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Issue #85 / Australia $16.50 / New Zealand $17.50 / Singapore $12.95 / U.S. $21.99

A professional resource for the design curious.

INDE.Awards Official Winners 2021 INDESIGN Luminary Nonda Katsalidis ANZ Open House, Foolscap Studio Microsoft, GroupGSA Society, Russell & George Indesign’s ‘Social Spaces’ Issue

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FROM THE EDITOR & PUBLISHER

Alice Blackwood Editor, Indesign Magazine

Raj Nandan CEO and Founder, Indesign Media Asia Pacific

On The Cover The Rajasthan School in India, by Sanjay Puri Architects, received an Honourable Mention for The Learning Space category at INDE.Awards 2021, photo: Dinesh Mehta. Explore the INDE.Awards Official Winners on page 29.

250,950+ readers engaged across print, digital and social... indesignlive.com /indesignlive @indesignlive @indesignlive

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One of the most rewarding things about the INDE.Awards is that it puts us in touch with a huge regional community of architects and designers who are talented, intelligent and just as enthusiastic about exceptional design as we are.

The 2021 INDE.Awards Gala and INDE.Summit pulled that diverse crowd of creatives in close. And it generated big energy! I want to congratulate all our 2021 winners: you stood out in a diverse and highly competitive field of entries, and your work set an impressive benchmark. Discover this year’s winners, page 29, and start planning for your 2022 INDE.Awards submissions at www.indeawards.com Hospitality and retail are among those industries which have really felt the brunt of prolonged lockdowns and social restrictions. But we don’t want to dwell on the hardships.

What can be achieved from that? For this edition of Indesign, The ‘Social Spaces’ Issue, we’ve sought out the revelations: lessons, insights and accomplishments – new design strategies to guide us forward.

Let me pull out a few teasers for you. Challenge: How do we address the climate crisis while still delivering inspiring architecture? Koichi Takada presents a strong case for plant based architecture and design. Challenge: Aligning feasibilities with the complex desires of us, fickle social beings. We host a round-table discussion with DesignOffice, Richards Stanisich, Worksmith and Right Angle Studio to put forward a pre-design services proposition. Challenge: Many shopping malls are now out-of-step with new-normal requirements. Emily Wombwell of SJB shows us how retail is rewriting its future through sensitively designed mixeduse precincts.

Before you dig into the magazine, flip first to the very back – page 174 – and spend two minutes reading our new column. It’s all about process. Not the finished product.

And it’s a space where we can explore new best practice approaches to cross-cultural consultation with Australia’s First Nations People.

Enjoy the issue, send me an email! alice@indesign.com.au

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CONTRIBUTORS

Introducing the

Voices of Indesign – The ‘Social Spaces’ Issue

Emily Wombwell Studio Director, SJB

Helen Norrie Architecture and Design Academic, University of Tasmania

Koichi Takada Principal and Founder, Koichi Takada Architects

Mark Simpson Joint Creative Director, DesignOffice

Kirsten Stanisich Director, Richards Stanisich

Emily’s experience ranges from large-scale mixed-use and commercial precincts, public health, defence and education buildings, to multiunit residential projects and private houses. Emily is enthusiastic about achieving high quality design outcomes that generate sustainable social and economic value.

In 2016, Emily co-founded the speaker event series, Perspectives, a platform for the women of creative industries to share their perspectives on a broad range of topics. Emily is also a tutor for Architectural Design at University of New South Wales.

Helen is an architecture and design academic at the University of Tasmania.

She is also the founder of the Regional Urban Studies Laboratory (RUSL), a collaborative practice-led research project that engages directly with councils and communities to examine urban design, cultural and social issues in Tasmanian towns and cities.

Koichi belongs to a new generation of architects that strive to bring nature back into the urban environment – an approach he matured after living in cities of high urbanisation: Tokyo, New York and London. Koichi leads the design of all Koichi Takada Architects’ projects, working closely with a team of 50 + passionate and highly skilled architects. His emphasis is on a connection to nature, on humanising and naturalising the urban environment. Each project embodies his commitment to organic form and consideration for human experience and the natural environment. Through a series of award-winning designs, the growing practice is gaining an international reputation and is about to change the skylines of Sydney, Brisbane, Tokyo, China and Los Angeles.

Mark is the Joint Creative Director of DesignOffice with Damien Mulvihill. The Melbourne-based studio was established in 2008 and works across multi-use commercial, hospitality, retail, institutional and residential sectors. Mark worked in the London offices of both DEGW and Allies & Morrison Architects. In 2002 he joined Universal Design Studio as part of the core design team, where he first met and worked alongside Damien.

Arriving in Melbourne in 2006, Mark joined Carr and worked with clients across a range of market sectors and scales. Following this, he established the Australian office of Universal Design Studio with Jay Osgerby and Edward Barber and re-united with Damien to share joint direction of the practice, leading to the formation of DesignOffice in 2008.

Kirsten embraces simplicity.

Quietly confident, she sees things that others don’t.

Inspired by the intersections between art, life and design, she crafts rhythmic and materially expressive spaces – ones that people talk about and remember. Kirsten founded Richards Stanisich with Jonathan Richards in 2018. She has a wealth of experience across the residential and hospitality sectors and works regularly with large corporate clients on CBD projects. Kirsten regularly participates in industry events and awards programs with public speaking, participation on judging panels, and has held prominent positions in the Design Institute of Australia.

In 2019, Kirsten was inducted into the Design Institute of Australia’s Hall of Fame.

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Architecture, Like Food, Benefits Greatly W hen We Slow The Process Down Page 146

Making Magic Happen: The Pre-Design Proposition Page 150

Making Magic Happen: The Pre-Design Proposition Page 150

– It Takes A Village Page 148

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– Seeding Change Page 174

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CONTENTS

I N D E . AWA R D S

Official Winners 2021.

