 CORPORATE CULTURE x Indesign Corporate Culture’s expanding and ever more flexible collection is rethinking the workplace 086 INDESIGN LUMINARY Charles Wilson has set the pace for an emerging generation of Australian designers

STUDIO

EDUCATION 130 The Braggs, Adelaide, by BVN Donovan Hill 139 Bentleigh School, Melbourne, by DWP|SUTERS Hospitality 147 Little Hunter, Melbourne, by Eades & Bergman

094 ART Ghanaian-born, Nigerian-based artist El Anatsui has positioned himself as a key player on the international art scene, from scraps

152 Sixes And Sevens, Brisbane, by Blueprint Architects

175 PULSE Architect John Wardle, shares his passion for working with timber

158 Gallery Funaki, Melbourne, by Karen Abernethy

Australian-born, Iceland-based Sruli Recht takes us on a Nordic trip through the design scene up North 183 ZONE When workplace strategists Veldhoen + Company came to rethink their own workplace, what was the resutl?

RETAIL

RESIDENTIAL 162 Hewlett Street, Sydney, by MHN Design Union 170 Fremantle House, Fremantle, by Sasha Ivanovich Architects

Celebrating the 20th Anniversary of Design Hotels, we look at four of the leading locations and how CEO Claus Sendlinger established this strong international network 193 SUSTAIN 60 Richmond is offering up afforable living solutions in downtown Toronto and adopting a fully integrated approch to sustainable living

Cover NAB Docklands, Melbourne, by Woods Bagot (pp.100-117) Photo: Trevor Mein

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Sydney Indesign: EXPERIENCE ENTHUSIASM HABITUSLIVING EDITOR, LORENZO LOGI, TALKS CANDIDLY ABOUT SYDNEY INDESIGN 2013 – A NEW VISION FOR AUSTRALIA’S PREMIER DESIGN EVENT

After conceptualising, organising, promoting and executing Sydney Indesign 2013: The Experience, it is with enormous satisfaction that we declare it a resounding success.

We have been overwhelmed and humbled by the positive response from exhibitors, the architecture and design community, and the general public.

Most notably, the Galleria space surpassed all expectations, not only hosting installations of breathtaking innovation and technical sophistication, but attracting huge crowds over three days.

Scattered throughout the surrounding suburbs, participating showrooms rolled out a diverse and exciting program of product launches, guest speakers, collaborations and parties. Having an extra day allowed showroom staff a chance to better connect with visitors, maximising the enjoyment and value for all involved.

An extensive program of seminars

and discussions further elevated the Galleria and showroom exhibits. The inaugural Indesign Podium talks and WorkLife series focused on specific topics in a relevant and contemporary tone. Zeroing in on issues facing the architecture and design industry, these talks offered an opportunity for members of the community to engage with the conversations shaping their professions.

The Habitus LiveLife series, while also tackling themes central to residential architecture, was less formal and was hosted in casual, inviting showrooms across the precincts.

We were pleased to see that our request that vendors be responsible in the serving of alcohol was observed, promoting a civilised and mature environment over the course of the event. That said, the evening parties lived up to previous years, with festivities in full swing across the city.

Overall, the range of topics, speakers and contexts ensured the seminar and

discussion series attracted a broad audience, adding a stimulating and educational dimension. The most important (yet intangible) success of this year’s Sydney Indesign however, was the enormous enthusiasm of everyone involved.

Whether a subliminal effect of the hot pink plastering the city, the result of gloriously warm August weather or perhaps just due to the excitement of so many people working together, the mood among visitors, exhibitors and organisers was fantastic.

