A powerful new identity

Material studies for entry

PROJECT: Balmain House 01
LOCATION: Balmain, NSW
YEAR: 2010 ~ 2012
PEOPLE: John de Manincor, Nick Sargent, Greg Bachmeyer,  Sally Hsu.
CLIENT: Private Client
COLLABORATORS: Serrao Smith (Engineers).
BUILDER: Lazer Building Services
PHOTOGRAPHY: DRAW.

“The Australian Interior Design Awards recognise and celebrate interior design excellence via a credible, industry-based program, which is backed by the Design Institute of Australia, the professional body representing Australian designers.”

You can see the other shortlisted projects here: Public Projects and Colour in Commercial Projects.

Beyond the initial brief we proposed “The Balcony Room”, a soaring reception space annexed to the Hall that capitalises on a commanding view across the future Alumni Green. The Balcony Room adapts a previously underused terrace, enclosing it to provide a link between the main building foyer and the rich, warm interior. – Photography © Brett Boardman [all rights reserved]

The Balcony Room, sits at the base of an iconic Brutalist tower, providing a bold new identity for the Great Hall in the external envelope and breathing new life into the campus. Glass ‘Pleats’ in the 11 meter high facade open up diagonal views across Alumni Green.

The lofty, light-filled Balcony Room overlooks Alumni Green, the University’s primary landscaped area. A sculptural light fitting (designed by DRAW) uses off-the-shelf light battens to animate the wall surface.

The Mantle comprises over 1000 unique perforated aluminium facets. Designed using Rhino and Grasshopper software, the surface seamlessly integrates audio-visual, lighting, fire, acoustic and mechanical services in a singular dramatic form.

Perforations provide acoustic attenuation across the surface of The Mantle. Two perforation sizes fluctuate through various fields of intensity and across panels to create the soft, organic, surface patination. Lighting is nested within the rhythm of peaks and valleys.

The LED media wall allows the mood of the space to be transformed to suit it’s various modes of use; from graduations, to lectures to the annual student Fashion show (pictured).



Natural light is drawn in through new openings in the roof structure. These roof lanterns reveal changes in light over the course of a day and reduce dependency on artificial lighting.

A mirrored ceiling and vertical strip lighting create the illusion of height in existing low-level aisles. Black velvet curtains improve on acoustic performance and allow the Hall to adapt to various spatial configurations.

The ‘Mantle’ is a fluid and formal addition that envelopes the ceremonial space of the Great Hall.

Roof lanterns wash the side wall in natural light. The yellow operable wall opens the two spaces up to each other allowing the Great Hall to spill out into the Balcony Room. Perfect for larger informal events such as City Campus Open Day.

Elements of the facade are operable allowing the Balcony Room to naturally ventilate for most of the year.

Warm timber panels contain the volume of the Great Hall within the Brutalist podium while vibrant yellow doors announce the two entry points.

Parts of the Balcony Room cantilever two metres beyond the existing structure, creating intimate gathering spaces within the main volume. The self-shading “Pleats” frame oblique views of the landscape beyond. Of an evening the facade becomes more transparent exposing the life of the building and its occupants.

In addition to The Great Hall and Balcony Room, the project includes a new commercial kitchen, Mutli-function Space and involved complete new mechanical and electrical services. The project is part of the University’s multi-million dollar Master Plan which includes buildings designed by Gehry and Partners, Lacoste & Stevenson, PTW, Denton Corker Marshall and Durbach Block Jaggers.

[Photography © Brett Boardman, all rights reserved]

PLAN.

SECTIONS.

REFLECTED CEILING PLAN.

SEE COMPETITION ENTRY AND CONSTRUCTION PROCESS HERE.
THERE ARE SOME FANTASTIC PHOTOS OF THE HALL IN ACTION ON Anna Zhu’s SITE  ~
HERE,
and HERE

PROJECT: UTS Great Hall and Balcony Room
LOCATION: Broadway, Ultimo, Sydney.
YEAR: 2010 ~ 2011.
CLIENT: University of Technology , Sydney
GROSS FLOOR AREA: 1,985 sqm
VALUE: $8.5M AUD

TEAM:
Competition Phase: Adam Russell, John de Manincor, Fransisco Layson, Chris Steinbach.
Design Development / Documentation: John de Manincor, Adam Russell, Fransisco Layson, Lorraine Yip, Zana Wright, Raffaello Rosselli, Nick Sargent, Leisa Tough.

COLLABORATORS:
Competition Phase: Kann Finch Group (Collaborating Architects), Steensen Varming (Environment / Mechanical / Electrical /Lighting) ARUP (Acoustics / Structure), MBM (Cost Advice)
Design Development / Documentation: Kann Finch Group (Collaborating Architects), Steensen Varming (Environment / Mechanical / Electrical /Lighting), Audio Systems Logic (Acoustics), Simpson Design Associates (Structure), Warren Smith and Partners (Hydraulics/Fire), Blackett Maguire + Goldsmith (BCA), Aquenta (Cost Planner), Philip Chun (Fire Engineering), The Mack Group (Commercial Kitchen)

BUILDER: Lipman.
FACADE: Facade Innovations
MANTLE: Facade Innovations
FACADE ENGINEER: Surface Design
DETAILED MANTLE MODELLING : AR-MA

PHOTOGRAPHY: © Brett Boardman [all rights reserved]

After Images Exhibition - Sketches by Australian architects in solidarity with Japan.