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IN SHORT

The ultimate industry cheat sheet.

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I N FA M O U S

Big thinkers and creative gurus.

INDESIGN Luminary Nonda Katsalidis 80

Ara Salomone and Alessandra French, State of Kin 87

Alexy Kos and Che Huang, Child Studio 92

IN SITU

Provocative, innovative and inspiring design.

Society, Melbourne, by Russell & George 102

Hilton Melbourne Little Queen Street, Melbourne by Bates Smart with Lovell Chen 110

Cotton On, Geelong, Victoria by Greg Natale with PTID 114

Microsoft, Sydney by GroupGSA 122

Yarram Integrated Healthcare Service, Yarram, Victoria by McBride Charles Ryan 128

ANZ Open House, Melbourne by Foolscap Studio 134

IN DEPTH

“New design strategies for social spaces.”

Koichi Takada: Architecture, Like Food, Benefits Greatly When We Slow The Process Down 146

Emily Wombwell, SJB: It Takes A Village 148

Making Magic Happen: The Pre-Design Proposition 150

Blending Space And Time 156

How Do You Want To Feel?

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DISSECTIONS

170 IN PROCESS

Seeding Change 174

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Winners 2021

Celebrating regional design on the global stage

Celebrating INDE.Awards 2021 On Thursday 5 August the winners of the 2021 INDE.Awards were announced in a special virtual gala event. With over 680 submissions received from 14 locations across the Indo-Pacific, the INDE.Awards this year has been an outstanding showcase for innovation, creative architecture and design that articulates the breadth and diversity of our region. Congratulations to all our winners, your extraordinary projects and achievements have set design precedents this year.

INDE.Awards 2021 Jury Jeff Copolov – Director, Bates Smart, Australia Brodie Neill – Founder & Industrial Designer, Brodie Neill, Australia/UK Chan Ee Mun – Architect, WOHA, Singapore Florian Heinzelmann & Daliana Suryawinata – Founders & Directors, SHAU, Indonesia James Calder – Global Director, User Strategy, ERA-co, Australia Jan Utzon – Architect, Utzon Architects, Denmark Judy Cheung – Co-Founder, Cheungvogl, Hong Kong Leone Lorrimer – National Practice Leader, GHDWoodhead, Australia Liam Timms – Fund Manager, International Towers, Australia Luke Yeung – Principal, Architectkidd, Thailand Praveen Nahar – Director, India National Institute of Design, India Shashi Caan – Founding Partner, SC Collective, USA/UK Tonya Hinde – Principal & Design Lead, Billard Leece Partnership, Australia Peta Heffernan – Director, Liminal Studio, Australia Raj Nandan – Founder & CEO, Indesign Media, Australia

Partners Platinum Partner Best of the Best Partner

The Luminary

The Prodigy

The Building

The Multi-Residential Building

The Living Space

The Work Space

The Social Space

The Shopping Space

The Learning Space

The Wellness Space

The Design Studio

The Influencer

The Object

The Graduate

The Trophy Partner

Page 29: The Rajasthan School by Sanjay Puri Architects, India | Honourable Mention for The Learning Space | Photography by Dinesh Mehta

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2021

Best of the Best Proudly Partnered by

School of Design and Environment 1 Special Projects, NUS School of Design and Environment with CPG Consultants | Singapore School of Design and Environment 1, situated in Singapore, is an adaptive reuse project that has reinvented a 1970s building by SJ van Embden. The project now boasts a contemporary and comfortable academic environment for future generations of students and staff. It includes multiple sustainability initiatives such as net-zero energy, a solar roof, retrofitted building sensors, and a cutting-edge Hybrid Cooling system.

“This is an exciting project in its transformation for new technologies, embracing the climate, seeking and controlling natural light, and connecting with tropical greenery – all while respecting the bones of the existing building.”

– INDE.Awards 2021 Jury Photography by Ong Chan Hao, Erik L’Heureux

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2021

The Building

Te Whare Nui o Tuteata : SCION Timber Innovation Hub

Proudly Partnered by

RTA Studio & Irving Smith Architects New Zealand Te Whare Nui o Tuteata was conceived as a destination of welcome to the National Timber Research Institute in Rotorua, New Zealand, and provides visitors with the opportunity to learn and understand sustainable ways of resourcing and building with timber. With myriad and exemplary sustainability initiatives in the design, the building achieved embodied carbon zero at the end of construction with no off-setting of carbon credits.

Honourable Mention

“A singularly outstanding design that fully embraces sustainability, people and place.”

– INDE.Awards 2021 Jury Photography by Patrick Reynolds

Smart Design Studio Smart Design Studio | Australia Photography by Romello Pereira

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2021

Proudly Partnered by

The MultiResidential Building

Pipi Smart Design Studio | Australia Pipi, designed by Smart Design Studio, is a beautifully sculpted building that speaks of luxurious and contemporary design.

Comprising 29 apartments and a penthouse with retail at ground level, Pipi is a showcase of creative form, excellent amenity and thoughtful detailing. Along with other sustainability inclusions the materiality is appropriate for the seaside location and has been chosen with care to help reduce maintenance during the life of the building.

“A masterful study of restraint, simplicity, and sculptural modeling showing a maturity of hand with an eye to the distilled essence of its locale that links the outside to in. This contemporary yet classical composition will stand the test of time and is an outstanding contribution to the Bondi street scape.”

– INDE.Awards 2021 Jury Photography by Romello Pereira

Honourable Mention

Breese Street by Milieu DKO with Breathe Architecture & Milieu Property | Australia Photography by Tom Ross

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2021

The Work Space Alexander House

Proudly Partnered by

Alexander &CO. | Australia Alexander House acts as a forward-thinking design laboratory to support a diversity of uses.