The first edition of the newly reimagined Sydney Indesign has redefined Australia’s premier design event, and we’re positive that we’ll only keep improving in years to come.

sydneyindesign.com

ABOVE Fontana Arte: BLOM; designed by Andreas Engesvik from Cafe Culture

evolveindesign

CHRIS HARDY Up-and-coming Canberra-based designer, Chris Hardy, took to the Galleria floor for Sydney Indesign 2013. Pairing with Bellwood creative, the ‘Link’ concept for The Project explores the ‘process’ by demonstrating the product’s developmental stages from start to finish, featuring ‘Langdon’ stool (pictured) and armchair, in addition to the ‘Sixties’ pendant lamp. Hardy’s work exemplifies a new breed of raw minimalism in design, where only the bare essentials are permissable, and where function and form collide.

chrishardy.com.au

PEDRALI PROTOTYPE

A TOUCH OF SWEDE

Designed by Claudio Dondoli and Marco Pocci, ‘Volt’ represents a new concept that expresses the smart simplicity of everyday lifestyle. The thin and linear design paired with its graceful proportions and fresh colours make ‘Volt’ a sitting that stands out for its attention to detail.

This year’s Sydney Indesign played host to several members of the international design community, most notably famed Swedish sisters, Marie and Annica Eklund, for BOLON by The Andrews Group. The pair’s presence was bolstered in the newly re-configured Corporate Culture showroom, where a magnificently-curated BOLON homage installation was featured. BOLON was not only expertly integrated into the space, but paired with a visual telling of the BOLON story.

cafeculture.com.au

corporateculture.com.au

WINNING FORMULA Family-owned appliance and bathroom specialist, Winning Appliances, dominated the Redfern/Waterloo precinct at Sydney Indesign. Hosting celebrity chefs, cocktail parties and dishing-out $20,000 worth of prizes, Winnings’ made its mark on the industry, demonstrating the highest-end appliance capabilities from the likes of Smeg, Miele, Fisher & Paykel and Wolf to name a few. It is safe to say that Winnings – now a century-old business – has more than a few tricks up its sleeve.

winningappliances.com.au

THE PROJECT 2013 The Project returned this year, focusing on the theme of ‘process’. While there were several excellent collaborations, architectural studio Rice Daubney’s project with drainage designers Stormtech was certainly a stand-out installation. Celebrating the launch of Stormtech’s latest Marc Newson-designed grate, the Rice Daubney team developed an ‘outside the box’ design: an interactive walk-through water world.

ricedaubney.com.au / stormtech.com.au

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HIGH RES to come

evolveindesign

COMMENT are they all talk and no action? alice blackwood takes on the me-gen face-to-face, in real time, and yes there is hope portrait Megan Cullen illustration Frances Yeoland

don’t know about you, but I’m finding today’s graduates don’t seem to care a bit about making an effort – nor are they interested in taking any initiative. They have this sense of… ‘self entitlement’.

A friend (also incidentally a senior designer within a large architectural firm) recently made this comment, and what he said really resonated with me, because I’d heard it before – numerous times in fact – through general conversation with senior personnel working within architectural practices, design businesses and more.

Casting about for reading material on new generations in the workplace I quickly discovered that the discussion around what is purportedly called the Me Generation – or Millennials – is no new concept. Although the conversation is largely taking place in corporate business sectors, where cross-generational communication training is a well established component of employee development.

Further research on ‘Me Gen’ (let’s say 20 – 26 year-olds) within workplace contexts revealed a perceived divide between ‘us’ and ‘them’, owing largely to Me Gen’s communication style and lack of acknowledgement for the traditional management-versusemployee hierarchical structures common within most organisations.

“The Me Generation just isn’t buying the old-timer saying that you have to put in your time,” writes Cindy Perman of CNBC. “Of course, wanting to accelerate your career (and your paycheck) is fine, but one thing many 20-somethings today seem to be lacking is tact. They may be almost rudely obvious about the fact that they took this internship just to network.

“And, while these kids today may be savvier at technology and social media than their older counterparts,

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one thing [which is particularly important] is teaching soft skills – you know, good old-fashioned handshaking and talking on the phone, not just sending an email or text.”

Ok, so we’ve ascertained that Me Gen are a little uncommunicative in ‘real time’, and are keenly interested in promoting their own interests. But much of the reading I’ve been doing seems to find focus in what Me Gen is apparently lacking. And I can’t help but think that the problem may not stem solely from this tech-age generation but may, in part, be owing to human resources management.