From the organisers website:
After Images is an exhibition and auction of sketches primarily by Australian architects of Japan, in support of the Tohoku region’s recovery from the devastating earthquakes and tsunami of March this year. The understanding of a ‘sketch’ is conceptually expanded to include photographs, collages, watercolours, and works in other media which suggest an unmediated, unfinished impression of Japan and its rich culture of ancient and contemporary architecture.

Japan has exercised a significant pull on the Australian architectural imagination and has had both recognised and less well-known influences on successive generations. The ambition is that the sketches will capture this breadth and will collectively depict and trace the often-enigmatic aspects of Japan that have intrigued many Australian architects.

The exhibition of the sketches will be held at the Boutwell Draper Gallery in Sydney as part of the gallery’s ongoing Art + Architecture series from Tuesday 25th October to Saturday 29th October, with the auction event on the Friday evening. The exhibition also features in the Sydney Architecture Festival 2011.

Photographs and postcard are from a 3 week trip to Japan Adam took with his family in July, 2011.

From the Expanded Architecture blog-page: As part of the Sydney Architecture Festival, Expanded Architecture 2011 invited proposals for collaborative, site-specific moving image projections and filmic installations. Selected proposals will be part of an exciting one night only exhibition in the inspirational foyer space of CarriageWorks, Sydney on Wednesday October 26.

Here is  a YouTube link of our piece.

From Sarah Breen, curator of Expanded Architecture:

“Your piece was so well created, we were so proud to have it, and you both in the show. - I received such great feedback on it, people found it great to have a narrative piece to relate to the local area. We think the way you created the animation, combined with the sound bites / transcriptions was really well crafted! You also made the coolest chill out zone! So well done.”

Scrambled on YouTube

Architecture, like art, traces a line through history connecting buildings to time and place.

The project extracts the volume of the former farmhouse from a new, shed-like art building. The intersection of these forms generates a complex surface for a collaborative artwork (to be commissioned as part of the construction process).

This bricolage of reclaimed materials from across northern Japan, traces memories of the past around a new space where new memories can be projected.

Our proposal engages physically and metaphorically with the devastation of the Tohoku Earthquake; an event that left parts of Japan resembling an artwork by Gordon Matta-Clark or Tadashi Kawamata.

Side walls now have their Chevron light fittings installed, rear surfaces painted [yes, black] and are ready for The Mantle panels to cascade down to floor level. Note the mechanical supply plenums running horizontal at the 4m mark.

During design negotiations we pushed hard to retain the structurally complex skylight openings in the Great Hall. The decision seems to have been the right one – look at all that natural light!

A view up the side wall of The Balcony Room – soon to be enclosed with a pitched roof. Colorbond in the Longline profile gives a crisp look to this back-of-house area.

Roofing is in place on The Balcony Room. Infill steel fixing translates to a hive of activity in this large volume.

Chippendale, like most suburbs in Australia, can easily become a sustainability leader. By adapting it’s buildings and streets to reduce summer heat, lower dangerous air and water pollution and save money on food, energy and water MASSIVE gains can be won.

The plan trials proven way to grow food, harvest rain and solar energy, walk and bicycle safely on roadways and minimise waste.

Small car and motor scooter parking adjacent to rain gardens.

Rain gardens incorporated into carriageway for deep-root watering of verge-planted trees.

Pop-up median strips consolidate and store excessive roof water and provide additional planting opportunities.

Rainwater redirected from neighbouring properties and roadway to maximise absorption and minimise run-off.

Sydney Bikes Lanes
Contrary to the odd overheated motorist, I believe the City of Sydney’s bicycle infrastructure project was a far-sighted stroke of genius. Consisting of little more than road paint and the occasional raised kerb, Sydney’s new cycle lanes were the catalyst for a literal explosion in bicycle users in and around the city. This rapid uptake of cycling has brought with it a new mobile sub-culture who, unlike other private transport modes, provide a significant contribution to the life and vibrancy of inner city streets.
Beyond health, economic, social and environmental benefits, the bicycle offers one of the fastest and most reliable means of mid-distance travel across the city. Implementation of the cycle lanes brings Sydney inline with other global cities such as London, New York and Tokyo. Rather than simply meeting demands, the cycle infrastructure is a refreshing example of local government’s ability to “pave the way” to a more sustainable future.

North Eveleigh [CarriageWorks]
As a local resident, one of my favourite events at North Eveleigh is the farmers market held there each Saturday. The usual trolly-bound drudgery of grocery shopping gives way to informal catch-ups with friends and neighbours in a vast, covered, outdoor environment where the kids can run wild. The markets are part of a new Inner West arts and culture precinct that hinges around CarriageWorks – an exceptional adaptive re-fit of the 1888 railway carriage workshops by Sydneyarchitects Tonkin Zulaikha Greer. The upgraded building provides flexible facilities for events as diverse as the TedX Sydney talks, an indoor ice rink, sustainability workshops, Sydney Children’s Festival, Pecha Kucha and the Platform Hip-hop Festival. The CarriageWorks development is just the first stage of the larger North Eveleigh urban renewal project. Higher density retail, commercial and housing earmarked for the site will further activate the area, tapping in to what is already one of the premiere creative hot-spots in Sydney.

CBD Public realm upgrades
In the lead-up to the 2000 Olympics the city undertook a major capital works program, replacing degraded CBD footpaths and accumulated clutter with wider stone kerbs and pavements and a modern suite of seats, bins, booths and smart-poles. In my view the great success of this work extends beyond immediate improvements in quality and finish, to it’s broader effect in drawing once disparate parts of the CBD together as a unified and legible cosmopolis.