Located within a heritage context and providing a highly flexible, co-working environment, the project champions the local craftspeople and also provides a working space to explore sustainability techniques, carbon sequestration and environmental innovation. There are extensive sustainable innovations that include a solar system that supplies 60 to 80 per cent of the daily electrical supply.

“Co-working never looked or felt so good, with highly appealing circular economy goals.”

– INDE.Awards 2021 Jury Photography by Anson Smart

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2021

The Work Space Smart Design Studio

Proudly Partnered by

Smart Design Studio | Australia Smart Design Studio resides within an innovative, sustainable and sculptural building. It pushes the envelope in terms of construction, finding a rare balance between structural and decorative. The naturally lit and ventilated studio collects its own water and generates its own power creating a carbon neutral building and the interior is characterised by existing warehouse elements including sawtooth roofs, delicate trusses and intact brick façades.

“Clean and soft come together in a working studio to inspire and caress the Smart people.”

– INDE.Awards 2021 Jury Photography by Romello Pereira

Honourable Mention

Sculptform Studio Woods Bagot | Australia Photography by Peter Bennetts

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Honourable Mention

Coopworth FMD Architects | Australia Photography by Dianna Snape

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The Living Space Proudly Partnered by

Federal House Edition Office | Australia The Federal House is a vessel for its owners to both inhabit and enable the experience of place and time – it is a sanctuary. The house expresses an honest understanding of shelter. With no airconditioning, all spaces are naturally cooled with cross ventilation, and cool air is drawn from the pool’s surface, through the cloister fern garden and into the upper living spaces.

“The success of any project can be judged by its ability to synthesise all the pragmatic imperatives into a poetic whole that delivers beyond the client’s dream. This house is a testament to the architect’s deep thought about the intangibles of time, context, history, and future lives, to produce a tangible sanctuary in complete harmony with its place.”

– INDE.Awards 2021 Jury Photography by Ben Hosking

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2021

The Social Space HERO ACMI

Proudly Partnered by

Chris Connell Design | Australia Situated in Melbourne at Federation Square, the interior of the HERO ACMI concept was inspired by a 1967 Jacques Tati film, entitled Playtime. With unique dining zones under a uniform ceiling, this allday casual restaurant reflects a cool interior aesthetic with art at its heart. A feature of the interior is the broad-stroke portraits that line the walls, by Australian artist Christina Zimpel.

Honourable Mention

“This interior is an exemplary study in clarity, restraint, balance, and harmony with outstanding compositional judgment. The simplicity belies the crafted attention to detail to produce a compelling stage set for the theatre of dining.”

– INDE.Awards 2021 Jury Photography by Earl Carter

Ten Minutes by Tractor COX Architecture | Australia Photography by Rory Gardiner

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2021

The Shopping Space Citi Wealth Hub

Proudly Partnered by

Ministry of Design with Architectural QP: Space Design Architects | Singapore Citi Wealth Hub challenges the conventions of traditional banking interiors. The project covers four floors and more than 2275 square metres with 30 client advisory rooms, hot desking offices, function and event rooms.

On levels seven and eight the interior is a lush and immersive indoor conservatory, while on levels six and nine there is a relaxed environment for the Relationship Managers.

Honourable Mention

“Transforming traditional ideas of banking, this project is next level bringing the outside in and creating a veritable oasis within the urban jungle.”

– INDE.Awards 2021 Jury Photography by KHOOGJ

Sarah & Sebastian Russell & George | Australia Photography by Sean Fennessy

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Honourable Mention

Proudly Partnered by

School of Design and Environment 1 Special Projects, NUS School of Design and Environment with CPG Consultants Singapore

The Rajasthan School Sanjay Puri Architects | India

The School of Design and Environment 1 in Singapore is the result of excellent architectural design in repurposing a building into a fresh new academic environment. The design consists of two conjoined blocks with a series of shelves to bring natural light deep into the floor plate and screens that fold have been employed to filter solar heat gain provide views and allow natural ventilation.

Photography by Dinesh Mehta

“A great example of how to adapt existing education building typologies to suit unique climate differences and create comfortable, low impact interiors that are beautiful and sensitively embedded in their surrounds.”

– INDE.Awards 2021 Jury Photography by Ong Chan Hao, Erik L’Heureux

2021

The Learning Space

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Honourable Mention

Buff Nail Studios Design By GOLDEN | Australia Photography by Sharyn Cairns

2021

The Wellness Space

MacMurray Medical Centre Warren and Mahoney | New Zealand The MacMurray Centre situated in Auckland, New Zealand, encompasses the ideas of wellbeing, presenting an interior that is relaxed and calming for both patients and staff. A double-height void at the entrance provides a focal point and meeting place for patients and visitors. Views to the outside, filtered light and interior finishes reference the natural environment.

“With calming continuity between the external and internal design language, this project is an outstanding contribution and lifts the bar for healthcare design.”

– INDE.Awards 2021 Jury Photography by Jono Parker

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Proudly Partnered by

2021

Proudly Partnered by

The Design Studio Smart Design Studio Australia Established in 1997, Smart Design Studio has evolved into one of the leading practices in the region and now resides in a beautiful purposebuilt home that includes myriad sustainable initiatives. The studio covers a diverse range of projects from master-plans, commercial and public projects and multi-residential and private residences. The practice of some 40 people produces buildings and interiors that have achieved distinction and received multiple awards.

Honourable Mention

“A progressive and creative studio that is leading by example through its work practices, original projects and sustainable innovations.”

