Constitution Place

2022 National Architecture Awards: Commercial Architecture – Shortlist

Constitution Place | Bates Smart

Traditional Land Owners: The Nguunawal People

Inspired by the Griffins’ Plan for Canberra, we were interested in the potential of Constitution Place to contribute to the public life of Civic. It consists of two buildings, the ACT Government Headquarters and a mixed-use office and hotel building, which frame a network of fine grain public spaces.

The ACT Government building is designed to ensure the heart of municipal government claims a presence on Constitution Avenue, being Griffin’s original Municipal Axis. It is expressed as three volumes with differing facades strategies that respond to their respective solar orientation and context. Internally three workspace ‘wings’ are arranged around an atrium of three interlocking circles, referencing the Griffins’ Plan and forming the social heart of Government.

The commercial and hotel building claims the corner of Constitution Avenue and London Circuit with a dynamic triangular geometry; this is a new typology for Canberra and frames a dramatic entry to Lyric Lane.

Client perspective:
How does the design benefit the way you live/work/play/operate/educate/other?

Constitution Place consists of two iconic commercial buildings, a 130-room hotel and a distinctive retail laneway connecting Constitution Avenue with the Canberra Theatre. Targeting a 5-star NABERS energy rating, with just under 300kw roof-mounted solar, Constitution Place is one of the first WELL-rated buildings in Canberra.
Effortless collaborative spaces are a key element of the building’s design encouraging movement, integration and flexible space to unlock potential. Large flexible floorplates support an interactive team-focused work environment to meet the executive and social requirements of contemporary tenants.

Practice team:

Katherine Bulley, Practice Team
Diana Espiritu, Practice Team
Olivia Yanni, Practice Team
Livern Lim, Practice Team
Sara-Jane Bacon, Practice Team
Jing Xu, Practice Team
Haidee Vogel, Practice Team
Jason Vorapatrakul, Practice Team
Andrew Thomas, Practice Team
Tommy Sutanto, Practice Team
Nikko Sudirman, Practice Team
Rashna Marolia, Practice Team
Tonie Sauers, Practice Team
Basil Richardson, Practice Team
Cynthia Quang, Practice Team
Vina Pham, Practice Team
Ryu Ogino, Practice Team
Philip Nguyen, Practice Team
Alana Lee, Practice Team
Francisco Lopez Bosch, Practice Team
Lishi Li, Practice Team
Jung Soo Kim, Practice Team
Dimitra Kalamkovis, Practice Team
Emma Jing Practice, Team
Miki Hirakata, Practice Team
Sarah Cooper, Practice Team
Peter Charter, Practice Team
Nikolay Pechovski, CGI
Nimat Mistry, BIM
Andrew McKie, Model Maker
Noah Sunderland, Interior Design Team
Joshua How, Interior Design Team
Jessica Page, Interior Design Team
Isabelle Foley, Interior Design Team
Olesia Elyard, Interior Design Team
Grace Lu, Interior Design Team
Trung Ha, Interior Design Team
Michelle Foo, Interior Design Team
Trevor Mouncey, Architecture Team
Marinel Dator, Architecture Team
John Culshaw, Architecture Team
Charles Cayeux, Architecture Team
Tom Cartledge, Architecture Team
Maha Saad, Project Leader
Lucy Sutton, Project Leader
Angela Sampson, Project Leader
Brenton Smith, Design Director
Amelia Donald, Project Leader
David Eskdale, Project Leader
Philip Vivian, Design Director

Builder:

Construction Control

Construction team:

NDY, Acoustic Consultant
Elephant Foot, Waste
Windtech, Wind Engineer
Warrington Fire, Fire Engineer
NDY, Fire Engineer
Knight Frank, Town Planner
WSP, Structural Engineer
NDY, Services Consultant
FPOV, Lighting Consultant
NDY, Lighting Consultant
RedBox, Landscape Consultant
Bates Smart, Interior Designer
NDY, Hydraulic Consultant
NDY, ESD Consultant
Surface Design, Facade Engineer
NDY, Electrical Consultant
Canberra Property Group, Developer
CC, Construction Manager
Calibre, Civil Consultant
Steve Watson & Partners, BCA Consultant