What is the ‘big (IDEA)’ behind this project?
The space was designed from the inside out, with the 375 seat auditorium as the heart of the building and functional performance the priority. A concentric, tiered plan provides optimal space efficiency and viewing. Fixed seats with tablet arms were assessed for ergonomics, comfort and durability. The distinctive shape of the building is the most advantageous for acoustics. The form of the walls and ceilings were manipulated and the internal surfaces treated to promote acoustic reflection from the speaker, while absorbing audience noise.

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What is the ‘big (IDEA)’ behind this project?
Non-denominational and flexible, the building operates as a place for meetings, religious functions or quiet prayer. It can be introverted, private and divided (a concealed canvas blind in the ceiling can be dropped to further divide the space), or opened up to large gatherings. Large doors open up to the Fig trees and invert the space, turning it into a stage for gatherings, weddings and plays. The building expresses its spiritual quality with the stripped, raw materials and in the expression of the detailing.

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What is the ‘big (IDEA)’ behind this project?
‘A Theatre for Research’ theme was developed to frame an architectural approach that would encourage the fertile cross pollination of ideas between the variety of researchers and associations within the facility. Visibility is exaggerated, with the laboratories on display upon entry. Circulation routes have been elevated from the prosaic to become lively promenades attached to informal spaces important for conducting accidental research in a social environment. The building form alludes to an archaeological segment of a Roman theatre.

What is the ‘big (IDEA)’ behind this project?
The Ozdare Academy, a hairdresser training facility, houses a state-of-the-art salon, a showroom with a stage and a downstairs bar/lounge area within a three level, circa 1887 city warehouse. The brief was for a striking space with a stimulating atmosphere. The design incorporates the history of the building along with contemporary furniture and features to produce a dramatic, yet sensual result. The showpiece is a two-storey screen of aluminium and plastic ‘strands’ in a rainbow of colours, representing hair in Ozdare’s packaging colours.

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What is the ‘big (IDEA)’ behind this project?
The design of Caroline Springs Stadium aimed to reach beyond the usual ‘big shed’ aesthetic. There are three indoor courts – one rotated 90 degrees to provide an acoustically separated court for school performances for the adjacent schools. Local geological formations of basalt columns, the Organ Pipes, are referenced, prompting the innovation of tesselated, randomised pre-cast concrete moulds. Enormous hexagons made from stepped concrete columns with infill pieces form the main entry elements.

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What is the ‘big (IDEA)’ behind this project?
The Caroline Springs Library was inspired by the local geological columnar basalt formations, including the tesselated pre-cast concrete moulds and hexagons of stepped concrete columns. A stylised figuration framing the horizon of the building as an alpolic edge represents a geological layer of unconformity, which is further articulated by a soffit and canopy to the exterior of the building. The internal clerestory breaks the layer of unconformity. A clear internal plan accommodates large volumes of people, and an internal street links either end of the library.

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What is the ‘big (IDEA)’ behind this project?
We intended to create a campus-like atmosphere to allow the wide range of departments to feel part of a whole, by using the expansive floor plates, cut-out voids and inter-level stairways. Comprehensive branding elements, based on the environmental themes of the desert, rainforest, alpine, rural, and water (in an overall theme of “The Environment in Context”), use bold colours in large graphic boards, wall displays and hanging elements throughout, bringing personality and vibrancy to each floor.

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What is the ‘big (IDEA)’ behind this project?
The Hawke Building, with its varied civic functions, expresses the university’s place within the city. The entwined black and white stairs create a signature entry to the two level Anne and Gordon Samstag Museum of Art. The Bradley Forum, a symbolic meeting place for the University, evokes notions of Australian political culture and identity. The Hawke Centre houses state of the art teaching spaces and seminar rooms. The Kerry Packer Civic Gallery connects the public entry to the campus, intentionally arranged to promote discussion between the two realms.

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What is the ‘big (IDEA)’ behind this project?
A new entry to the secondary school and library facilities forge a new campus heart focused on learning. But the design also goes to lengths to include the multitude of contextual views. The entry frames a view of the original bluestone Quadrangle building, while the body of the library comprises a series of giant steel framed windows of varying shapes with differing views to the historic gardens beyond. The design is a series of individual, inter-linked pavilions, glazed to encourage visibility to the interior.

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What is the ‘big (IDEA)’ behind this project?
Our aim was to create a state of the art hospitality environment, a chameleon to the flexible learning spaces within. The design pays homage to the simple and elegant architectural style encapsulated by the existing building. The education spaces are located as front of house activity leading to the commercially functioning restaurant and Angliss Bar beyond. The bar and training areas were fully re-planned and reconfigured to explore flexibility, transparency and permeability to encourage multi-mode learning.

What is the ‘big (IDEA)’ behind this project?
The Parkview Child Care Centre accommodates 90 children. All design decisions were made to meet ABGR and Greenstar targets. The design concept referenced the local environment, with a frog pond theme in the finishes and motifs. The room names relate to ‘layers’ of a pond’s ecology: the babies’ room, ‘tadpoles’, references the pond floor; the 2-3 year old room, ‘frogs’, references the water; and the 4-5 year old room, ‘dragonflies’, references the edge of the pond.

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What is the ‘big (IDEA)’ behind this project?
The MCEM houses the highest resolution electron microscope in Australia in an environment 100 times more stable than an operating theatre and quieter than a recording studio. Architectus avoided a predictably bland design, responding instead with a luminous, lightweight structure in a simple, geometric plan. A shell of interlocking glass planks promotes openness. Tall corridors imbue a lofty, ethereal feel, and warmth is added through the combination of timber and a neutral colour palette.

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