– INDE.Awards 2021 Jury Photography by Romello Pereira

Russell & George Australia Photography by Paul Martin

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2021

The Influencer CArrelé – The Calcium Brick Collection

Proudly Partnered by

Elaine Yan Ling Ng with Nature Squared | Philippines Created by Elaine Yan Ling Ng for Nature Squared, CArrelé is a collection of multi-purpose floor and wall tiles made from eggshells.

Each square metre of tiles uses more than 3000 eggshells. The eggshells are combined with a special bonding agent and, through the ‘egg-loop’ ecosystem and the formula developed by Ng, practical value is added to this waste material.

Honourable Mention

“This is a product that ticks every box – sustainable, innovative, creative, useful and beautiful. Simply outstanding in every aspect.”

– INDE.Awards 2021 Jury Photography by Tracy Wong

Te Whare Nui o Tuteata : SCION Timber Innovation Hub RTA Studio & Irving Smith Architects New Zealand Photography by Patrick Reynolds

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2021

Proudly Partnered by

The Object

The Embossed Acoustic Panel Collection Woven Image | Australia The Embossed Acoustic Panel collection provides floor-to-ceiling, three-dimensional acoustic solutions for commercial interiors.

At 2.8 metres high, the panels are a seamless inclusion for commercial interiors and they pattern-match for continuous wall and double-height installations.

The sustainability credentials are also impeccable, made from 60 per cent recycled PET, each panel diverts 235 x 600 millilitre single-use plastic bottles from global landfill and waterways.

“This is a versatile, decorative and sustainable object that provides the ultimate in acoustic requirement and resolution.”

– INDE.Awards 2021 Jury Photo courtesy of Woven Image

Honourable Mention

Betwixt Café Ceramic Crockery Concept Black | Australia Photography by Concept Black

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2021

The Prodigy

Xi Chen Atelier XI | China Xi Chen established his practice, Atelier XI, after returning to his homeland, China, having worked in Copenhagen and New York. The studio focuses on public and cultural projects but Chen would like to explore other project types in the future.

A passionate practitioner, Chen has a hope and vision, that the architecture of the region will respond to the particular cultural and climactic conditions, wherever an architect may reside.

“Xi Chen is a visionary designer who is just beginning his important work of gently fabricating places for the theatre of life.

A worthy Prodigy winner to watch.”

– INDE.Awards 2021 Jury Photo courtesy of Xi Chen

Proudly Partnered by

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The Luminary

Penelope Forlano

Proudly Partnered by

Forlano Design | Australia Penelope Forlano is a multidisciplinary powerhouse, with interests spanning design anthropology, community engagement through public art, and material experimentation.

These perspectives have shaped her multifaceted design career which encompasses installations, exhibitions, art, furniture and teaching. Forlano is a well-recognised researcher in her field and her 2018 thesis Making Custodians: A Design Anthropology approach to designing emotionally enduring built environment artefacts explores emotional and psychological consumption practices.

“Forlano’s work goes beyond what she knows, to use design to play in the unknown, to experiment with different materials and methods with fluid and inspirational collaborations rather than a rigid response to a given brief.”

– INDE.Awards 2021 Jury Photography by David Broadway

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2021

The Graduate

Proudly Partnered by

James McNicol University of Technology Sydney | Australia The project facilitates the relationship of interdependence between crabs and rice that rises out of disparities in food production between North and South Korea. Proposing multiple sites that farm crabs and rice situated on both sides of the Imjin River, the idea of reciprocity can then be explored through an architectural intervention that suspends the friend and enemy distinction by relying on the neutrality of the water.

Honourable Mention

“Innovative and progressive, the project reaches beyond the architectural to become a conduit for peace-making.”

– INDE.Awards 2021 Jury

Liam Oxlade RMIT University | Australia

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BIG THINKERS AND CREATIVE GURUS

FAMOUS INDESIGN

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INDESIGN Luminary

The History Maker Words Leanne Amodeo Portrait Photography Kristoffer Paulsen

Ask Nonda Katsalidis what his favourite Fender Katsalidis project is, and he’ll succinctly say it’s always the next building.

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Sculpture In The Sky 108 Australia (left) and Eureka Tower (right) hold a distinct visual and spatial dialogue with residents, Melburnians and tourists alike.

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Nonda Katsalidis doesn’t believe he’s that interesting and supposes most people would think him quite boring. He is incredibly modest, that’s for certain. As one of Australia’s finest architects and a pioneer of central Melbourne’s urbanisation, his practice’s multi-residential, cultural, commercial, aged care and hotel portfolios have garnered numerous awards and accolades, including the prestigious Victorian Architecture Medal. He is not only well liked, he is utterly respected, making him a worthy recipient of a Member of the Order of Australia for significant service to architecture and sustainable construction innovations in the 2021 Queen’s Birthday Honours list.

Born in Athens in 1951, he migrated to Australia with his family at age five. They settled in Melbourne where Katsalidis would go on to study architecture at the University of Melbourne, completing his Master of Architecture at RMIT. Post-graduation, he worked for a building company as a contractor and he credits these experiences as helping to shape him into the architect he is today. “I definitely learnt as much from carpenters and concreters as I did from my academic training,” he says. “It’s good for architects to get out in the field. For me, it instilled confidence in how structures are built, how they can be altered and how to make decisions out of the ordinary, because I understood detailing and knew how buildings go together.”

This hands-on approach underscores everything Katsalidis does and has characterised his work at Fender Katsalidis, where his ‘search for better’ ethos has led to the development of new and more sustainable construction technologies. Establishing the practice with Karl Fender in 1996 (it was originally Nation Fender Katsalidis), he is proud to admit that it’s a company built on friendship and rapport.

“Architecture is that kind of business,” Katsalidis reflects.