I asked the MD of an architectural supply company what he perceives to be the motivations and values of Me Gen. His comments give me pause for reflection: ‘The prize isn’t the money and the fame, the prize is the legacy.’ Work hard and build your skills/ expertise/ knowledge/ company/ empire – but not necessarily for the fame and riches. I can really relate to this work ethic, it engages my inborn instinct for working hard and reaping the rewards. But why is it that so many Me Gen employees are not ‘down’ with this approach?

Having worked in creative industries for almost a decade, I can’t help but wonder if human resources management is at the core of this widening generational divide that seems increasingly to be accentuated by an inability to relate to, manage and empower our younger counterparts. I often feel like the difference between being the best you can and striving for ‘more’ from your daily working life, and finding and achieving that ‘more’ is owing to a lack of human resource support and undeveloped management styles.

I know what this Me Gen attitude must look like to management: it looks like a lack of interest, over-the-top expectations, a weak work ethic and a

rather strong focus on M.E. in TEAM. But I also think the key to engaging the work ethic and latent energy of Me Gens requires investment in human resources management.

Because we too need to extend our communications capabilities and better equip ourselves to relate to and inspire these new-generation workers.

Monica Parker, head of workplace strategy at Morgan Lovell, believes that engaging and empowering Me Gen is about tapping into their evolved form of social cohesion.“Millennials trust people that they meet online, more than the people they meet IRL – ‘in real life’,” she said, “because they feel that people are radically transparent with them online.”

In her Activity Based Working seminar at the Autodesk headquarters in the UK, Parker said: “What this means for your change initiative is that it’s got to come from a community model; a community from a sociological point of view is any group with a shared social cohesion.

“So what we’ve got to do is find those linkages and they may not be around departments, they may be people who love a football team, or new mothers. But whatever that social cohesion is, there will be a leader in that group, and you need to find those leaders to lead your change initiative.

Be it a workplace or another initiative.

It is not about top down anymore.”

So how do we recapture that “elusive buzz” at work? Parker says: “You need to create a space that has a reason for people to come back to... I don’t think the office is dying, I think it is about the transformation of the office, the idea that if you want people to come in and have buzz, and your purpose for them is to drive innovation, [then] does the space actually facilitate that? Are you facilitating that, or are you basically housing an ant farm?”

By gaining a better understanding and insight into the viewpoints and values of our younger generations we can perhaps re-channel their motivations and energy towards more cohesive, community-driven outcomes. And through this establish ourselves as thought-leaders and innovators in the design of those environments in which we engage.

Alice Blackwood is a practicing design editor, journalist and communications consultant.

1 Cindy Perman: ‘Are Millennials really the ‘Me’ generation?’, CNBC, 16 August 2013 2 Monica Parker: ‘Activity Based Working at Autodesk’, 20 December 2012, retrieved from YouTube

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Does good quality lighting have the ability to ensure worker satisfaction?

Lighting Editor, André Tammes reports

Lighting

Organisational efficiency

Ventilation

ew question whether better lighting is a good thing. Much lip service is paid to the difference lighting can make to most environments. The combined effort of manufacturers, architects and an increasing number of specialist designers has resulted in lighting gaining prominent recognition as a design element. In the case of office environments it is notable that, as little as 20 years ago, electric lighting was largely considered to be the necessary replacement of, or supplement to, daylight and was specified as part of the electrical services of the building.

The major determinants of the quality of the electric lighting were its capital cost, its operational cost and its ability to integrate with other building services. This is generally still the case, although considerations such as

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sustainability and compliance with energy codes are now added to the mix.

In the case of retail, hospitality, entertainment and arts buildings, lighting has invariably been recognised as an influence which attracts, and retains, customers and visitors. Whilst owners of these building types can be reticent to meet the greater cost of ‘good’ lighting, they normally have an intuitive sense that they will receive a return on investment (ROI) made into its capital and operational costs.

The return takes the form of greater public ‘footfall’, increased sales, repeat visits, recognition of brand and the role that lighting can have in creating an iconic building. Under these circumstances intuition serves well, but what happens when the ROI is not based on intuition but on a hardnosed evaluation of whether greater expenditure on lighting is going to yield a financial return?

This question has dogged the lighting community for many years.

Lighting people carry an inbuilt belief, verging on fervour, that better lighting makes their fellow citizens happier with their surroundings and that this belief should be sufficient to get increased investment across the line.

