Introduction ‘3 Over 4 Under’ is an annual forum presented by Merge, providing an opportunity for three established practices and four emerging practices to present and discuss current works. Theme: On Impact Forum Location: The Bakery, James Street, Northbridge Speakers: Overs: EIW Architects, JCY Architects & Urban Designers, Palassis Architects Unders: Andrew T Boyne Architect, David Weir Architects, Philip Stejskal Architecture, PLACE Laboratory
‘On Impact’ is the theme for this year’s event, the 10th in our themed series previously exploring ‘On Home’‘On Site’‘On Weathering’‘On Language’‘On re-use’ ‘On Idea’ ‘On Technology’ ‘On Rejuvenation’ and ‘On Forgotten’. On Impact Early this year, the New York Times published an article describing Perth as “a city embodying all things right about cities”. Soon after, a second article crowned our West Australian capital #9 on its list of ’52 Places to Go in 2014’ - just in time for the National Conference. From the east and overseas, our colleagues travelled for the first nation-wide architectural discourse held in Perth in a decade. Due to some of the biggest developments in the country, many of these visitors have remained to feed Perth’s architectural growth. So what happened to “Dullsville”? How is Perth transforming into a ‘progressive, user-friendly, oh-so-funky city’? The national conference themed ‘Making’ was built around sub-themes of which ‘Making Impact’ addressed the social and economic influences of architecture. Through this year’s ‘3 Over 4 Under’ forum titled ‘On Impact’ we aim to bring this discourse to a local level, studying Perth projects that have shaken the city on a multitude of scales. Merge July 2014
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‘On Impact’
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Contents
Click on each speaker to find out more:
Philip Stejskal Architecture EIW Architects PLACE Laboratory Andrew T Boyne Architect Palassis Architects David Weir Architects JCY Architects & Urban Designers 3
Philip Stejskal
Philip Stejskal Architecture
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Name of practice: Philip Stejskal Architecture Name(s) of principal(s): Philip Stejskal Date of practice commencement: June 2009 part time / April 2011 full time Size of office - Small (1-5), Medium (6-15), Large (16-25), Extra Large (26 & up): Small (2) Practice Statement (one paragraph): Our focus is on creating spaces that are uplifting and pragmatic. Our ideological starting point is an engagement with the notion of spatial well-being: an insistence that good design can bring about psychological and physiological benefits for its occupants. Ongoing Research: Our design methodology involves foraging the given project situation for particularities and interests and proceeding to make connections that address the programmatic and aspirational requirements of the client and our own. Obviously always through the rose coloured lenses of a romantic! Current Projects (key projects for the night): 59 Bellevue Terrace Fremantle, 38A Solomon St Mosman Park, 1A White St North Fremantle
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- the right to comfort - the right to privacy - the right to community, - the right to tactility, outdoor habitation, engagement, etc
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On Impact Michael Sorkin, in Local Code (1996), expounds basic rights of the city dweller. We believe a set of basic entitlements must similarly be delivered in the design of our housing stock. Sadly, the majority of homes do not meet these minimum criteria extrapolated by us to include access to natural light, winter sun, natural ventilation, connection to context, spatial delight. Yet, the prevalent housing typology continues to multiply due to its relative affordability. An idea explored by myself, Chris Pratt and Yang Yang Lee as part of a competition last year, questions the possibility of a collaboration or hybrid. It takes the project home as the ‘affordable’ starting point. It proposes its interrogation to fully understand the obvious consistencies across the sector: repetition, which makes it cost effective. Finally, it suggests this knowledge can help develop universalised and massproduced ‘accessories’ that are retro-fitted to existing or integrated in the construction of new homes with minimal fuss. What if these tailored / universal / pre-wired / pre-plumbed / pre-clad / pre-lined / pre-certified / flat-packed ‘accessories’ could unwittingly slip into the mindless build of a project home? Or be affordably retro-fitted? Suburbs could lay claim to those fundamental rights within the framework of status quo, almost covertly. Philip Stejskal Architecture 2014
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Peter Lippman + Dani Martin
EIW Architects
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Name of practice: EIW Architects Name(s) of principal(s): Directors: Philip Idle and Antonio D’Andrea Date of practice commencement: January 1994 Size of office - Small (1-5), Medium (6-15), Large (16-25), Extra Large (26 & up): Large (20) Practice Statement: Through our core values of respect, creativity, perception, passion and service, EIW Architects aim to provide architectural services that engage, encourage and inspire our clients. Each project is considered unique and is developed as part of a collaborative team to ensure creative solutions to challenging conditions and most importantly end-user ownership. Our philosophy of ‘Building Ideas’ means we enrich the minds and lives of our staff, colleagues, and clients to create innovative excellence in design and leadership. Ongoing Research: EIW Architects are engaged in active research through Evidence Based Design principles, which informs each project. Our hands-on exploration focus begins with a thorough understanding of current research which informs our participatory approach. This approach involves interviews, focus groups and observations with various stakeholders throughout the visioning, planning and design process. Our research into effective learning spaces has been published in numerous journals and online resources in Australia and overseas. Current Projects (key projects for the night): Hammond Park Catholic Primary School, Tranby College, Santa Maria College and Holy Cross College
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On Impact Ever dreamed of designing research-based spaces where learners explore concepts in a truly flexible, deliberately inspiring and curiosity-inducing environments rich with technological opportunity? EIW’s Evidence Based Design Approach provides a framework for creating such spaces. Our research approach allows us to explore the intersection between the expertise of teachers who interact with and know learners and designers who provide the spaces in which learning occurs. Focus groups, interviews and observations of how spaces are used are some of our methodologies. By fully engaging the learning community, we are able to uncover, resolve and propose innovative solutions that endeavour to support the vision of the learning community. Hammond Park Catholic Primary School, Tranby College, Santa Maria College, and Holy Cross College will be showcased as places that were planned around this approach, and, most importantly, are places that are having positive impact on learners and the learning process. EIW Architects 2014
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Anna Chauvel
PLACE Laboratory