“And Karl and I were able to grow a significant practice because there’s more than one of us. It’s a collaborative endeavour and now we’ve got a team of 120 people across three offices as a vehicle that enables us to tackle big projects.” Indeed, the practice is best known for its tall building design and for redefining the urban fabric of cities like Melbourne.

Eureka Tower, which was completed in 2006 and stands 297 metres in height, is one of the world’s tallest residential buildings, and the recently completed 108 Australia at 319 metres, is memorable for a golden starburst expression that intersects its slender glass form. Both located in Melbourne’s Southbank, these buildings create strong geometries in the sky and have become synonymous with the city’s bustling cosmopolitan identity.

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Cinematic Vision Words Leanne Amodeo Portrait Photography Alexy Kos and Che Huang

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Child Studio uses brand, product and space to build scintillating dreamscapes of layered palettes and narratives.

Child Studio first came to the attention of many people via their fit-out for a little pink eatery in London’s Chelsea. The endearingly named Humble Pizza boasts an Instagram-worthy interior thanks to a bold application of pale pink Formica. While the design pays homage to the classic London cafés that first appeared in the city’s West End during the 1950s, its elegant minimalism is utterly contemporary.

With this project, Child Studio co-founders Alexy Kos and Che Huang, revealed themselves as masterful spatial curators, with an inherent understanding of materiality, colour and form.

The two designers were both new to London – Kos from Russia and Huang from Taiwan – when they first met and began collaborating. They established Child Studio in Shoreditch in 2017 as a multi-disciplinary practice that encompasses interior and object design, as well as art direction and photography. Their

hospitality and retail interiors, in particular, are compelling snapshots into their adopted hometown.

As Kos explains, “The central theme in our work is a deep interest in the Modernist heritage of London, and an ambition to create distinctive and relevant work rooted in local history.” Their methodology is underscored by extensive research and a desire to celebrate London as an epicentre of creativity, which is explicit in their interior designs’ well-considered architectural and cultural references. Kos and Huang are also great storytellers who imbue all they do with a sense of nostalgia motivated by an appreciation for context and place. Humble Pizza certainly calls to mind a specific moment in time… and all the positive associations that go with that. And their most recent fit-out for Japanese sushi restaurant Maido does the same.

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Russell & George clash disparate periods and styles to deliver a new ‘2021-Timeless’ aesthetic. This is Society.

Oh, So Chic Society, Melbourne, by Russell & George Words Jan Henderson Photography Sean Fennessy

Melbourne is renowned for its restaurant culture that encompasses a love of great cuisine coupled with fine design. It’s a town that loves its food but also appreciates the best in an interior to make the occasion even more pleasurable.

With the opening of Society, there is now an establishment that typifies this and becomes a destination of note. However, the question is whether one can obtain a reservation to enjoy dining in-situ, where the experiential is offered both on and off the plate.

Russell & George is the design protagonist of this oh-so-very chic establishment – along with client, restaurateur Chris Lucas and creative culinary partners chef Martin Benn and Vicki Wild.

With this project, Russell & George has taken hospitality design to another level that is, simply put, the best new hospitality venue in the city.

Opening in July this year, Society is a 400-seat venue that is refined, bespoke and welcoming. Virtually every element has been custom-designed by Ryan Russell and Byron George who have been the architects, interior and industrial designers on this grand project. Society was a complex build with an intricate floorplan of some 1600 square metres across two levels. As a venue, it’s not just a destination, but myriad spaces crafted to suit every appetite, mood and time whether day or night.

The entrance, behind the façade of 80 Collins Street in the Melbourne CBD, is discreet – simply an elevator that whisks patrons to the first floor where the experience begins. As the doors open a reception desk of Agatha granite, walnut and silver Travertine is front and centre, and there are cloaking facilities, along with a concierge to direct clients to their particular venue.

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Making Art Of Light Three extraordinary chandeliers hang in the main restaurant, designed by Russell & George and handmade

by Mark Douglass.

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IN SITU

“The pools are iconic to Sydney, New South Wales, and we wanted to equate submersion into pools with submersion into Microsoft, and therefore the first encounter at the headquarters,” says Margiotta. Here the layers of timber depict movement on water as a series of concentric rings. Level 27 references Cradle Mountain (Lake St Clair National Park, Tasmania) and Aurora Australis (Tasmania) with a wall of stone and gentle tones.

On level 29, the Twelve Apostles are referenced physically with floor-to-ceiling organic-form wooden panels that present cavelike rooms with internal materials denoting the carved earth.

Effectively the ephemeral quality of the Apostles’ sandstone forms, as eroding and thereby perpetually changing, is aligned to the constantly changing nature of technology.

This is further iterated by the room configurations with mobile furniture that allows the rooms to be adapted and changed as need dictates. The Remarkable Rocks (Flinders Chase National Park, South Australia), the Daintree Forest, Mount Stromlo and Wave Rock are similarly extrapolated on the remaining floors.

Within each of these floors Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture is expanded on, both overtly and subtly. Acknowledgement of Country is a three-dimensional text work on the 28th floor that recognises the traditional owners of the land and is a permanent installation. Large-scale murals are similarly evident.

“We engaged with local artists which the Microsoft Indigenous Representatives Team identified, and worked with both the artists

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and team to determine what would be most appropriate in terms of elements of story-telling and where to place them,” says Albani.

To further engage a sense of understanding and appreciation the murals were not painted during the fit-out, rather, they were delayed until the teams had moved in. “It was important to build that bridge between what we have designed and what they see, as the connection to place. It was the missing piece. We deliberately waited to allow an appreciation of the art and build a connection to how it makes you feel,” says Albani.

