Spinifex Hill Project Space | Officer Woods
At the northern apex of the SpinifexHillStudios site, this independent multipurpose building transforms an existing garden into a secluded courtyard. Conceived as both a building in the round/courtyard companion to existing artists studio, its tall form addresses a main road and low form dips down to garden. Built to three boundaries with an eyelash verandah roof, the resulting form is varied and enigmatic. Materially austere and tautly detailed, the building reads as a sculptural object in a regional suburban field: announcing itself as a small cultural offering. The project fosters greater economic opportunities as well as cultural engagement for Kariyarra people. It supports the notion that when strong culture is supported by strong social and physical infrastructure, it leads to stronger, healthier communities.
St Barbara Square Kalgoorlie Central Canopy | iredale pedersen hook architects with ASPECT Studios, ETC Solutions and Terpkos Engineering
St Barbara Square Kalgoorlie transforms rear laneway service and adjacent space into a new “Kalgoorlie Heart”. Kurturtu is a highly activated public space, that pulses with the energy of the region and community, offering facilities and new experiences for all people. The new design carefully stitches together existing access points while weaving in new city connections. This is bound by a collection of site and city specific narratives that reveal the unique qualities of Kalgoorlie – Boulder.
Conceptually, the square brings to the surface the ancient geological formations. The central canopy becomes a place of destination, water becomes a catalyst for play, meeting, and gathering. The central canopy titled; “Hovering Earth” is the lifting of earth to reveal “what lies below”. A golden seam and perforated contours hover precariously above creating awe and delight; sound, misting and lighting activate and invite one to participate and become part of this spectacle.
South Perth House | Simon Pendal Architect
An existing 1930s Arts and Crafts bungalow has been restored and extended. Passing through the centre of the original house the interior of the new addition is thick (like a castle) but is mostly white, fluid and undulating. Light rolls around soft curves. The addition is a long sequence of rooms the floors cascade down the natural fall of the site. There is one room per level divided by short runs of four or five steps each. The rooms contract, expand and contract in scale depending on the intimacy required in each space. Floors in each room offer a material density in contrast to the billowing white interior of walls and ceilings above. Each room is correlated to a different sequence of gardens a pool, a shady summer clearing and an outdoor living room under a concrete rotunda.
Six Chimney House | Vokes and Peters
Improving early twentieth century housing is a recurring project type which calls for an appropriate response to the specific and evolving societal, cultural, environmental and economic contexts.
The palette of the heritagelisted interwar bungalow was adapted and abstracted in the new works. Each trade is elaborated in the composition, in the manner of the arts and crafts movement.
The elevated ‘Street Terrace’ maintains the leafy character of the neighbourhood. By placing the new kitchen into the former front room, the social life of the family spills out onto the street terrace and enables one to feel a part of the city.
The ‘City Terrace’ is a private outdoor space that offers an unexpected place of prospect.
A façade of many windows sits in constant dialogue with the panoramic view of Perth CBD.
The ‘Sunken Garden’ is imagined as a cool, shady forest supporting biodiversity and idealising the presence of nature.
Shenton Park Residence | Ross McAndrew Architect
By excavating into the existing sloping block a low-profile house was developed that provided the client with all the accommodation required without dominating the streetscape. This was particularly important given the proximity to Lake Jualbup and the site being a corner block. The main living floor of the house floats above the footpath providing privacy to the outdoor living areas while maximizing the outlook. The thin concrete canopies provide the protection needed for outdoor living at all times of the year while also enhancing the linear nature of the design.
The retaining works and landscaping have also ensured the house sits comfortably in the street without the need for a traditional fence as a barrier.
The incorporation of energy efficient glazing, heating and cooling powered by solar panels and consideration for cross-ventilation allows the home to be a comfortable environment while having a reduced environmental impact.
Sam Kerr Football Centre | Carabiner Architects Pty Ltd
Wreathed within a tract of remnant bushland, Western Australias new Sam Kerr Football Centre accommodates the administrative headquarters for Football West, and highperformance training and game day facilities for WAs professional and aspiring football players.
