Periscope House Bondi Beach | Michael Clarke Architects

An alterations and additions project for a retiring couple, this house in Bondi Beach features two dramatic highlight windows that act as periscopes.

One periscope draws additional northern light and cross ventilation to the rear of the 10m long open plan living space.

The second periscope is formed by the void between the old and new roof profiles to the rear of the main bedroom.

Artwork by the clients is displayed on rotation via cables suspended from cornice mounted art hanging rails. The works are set against internal finishes that are neutral with seamless detailing.

Accessibility is a major feature of the design. A lift is integrated into the main corridor wall and the corridor permits wheelchair access to most doors and a 180 degree change in direction at certain points.

The steel security front door is an adaptation of a grille designed by a celebrated 20th century Italian Architect.

Plateau Project | Rama Architects

Perched above an ancient forest of thousand year old Angophora trees with views over Pittwater, Plateau Project embodies natural tones and materiality of the country is resides on: Garigal. An internal palate of microcement and raw concrete draw warmth, reflecting light. A wandering wall greets you as you enter, leading quietly around a deep curve to a dramatic reveal of soaring ceilings and exposed rafters framing an expansive view over bushland and water.

The house embodies shape and volume. Curves and lines, confinement and expanse collaborate to create a bold statement of opposites and cohesion. The winding hallway hides what lies beyond, delivering you to a fortress like turret with brick and masonry walls, smooth with soft light. Residing in a BALFZ flame zone, the home is built with non-combustible materials with aerated concrete features throughout. Plateau Project is punctuated by texture and angles creating moments solid and soft, bold and light.

Pocket Passiv | Anderson Architecture

Pocket Passiv is a small infill residential studio occupying the unused space of a spatially constrained inner city terrace house corner block. The project achieves ambitious levels of amenity for its residents all whilst occupying the pocket sized footprint of 27sqm. Located in Glebe, a thriving inner city suburb originally inhabited by the Gadigal people, Pocket Passiv sits within a relic of Sydney’s 19th century Victorian terrace house boom.

Pocket Passiv’s project aspirations were guided by an ethos of not only environmental sustainability but also social and economic. The dwelling has been built to the Passivhaus Plus Standard, an esteemed accreditation for high performance and energy efficient buildings originating from Germany. Passivhaus Plus further acknowledges the building’s ability to generate as much energy as it consumes ultimately becoming a net zero energy building.

Oakhill College: Innovation Hub | BVN

The Innovation Hub is the first building implementing the college’s masterplan vision. Its history as a former farm school resonates through the new development which features natural materials and connections with nature.

The building uses prefabricated mass timber to shorten construction time and minimise environmental impact. It provides a sustainable blueprint for the campus future developments. There’s a didactic approach to the visible technological and structural details of the building. An exposed network of pipes, beams and ducts criss-cross the ceiling, and glass elevators reveal their complex inner workings. In contrast to these bold mechanical accents is the organic warmth of timber, the primary visual and functional element of the building’s facade and interiors.

The sustainability focused design incorporates Passive House principles for increased thermal comfort and reduced energy use. Biophilic elements play an essential role for their ability to enhance focus and productivity and promote wellbeing.

Olive Tree House | Bastian Architecture

Olive Tree House is a new urban infill project, it has been designed to challenge the Australian norm of housing, it is half the size of an average Australian home, sits on a site half the size of an average site and provides flexible rather than large spaces.

Situated within sight of Stockton beach and the Hunter River the house responds to the coastal location. Planned for the inevitable summer afternoons at the beach and winter afternoons on the deck the house is flexible and allows for parts of the house to be left open to catch the coastal breeze or connect to the winter sun. The mature Olive tree is retained to provide shade and habitat for the site.

It is a small house in which every metre works hard to provide quality living spaces.

Oroton Offices | Richards Stanisich

In one of Chippendale’s finest warehouses, Richards Stanisich have undertaken a restoration and renovation for one of Australia’s most iconic fashion labels. The building required significant upgrades to ensure it met the standards required of a contemporary commercial building including equitable access, a new lift and fire isolated spaces . Over three levels, Oroton operates within the structure of a historic warehouse. Our design celebrates the building’s history in the rag-trade district of Chippendale and the spirit of a classic fashion atelier.

Oxford Corner by Tony Owen Partners | Tony Owen Architects

Oxford Corner is a mixed use development consisting of 8 units above a ground floor cafe. It is located in Oxford Street in Sydney’s historic Paddington area. Paddington is a suburb famous for its traditional terrace houses and rich streetscape. Oxford Street is the cultural high-street of Paddington.

The site is very prominent as it sits on a plaza next to Paddington Uniting Church; the site of famous weekly Paddington Markets and housed a café which is a local institution. In recent times, the traditional retail centre of Oxford Street has been in decline in the face of competition from new shopping malls, with many vacant shops. We conceived a destination; an iconic architectural statement which will draw people back to the area and reenergise the community and economy.

Ozone Ofuro | Incidental Architecture

Ozone Ofuro is a small private bath house and retreat in the garden of a previous project by Incidental Architecture (then Matt Elkan Architect), the Ozone House (see AIA Awards 2014).
It was conceived as a means of inhabiting this garden.

Materially, Ozone Ofuro is built on an exposed rock shelf with walls made out of rocks gathered entirely from the site. The intention is that the structure grows loosely out of what was already there.

Functionally, it is a two room semi enclosed screened space housing a bath and associated ante room that can be shut down completely for privacy or opened fully to engage with the landscape and surrounding decks. More significantly though, it is also a place of quietness and solitude.

It is a structure that could be seen as unnecessary. Yet, perhaps this extension beyond the pragmatic into the poetic is what actually makes it necessary.

Papaya Women’s Health Clinic | CRUSH ARCHITECTURE

Papaya Clinic is an innovative and progressive women’s health clinic in the Inner West of Sydney, with a vision to provide a safe nurturing space to address women’s health concerns.

Our design philosophy is to bring out the warm, colorful and sophisticated branding of Papaya and create a space that is clinical but non-conventional, with bold freshness that represents the Papaya patient population of strong and independent women with bold transparency to break taboos and talk about women’s health issues in this society.

Papaya’s tagline is patient first healthcare, it was crucial in this project that we consider the patient experience of wellness in every step of the design process. Our work embodies our belief that architecture in healthcare can trigger positive emotions, build a community and bring a different light to healthcare.

National Herbarium of NSW | Architectus

The National Herbarium of NSW features a new state of the art facility for one of the most significant botanical resources in the Southern Hemisphere.

Moving to the Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan after almost 170 years at the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney, the Herbarium required a new facility to protect its growing collection of over 1.43 million plant specimens essential to knowledge and decision making about the conservation and management of our natural environment.

Architectus collaborated with two esteemed industry professionals on the project, architect Richard Leplastrier and landscape architect Craig Burton. Together, the team researched and explored the nature of the Mount Annan site, the complexity and extensive indigenous history of the region, and the Herbarium’s functional requirements.