Instilling a sense of discovery and appreciation, on each floor the place or phenomena referenced is compounded with intimate ‘Easter eggs’ of information that will be discovered over time. First Nations representatives from different communities were invited to write a piece of information pertaining to that landscape with texts covering topics such as bush food. “The ‘Easter eggs’ are placed in hidden locations to generate a sense of discovery: something meant to be found in a year or two from now. The discovery is a bit like an egg hunt and is really about an appreciation of natural phenomena and the journey to get there,” says Margiotta.

This sense of journey and discovery is well established in the project’s layout. On arrival at any floor the feeling is of being on a verandah. The sensation is compounded by lighting designed to mimic shadows and sunlight and the biophilic effect of being outside. Moreover, like a veranda the outlook offers myriad options to explore.

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Aquatic Vibes Taking its cues from Sydney’s Figure Eight Pools, the conference room features a timber concaved ceiling in American white oak.

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ANZ throws open the doors to its executive quarters, and invites Foolscap Studio in to play.

Behind Closed Doors ANZ Open House, Melbourne by Foolscap Studio Words Annie Reid Photography Willem-Dirk du Toit

“We began with the concept of an open house wanting to talk to this notion of being warm, approachable and open,” says director Adèle Winteridge.

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“Architecture, like food, benefits greatly when we slow the process down”

Words Koichi Takada Photography Nic Walker

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Many years ago, I was in Los Angeles when I spotted a project that had won an architectural prize. Unlike most of the prize winners, this project stood out to me because it was not a completed building at all, but a ruin. The architect had cast his project 100 or 1000 years into the future and his concept was strong enough that, even as a ruin, it resonated as an undeniably beautiful piece of architecture.

I often say that architecture is not eternal.

Carlo Ratti explored its very impermanence at Milan Design Week in 2019, growing Gaudi-esque arches from mycelium with the express intention of returning them to the earth once the Salone had ended.

When I think of plant-based design, I think of Ratti’s Circular Garden. I think too of Israeli designer Erez Nevi Pana using five tonnes of salt byproduct from the Dead Sea to craft building blocks for the NGV’s Triennial earlier this year. And then, I ask myself, are we getting ahead of ourselves?

The potential of mycelium, of replacing traditional building materials with plant-based alternatives is heartening and hopeful, but it is also fanciful. The latest report from the global authority on climate change, the IPCC, has been called a ‘code red’ warning. It projects that we will pass 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming within the next decade or two, and draws a clear link between human activity and the increasingly extreme weather events.

Buildings generate nearly 40 per cent of annual global greenhouse gas emissions.

As architects and designers, we are not ignorant of this and yet, we remain complicit. The best of us consider the sustainability of our buildings in operation, but that is only part of the equation. More energy is expended during the production

of materials than at any other point during a project’s life cycle. It is no longer acceptable for us to be unaware or uncaring about the impact of building our buildings. Nor can we turn a blind eye to what happens to our projects when their lifespans inevitably come to an end.

While researching, I came across Silo, a London restaurant designed by studio Nina+Co and fitted out with sustainable materials that could biodegrade or be disassembled for repurposing in the future.

It reminded me of one of my own projects from 2019, a 191-square-metre zero waste pop-up restaurant on the top level of the Lexus Design Pavilion. Dubbed Paperbark, it was one of our smallest projects, both in scale and budget, and featured a ceiling adorned with over a kilometre of repurposed biodegradable fabric that curved and enveloped guests. While simple in geometry, the façade was an example of the sustainable framework that should underpin all hospitality design. After the event, Paperbark was donated to local universities, but it could have just as easily been recycled or composted.

A restaurant is the perfect forum to experiment with a more circular, zerocarbon design process. It presents in a smaller, more relatable scale that can then be applied to a much larger agenda. It’s also the sector that requires the most immediate attention. A 2006 Centre for Design report estimates the lifespan of restaurants and shop interiors to be five to 10 years.

Wouldn’t it be nice if all those tables and chairs, those ceiling and wall panels, floorboards and interior finishes were made of plant-based materials?

Yes, but wouldn’t it be even nicer if they could be saved from the landfill all together?

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If they could be refurbished or recycled?

Or if we could simply extend their lifespan to more than half a decade?

The former is something to which we can aspire. The latter is something we can do right now. Every decision we make as architects and designers from the very first moments of project conception has carbon consequences. The 2019 Ellen MacArthur Foundation report, Completing the Picture: How the Circular Economy Tackles Climate Change, found that 45 per cent of emissions come from producing the products we use every day. We cannot transition to a netzero carbon reality overnight, but we can start holding ourselves and our practices to a higher degree of scrutiny.

Ask your suppliers simple questions like: ‘How sustainable is your manufacturing process?’ ‘What and how much packaging do you use?’ ‘Do you have a take back program?’ These are the first steps towards implementing a more circular bioeconomy.

The latest IPCC report has proven we don’t have the luxury of waiting for plant-based design or some other silver bullet to save us from the climate crisis. To date, there isn’t significant legislation in place mandating us to be better, but that is even more reason for us to step up. We can’t solve the problem alone, but we can, as leaders in the construction industry, have a real impact.

Architecture, like food, benefits greatly when we slow the process down, when we consider our products and our methodology carefully. And when we, like that architect in Los Angeles, spare a moment’s thought for what will be left to the generations to come when we, like our buildings, are no longer standing. koichitakada.com

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It takes a village Words Emily Wombwell Photography Tom Roe

There has been a recent movement in society toward the traditional, the local and the artisanal – extending from food production to the slow fashion movement, to the retail experiences people seek. There is a craving for the boutique and a return to high-street style shopping experiences, not possible in our densely distributed airconditioned shopping centres.

