Issue 30
02. InterVIEW
What are you working on now? I have a few projects on the go at the moment which are mainly mixed-use apartment projects however, I’m currently mainly focused on a project in Fishermans Bend which includes a neighbourhood shopping centre with a number of commercial floors and a few hundred apartments
JOHN ARMSBY Architect, Armsby Architects 2020 Building Design Awards Judge
What have been your favourite projects and why? My two favourite projects to date are definitely Richmond Icon, at the former Dimmeys in Richmond, which was for me a formative project in that it was the first major project after establishing Armsby Architects and it was a true test of whether I was going to have what it takes. It is a big task to redesign a project steeped in such history and especially so as it was originally designed by Harry Tompkins, who founded Tompkins Shaw and Evans in East Melbourne where I cut my teeth in Melbourne Architecture shortly after arriving here from Tassie. The second project is Green Edge in Cremorne which sits two doors from Dimmeys, and was my first chance to really push sustainability as far as I could take it for a client who wanted to have sustainability as long as it didn’t cost anything, so the key was to incorporate sustainability which also could serve other purposes such as the splayed buttress wing walls that removed west-facing glass from the building but also ensured privacy and overlooking were controlled whilst also improving energy efficiency.
Alila Ulawatu, Bali - WOHA WOHA.net
To date, what has been your biggest design challenge and how did you overcome it? Once again, Dimmeys has been my biggest design challenge as it had to satisfy not only Council but also Heritage Victoria who were following completely different agendas, as well as the sense of responsibility that goes with taking on such a glorious, although faded gem that was the tired old building known as Dimmeys.
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INTERVIEW