The arrival sequence leads visitors past football pitches to the main entry gate. Ascending the stair, you emerge into the grandstand, the heart of the Centre. The massive, triangulated timber beams and translucent roof provide a moment of awe, aspirational for developing players and corporate visitors alike. The expressive geometry is inspired by the spikes and curves of local flora. The rippling perforated façadescreen of the structure further anchors the centre to its natural environment, creating a living building that changes throughout the day.
Featuring adaptable design modes, the centre provides a spacious workplace bathed in natural light, a broadcast hub, excellent views and amenities for patrons, and players with equitable training and performance spaces.
Ravensthorpe Cultural Precinct | Peter Hobbs Architects with Advanced Timber Concepts and Intensive Fields
The Ravensthorpe Cultural Precinct provides an essential piece of community infrastructure to the Shire of Ravensthorpe. The complex houses the Shire offices, Council Chambers, the Community Resource Centre and Library, community kitchen, professional offices, and a training room. A Senior’s centre and a creche are accommodated within a large multipurpose space.
Structured around a series of internal and external courtyards and verandahs, the facility offers a wide variety of informal and formal gathering, entertainment, social outreach and business spaces for the community. The building is constructed entirely from renewable FSC certified timber. The structural frame is an LVL [Laminated Veneer Lumber] fabricated offsite while all the finishing timber is WA plantation grown Yellow Stringy Bark. The precinct also seeks to service travelling visitors with an interpretive centre offering information on the Fitzgerald Biosphere and the regions history, a caravan and mobile home servicing area, EV fast chargers and ample parking.
Proclamation House | State of Kin
Set amongst character homes in Subiaco, Western Australia, Proclamation House embraces a sculpted silhouette of asymmetrical, sweeping and angular planes ‘a contemporary “shadow”‘ of the site’s former dwelling. A restrained palette of earthy render and aluminium detailing lends rawness to the architecture, while a generous, landscaped set-back, populated with native species and fruit trees, gives back to the street and community.
Internally, the 2.5-bedroom home maximises shared living spaces within a highly efficient footprint, encouraging the multi-generational family to gather. A distinctive, stack-shaped roof carves a dramatic central void, animating the home with ever-changing light qualities. The building is unified by its dramatic, singular use of olive-toned render, obscuring boundaries between the landscape, exterior and interior to craft a feeling of unexpected immersion. Synergies between the architecture and landscape draw framed vignettes of the sky, garden and pool into the experience of home, elevating the family’s daily living rituals.
Piara Waters Senior High School – Stage 1 | With Architecture Studio
The state of art, futuristic design of the building aligns seamlessly with the school’s vision of 21st century learning, inclusivity and excellence.
Students and teachers have access to specialist and flexible learning spaces, setting the scene for ‘deep learning’ and the education of the ‘whole child’.
Workspaces for administration, professional and allied professional staff, are customised for ease of purpose, comfort and convenience. A focus on wellbeing is evident in the purposeful built spaces.
Piara Waters Senior High School’s energy efficiency, solar passivity and green footprint proudly support our environment.
Peta’s House | Mt Eyk
The housing market’s fixation on superficial metrics undermines housing quality, leading to wasted resources and missed opportunities. Peta’s house stands as a refreshing departure from this trend. Peta prioritised good design over resale value, resulting in a bespoke home tailored to her real needs.
The design focuses on site-specific solutions and individual desires, perhaps not surprisingly this appeals to a greater diversity of people, not less. Peta’s two-bedroom house, is energy efficient, compact though generous, has a strong relationship to vegetation, and is simple and minimal in aesthetics and maintenance. It includes a self-contained space that generates income, for Peta personally and for economy via tourism. Short stay that contributes to, not detracts from, community and place.
Peta’s house is 97m² on a 273m² block. Good design makes this possible. By playing outside the rules, Peta has created a home that perfectly suits her needs and brings her financial benefits.