With no connection to the outdoors or our unique climate, shopping centres are being forced to turn themselves inside-out to recapture their audiences. Major retailers are quietly adapting from large-format retail outlets to become spaces that make it easier for people to live near, or even in; responding to a population which wants to live, work, and play in one place. Even supermarkets are rearranging themselves into micro-experiences, reorganised by artisanal specialities – the cheese shop, the bakery, the fishmonger, the butcher, the fruit shop – a series of distinct offerings within one place.

The notion of ‘it takes a village’ is being manifested in mixed-used developments that are becoming increasingly popular for a broad range of demographics in urban environments. There is a proliferation of mixed-use developments across Australia, with so many new residential buildings having at least one small commercial component to them, creating places that are choreographed to emulate an organically formed piece of the city or town that they exist in and re-establishing the convenience of the corner shop.

The success of mixed-use developments relies on authenticity and a high level of amenity for all its users. Commonly incorporating retail, commercial, residential and hotel functions, there is a lot to be said for the delivery of high-quality public spaces within and between the uses.

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Whether prescribed or an opportunity discovered through the design process, private mixed-use developments present an opportunity to give back to the public realm whilst gaining valuable public engagement.

Another often crucial piece to the puzzle is the anchor, a tenant which instantly places a development on the map and forms an attractor to seed the success of other tenancies or uses within.

The recently completed Newcastle East End Stage 1, (designed by SJB, Durbach Block Jaggers and Tonkin Zulaikha Greer), allowed for three new buildings and a heritage hotel to have a dialogue with one another and deliver a truly mixed-use precinct. In a radically collaborative planning and design process, the precinct carved out a public square at the heart of a city block by hollowing out the centre of the site and shifting mass to allow sunlight in. The contribution to the revitalised city appears organic, designed by many different hands and references the historical layers of the town centre.

Woolworths as the anchor tenant was integral to the success of Newcastle East End, particularly through the location of its entrance within the public square at the middle of the block, rather than at its streetfacing edges. Without Woolworths, the speciality retail would be a higher risk. By encouraging pedestrians into the site, the surrounding tenancies benefit from the foot traffic and the public space benefits from the 18-hour activation. Local artisans and start up-businesses make up the collection of retail in the precinct, which enhances the site’s social and economic currency and creates an authentic offering.

Using the same village formula, Quay Quarter Lanes (designed by SJB, Studio Bright, Silvester Fuller, Carter Williamson, Lippmann Partnership and

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ASPECT Studios) is made up of five lowrise buildings that intermingle among cobbled laneways, where artisanal retail and hospitality offerings include holein-the-wall coffee roasters, barbers and dessert bars. Micro arcades surround the building, fostering a new day-night dining destination while boutique commercial offices and apartments live above.

Surry Hills Village in Sydney (designed

by SJB, Architect Prineas and ASPECT Studios, due for completion in 2024) seeks to redefine an existing shopping centre to balance urban renewal with a sensitive response to the fine grain texture of the existing community. With Coles as anchor located below ground, the public domain is freed for boutique retail activation to all edges of the site and the new public space contributes to the eclectic and varied street life. Other uses for the site include residential, hotel and commercial. Like living on top of a giant pantry, Surry Hills Village will offer residents generous amenity with the convenience of inner-city living.

People want to feel rewarded for shopping in mixed-use precincts through the experiences and social interaction they offer. Almost as if in direct competition to online shopping, the anti-digital shopping experience translates to the uber traditional. People want to see and hear production, get up close and personal with makers and enjoy connection to the outdoors whilst ultimately being entertained. Mixed-use developments have the opportunity to further enhance the public’s sensory needs by making space for togetherness, for local culture to be visible and to provide for the potential surge in consumerism; imagine it like the roaring 20s, one hundred years later. sjb.com.au

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Retail Rewrites Its Future Major retailers are quietly adapting from large-format retail outlets to become spaces that make it easier for people to live near, or even in...

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HOW DO YOU WANT TO FEEL?

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How we feel when we walk into a space comes down to good design, and an inspired composition of surface finishes.

Words Leanne Amodeo Photography Various

One need only have a cursory look through recent awards shortlists to see the exceptional quality of hotel and retail design currently being produced in Australia. We’ve been seemingly reinvigorated by the pandemic, re-evaluating how to do things better and more effectively – and it’s given rise to some of our best work yet. But while good design is at the basis of all successful outcomes, essential to that are the tools and trades that make it happen.

Hotel and retail environments lean hard on their surface selections in particular to bring design vision to life. The intersection between product and spatial innovations is palpable and how the two come together to create interiors that offer a sense of deep immersion, activation and authenticity is essential to the end user’s experience. A balance between aesthetics and function has to exist, especially in spaces that are expected to be hard-working. And there’s perhaps no better case study to highlight this than Adelaide’s newly opened Hotel Indigo, designed by studio-gram (along with base building architect Lucas Zahos Architects).

Located in the Adelaide Central Market precinct in the heart of the CBD, the 145-room hotel’s design is driven by the fun, craft and eclecticism of its surrounds. As studio-gram co-director Graham Charbonneau explains, “All of our design decisions were based

on telling the neighbourhood’s story so every aspect of the guest experience is rooted in the neighbourhood itself, which constitutes the DNA of the Hotel Indigo brand.”

Craft is at the core of Adelaide’s cultural identity and Charbonneau and the team, including studio-gram interior designer Tess Sporn, ensured the hotel’s scheme is richly conceptualised and finely detailed. There’s an overwhelming plushness to the interior, with a bright colour palette and textural materiality that serves to create an inviting sense of excitement.

It also reveals the importance of supporting rigorous design thinking with the best quality products. “Ultimately, we developed a different strategy for each space when it came to surface finishes,” says Sporn. “Bricks add a weighty element in the ground floor lobby, sensual soft furnishings delineate the mezzanine level, and tiles and concrete link the Merry Maker Rooftop bar to the urban environment.”