However, we live in a world in which empirical proof carries all before it....!

In the case of office lighting there are substantial issues at stake. Large floor plates dictate large quantities of lighting equipment, which indicate substantial capital and operational costs. This is particularly the case if the decision is taken to capture the benefits

of ‘solid state lighting’, based on the use of LED technology and associated electronic control systems. Whilst such technology offers advantages in energy saving and reduced lamp replacement costs, it comes with what remains a high initial price tag when compared to fluorescent lighting.

So, is lighting in the working environment, particularly in offices, an overhead which must simply be endured as part of the price of operations? Or should it be considered as an investment which can yield a monetary return? Research suggests that this may be the case. The above diagram indicates that lighting is a key contributor to overall satisfaction in the office environment.

There are two key considerations in assessing whether lighting can ‘earn its keep’ – can workers become more productive when provided with optimised lighting conditions and does such lighting enhance job satisfaction, with attendant benefits to the employer?

The relationship of lighting to productivity is determined by the nature of the task being undertaken.

Visually predominated tasks, such as those involving reading, are particularly likely to benefit from better lighting. The graphs on the opposite page by lighting researcher Peter Boyce, indicates that, as light levels increase, the task is undertaken more rapidly and with fewer errors, as does comprehension and the speed with which this occurs. It is also notable that the size of detail of the task, e.g. the font

Privacy & Acoustics

Above How satisfaction

with lighting can affect organisational efficiency.

Veitch et al, 2004, Concept courtesy of National Research Council Canada. Illustrated by Alex Buccheri

OPPOSITE PAGE LEFT

Lighting installation by ARUP for the GPT MLC project DIAGRAM right

Performance on two types of reading task, proofreading and comprehension. Printing was good quality on white paper: (a) time taken to proofread a passage and the percentage of hits, i.e., errors detected, plotted against illuminance; (b) speed and level of comprehension plotted against illuminance. Image source: Human Factors in Lighting by Peter R. Boyce.

Copyright 2003

FUSEindesign

words ANDRĂŠ TAMMES illustration Alex buccheri

Intent to leave

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Turnover

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FLEXIBLE WORK CORPORATE CULTURE teams up with INDESIGN TO BEND AND SNAP THE LATEST FROM THEIR flexible COLLECTION corporate culture + Indesign pHOTOGRAPHY tim robinson styling alicia sciberras art direction MARCUS PIPER

corporate cultureindesign

PLACE Clockwise from top RIGHT

‘Lampadaire’ standing lamp 3 arms by Serge Mouille; ‘Ro’ chair in light pink with aluminium legs designed by Jaime Hayon for Fritz Hanson; ‘PK22 Easy’ chair in walnut leather designed by Poul Kjaerholm in 1956 for Fritz Hansen; ‘John-John’ pouf upholstered in pelle frau soul by Jean-Marie Massuad in 2011 for Poltrona Frau; ‘PO’ white ceramic bowl by Lorenzo Damiani for Cappellini; ‘Grid’ rug in grey mélange

by HAY; ‘Chester One’ 3 seat sofa in white

by Poltrona Frau from archive collection; ‘Series 9’ clothes and hat stand by Fritz Hansen

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MATRIX FOR CHANGE

WORDS Paul McGillick PHOTOGRAPHY Shannon McGrath, Trevor Mein ARCHITECT Woods Bagot LOCATION Melbourne | AUS PROJECT NAB DOCKLANDS

NAB’s bold new building in Docklands reveals the benefits of an integrated design process

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this page The dynamic ‘fractal’

geometry of the atrium

opposite top The client meeting

area is like a little village opposite bottom The ‘fractal’ theme is continued with the client meeting rooms

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An Inside-Out Building A triangulated site in a pedestrian precinct producing a pedestrianised building – there is nothing formulaic about this building. There is a road servicing the building, but tucked around on the railway side and leading to a mere 140 parking places in the building’s carpark. Here at 700 Bourke Street the pedestrian and the cyclist rule (600 bicycle places) and the building forms part of a pedestrianised urban complex fed by the footbridge linking Docklands with the CBD via the new Southern Cross railway station.