Craftsmanship is expressed through exquisite detailing, such as the use of CDK Stone’s Super White Dolomite as an inlay in the concrete bar tops; Calacutta Viola (also by CDK Stone) on the central stairs; and Abet Laminate in Cobalt Blue as the mezzanine’s joinery finish, and paired with solid brass pulls.

Page 163-165: A different surface finish strategy for every space – Hotel Indigo by studio-gram, photos: David Sievers and Adam Bruzzone.

Page 166: The Cultiver headquarters’ kitchen uses Laminex joinery and a custom impasto splashback. Page 167: A showroom, too, showcasing bedding by Cultiver, and client’s own artwork. Page 168: Space to sit, with a Loom Rug from Koskela, and artwork from Curatorial + Co, photos: Prue Ruscoe.

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SEEDING CHANGE Words Helen Norrie Image McGregor Coxall

Since the New South Wales government announced the Parramatta Powerhouse project in 2015, there has been extensive debate about the aspiration to create the first major cultural institution in Western Sydney. Billed as ‘the most significant investment into cultural infrastructure in New South Wales since the Sydney Opera House,’ the institution has a narrative arc that would be the envy of the most dramatic libretto.

A branch of the Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences (MAAS), the Powerhouse is connected to a lineage of grand exhibitions that celebrated science and industry in the 19th century. Plans for a permanent exhibition of industrial and technological innovations in the Garden Palace, constructed in the Royal Botanic Gardens for the 1879 Sydney International Exhibition, were thwarted when the building was destroyed by fire prior to opening the new institution in 1882. In 1893 the salvaged collection became the Technology Museum, and over the next century the collection expanded to include decorative arts, science, communication, computer, and space technology, providing strong connections to community.

In 1998 the Ultimo Power Station was transformed into the Powerhouse Museum, displaying parts of the collection that had been in storage for decades and providing a catalyst for a new urban network, as the nearby University of Technology Sydney campus developed. The proposal to relocate the Powerhouse to Parramatta and to sell the Ultimo site to fund the new building was met with a barrage of protests about the loss of a much-loved institution in

the inner city, concerns about the technical issues of relocating the key large-scale exhibits and calls for the new development in the west to address the community of Parramatta more specifically.

An expanded consultation process led to the decision to retain and regenerate the Ultimo site and to develop Parramatta with a specific agenda to connect to place and people.

A Landscape Curatorium has been established to assist with the development of the landscape design of the museum’s public domain, and an exploration of program, use, spatial design and planting strategies that can foster connections between people and place.

It brings together collaborators and cultural leaders to explore the landscape brief in an expansive way, and to provide expertise in the detail design of the spaces. Diverse expertise in First Nations landscape design, farming and Caring for County, agricultural science, botany, horticulture, permaculture will inform the process of community engagement and design.

Providing knowledge to embed the development of sustainable practices, productive and edible planning and a multi-cultural programme is D’harawal Elder, botanist and author Aunty Fran Bodkin; Bundjalung Man and Gardening Australia presenter Clarence Slockee; Royal Botanic Garden Sydney director of horticulture John Siemon; founders of Milkwood, Kirsten Bradley and Nick Ritar; director of Sydney Institute of Permaculture Penny Pyett; and Wiradjuri Woman and Royal Botanic Garden Sydney manager of Aboriginal Education and Engagement, Renee Cawthorne.

The Powerhouse establishes a Landscape Curatorium to develop its public domain into a connected, productive ecosystem.

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The Curatorium will encourage knowledge-sharing and storytelling that highlights First Nations care of, and connection with, the land.

The process will ensure that First Nations communities give consent to the use and sharing of knowledge and facilitate the consultation and community engagement. Overseeing the project, Powerhouse chief executive, Lisa Havilah, brings her experience as the director of Carriageworks where she developed a highly successful farmers’ market and explored a diverse range of opportunities to embed food and food culture across the creative industries.

Central to the process is the expertise of Aunty Fran Bodkin that has been developed through knowledge passed down from her Aboriginal mother and her extensive university education in environmental science, botany and climatology. Her understanding of D’harawal culture, natural resources, the traditional six seasons of the Sydney basin and the cultural uses of local species of plants, and her expertise as an engaging storyteller will provide an incredible layer of understanding to the project. Both Aunty Fran and Clarence Slockee are interested in the value of associative planting, understanding the interrelationship and interdependency between plant species, and the importance of reinstating planting communities that have been lost through development. They bring a desire to explore how these ideas can underpin the design of creative spaces that have natural and cultural heritage connections, and can feed conversations around education, biodiversity, habitat loss and threatened species. Their connections to a broader network

of people from across Sydney who have connections to Country, understanding of cultural protocols and experience liaising with stakeholders provide an essential perspective.

The intention to develop the public domain into a connected and productive ecosystem is an ambitious project with layers of complex design considerations. Creating a major public space within a riparian zone that is subject to flooding requires an understanding of the impacts of this condition on both hardscape and plant selection. Similarly, the design of the rooftop garden produces challenges, as its location 50 metres above ground level creates a windy micro-climate and is the upper height for pollinators.

The implementation of the Landscape Curatorium presents an innovative approach to addressing these issues, exploring landscape design, community engagement and the understanding of connections between people and place in the broadest sense.

The landscape approach aligns with initiatives from the Cities of Sydney and Penrith to create biodiversity corridors and reconsider how greenspace is developed, providing an expanded, innovative approach to sustainability. It also reconnects with the founding idea of the museum focus on innovation, and its location in a garden centred on research and education, but shifts the focus to understanding systems rather than objects, with an interactive and evolving program of engagement and shared knowledge building.

Pictured below – the landscape design for North-South section, river and terrace level garden, Powerhouse Parramatta.

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