Karalis and Calder struggled at first with the triangular site. An atrium was a given, but should there be a street or simply a huge atrium like a shopping centre? The epiphany, as Calder calls it, was to see that it could be all of that. The street already existed – the footbridge – and this now feeds into a kind of piazza or forecourt before it “morphs into the atrium” as the visitor is first drawn in and then up into the building.

The concourse level includes a 270-seat theatrette, retail space including a NAB store and café and a new co-working space for NAB Customers. Then steps and escalators draw the visitor up to the sky lobby, also a public space with a 250 seat seminar room and the bank’s reception, but with a sinuous cluster of open and enclosed, formal and informal meeting spaces for customers and staff and linking to what has to be one of the most the most delightful childcare centres in any commercial building. Ultimately, the dynamic triangulated atrium space draws you up to the very top at Level 14 with its landscaped roof garden and its phenomenal views back to the city.

From the city there is an equally extraordinary view back to the building whose 140 metre eastern elevation is punctuated by bold ‘fissures’ – part metaphor in

. .. a sinuous cluster of open and enclosed, formal and informal meeting spaces for customers and staff... pAul mcgillick

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portfolioindesign 139

words Mark Scruby photography Emma Cross architect DWP|SUTERS location Melbourne | AUS PROJECT Bentleigh School

Reflective Education A Melbourne school has added to its award-winning eco credentials with a sublime meditation centre indesignlive.com

Green Thinking

A co-operative housing project in downtown Toronto shows how modern residential structures can provide sustainable, affordable, exciting spaces to live in

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THIS PAGE South façade

words Jon Scott Blanthorn photography SHAI GIL

of the mixed-use co-op.

The ground-floor restaurant is operated by inhabitants of the units above, who serve produce grown on the rooftop gardens RIGHT View from a recessed balcony on the top floor. Toronto’s St James Cathedral can be seen in the distance

architect Teeple Architects location Toronto | CANADA PROJECT 60 Richmond EAST

or decades, cities have struggled with the conundrum of affordable housing. To be vital, appealing and financially competitive, urban areas depend on constant growth and the variety of roles that people across the economic spectrum play. However, this system tends to rely on developers and businesses that require a return on investment so high it makes costs prohibitive for much of the community. Add to this the common reluctance of local residents to welcome housing projects into their neighbourhoods and finding solutions that improve an area’s sustainability and people’s quality of life can seem impossible.

However, in the heart of Toronto’s CBD, a cooperative housing project has overcome social inequalities by merging people’s needs and urban forms, while also achieving Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification.

Although Toronto is not without its municipal problems, it has weathered the global economic crisis far better than most Western cities, allowing it to experiment with social builds that might otherwise prove too high a risk for many of its counterparts.

Local firm Teeple Architects’ 60 Richmond East is an 11-storey, 85-unit co-operative designed to house tenants who were forced to re-locate due to the redevelopment of Toronto’s Regent Park – a community once characterised by high rates of poverty, unemployment and crime. Co-operatives can

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integrate people from different backgrounds and income levels into one construct, which members living there control. They mix full-fee units with others that are subsidised through a program run by the inhabitants themselves. Residents of 60 Richmond East are primarily employed in the hospitality industry and belong to the local Unite Here union.

They run and operate a restaurant and training kitchen on the ground floor of the building, leveraging their collective experience.

Although the building appears as several distinct boxes placed on top of each other at different recesses, it was conceived as a solid volume with low-emission, argon-filled, double-glazed windows. The difficulty of achieving a sustainable build within the cost limitations of the construction industry was solved by employing straightforward flat-slab construction, well-insulated 60 per cent-solid wall surfaces and thermally broken fibreglass windows. The entire structure is wrapped in what Teeple Architects partner Stephen Teeple calls a “high-quality building envelope”. In fact, it is an insulated rainscreen cladding that eliminates thermal bridging and, in combination with a sophisticated mechanical system that transfers energy from the warm south side to the cold north side of the building, provides optimal performance and substantial energy savings. In-suite heat recovery is provided throughout, resulting in an exceptionally energy-efficient residential building. “Both the highindesignlive.com

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