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Name of practice: PLACE Laboratory Name(s) of principal(s): Anna Chauvel and Shlomit Strum Date of practice commencement: November 2010 Size of office - Small (1-5), Medium (6-15), Large (16-25), Extra Large (26 & up): Medium (just) Practice Statement Place Laboratory is a landscape architecture studio with a ‘people focused’ approach to creating liveable, desirable and exciting places. Our work has an increasing emphasis on the personal and human experience in the public realm, with the ability to address place activation from the early planning phase right through to delivery in order to make a valuable and significant contribution to the overall culture and sociability of the city. Our most recent and current projects include the Kings Square and Wellington Gardens in the Northbridge Link and the Yagan Square Place Activation Plan. These projects together with the place plan we prepared for Curtin University represent amazing success stories in generating innovative urban solutions that are people and activity focused. Ongoing Research: Understanding what makes great spaces, and understanding how design can improve the human experience. Current Projects (key projects for the night): Kings Square and Wellington Gardens in the Northbridge Link; City Square Place Activation Plan
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On Impact When people think about cities they often focus on the component parts that make up the city fabric - like streets, buildings, cafes, buses, trams and traffic. At Place Laboratory when we think about cities, we don’t just see the building blocks we see all the places that make people feel welcome. We see the in-between, the intimate, and the special spaces and places that make people feel connected. Put simply we see the place and the stories people bring to the city as an intertwined whole. Spaces filled with people, spaces that are lively and enjoyable - these are the key to a great city. They bring the city to life and make it a place we all want to visit and live. But what makes a great place? What attracts people? What is its point of difference? What will make people feel welcome? What makes them stay longer? How can public space be enjoyable? How can public space be for everyone, regardless of age, culture, and circumstance? And what will they do while they are in the space? Responding to these questions is what we call ‘place activation’ - the process of putting people first and actively engaging them in the symphony of city life. PLACE Laboratory 2014
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Andrew Boyne
Andrew T Boyne Architect
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Name of practice: Andrew T Boyne Architect Name(s) of principal(s): Andrew T Boyne Date of practice commencement: June 2012 Size of office - Small (1-5), Medium (6-15), Large (16-25), Extra Large (26 & up): Small Practice Statement (one paragraph): Good architecture is an amalgam of the qualities of a site, the personality of the owners, and it’s place in the long steady march of time. The combination of these requirements will never be repeated, making each project inherently unique. My work is born from the landscapes of Western Australia , it’s culture and it’s people, and reflects the deep personal qualities of each of my clients. Ongoing Research: Prefabrication methods and design Composite materials and construction adhesives Current Projects (key projects for the night): Augusta Beach House
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On Impact Although off-site prefabrication is a growing industry and offers many advantages over conventional construction methods, it has consistently been dogged by the cheap and nasty images of mining dongers and portable classrooms. Prefabricated homes are thought of as foreign to their site and decidedly un-architectural, yet there seems to be little reason why this should be the case. In conjunction with Vikal International, the world’s most prestigious boat builder, we have been working to break down these limitations. We have been exploring alternative construction methods, materials and forms, each suited to prefabricated building, and each capable of reinjecting architecture back into the industry. The Augusta Beach House, nearing completion on Flinder’s Bay has been designed as a contemporary Western Australian family beach house. It draws from the long history of beach shacks in the area and from the local maritime heritage. The house responds to climatic conditions and provides a light and casual holiday environment while affording views that make the most of the magnificent scenery. The house was also prefabricated in a boat factory in Bibra Lake. As an example of prefabricated building, the Augusta Beach House demonstrates the possibilities that this type of construction presents. The house breaks the cheap and nasty mould of prefabricated homes, and presents a highly expressive and dynamic piece of architecture that we hope will have an impact on how the profession understands prefabrication. Andrew T Boyne Architect 2014
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Christopher Paterson
Palassis Architects
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Name of practice: Palassis Architects Name(s) of principal(s): Kevin Palassis Date of practice commencement: 1982 Size of office - Small (1-5), Medium (6-15), Large (16-25), Extra Large (26 & up): Medium (9) Practice Statement (one paragraph): Palassis Architects is a small, boutique architectural practice with conservation and reuse of heritage buildings at the core of its work. Palassis Architects have over thirty years experience in heritage, working across the State for a wide range of private and Local and State government clients. Palassis Architects is a multi-awarded practice. Ongoing Research: At Palassis Architects, we are driven by a desire for our work to be meaningful and authentic, to avoid faux-heritage, and to provide the best conservation outcome for the buildings we are privileged to work on. Our works are underpinned and informed by research, ranging from simple paint scrapes on site to extensive documentary research, often in collaboration with other professionals, particularly historians. Research is wide-ranging and ongoing, tailored to each individual place’s history and needs. Current Projects (key projects for the night): Brookfield Place, Old Treasury Buildings, St George’s Cathedral, Barracks Arch
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On Impact Palassis Architects is an architectural practice with expertise in conservation and heritage. As architects we understand design, and how it affects us. As conservation practitioners we understand, and advocate, the added impact conservation of existing buildings can add to projects. Our work is not about conserving old buildings as museums, it is about a need to respect and retain the character of place, and the skills and expertise to enable this. We believe that our work has the potential to enrich lives, enliven places, and in the context of existing streetscapes to expose and enhance places of cultural significance. Design must function well, take into account current and future needs, must respect the surroundings and existing buildings and should seek to be sustainable. The impact of our work varies in scale - the revitalization of the Brookfield Place heritage buildings which dramatically changed the way people use the City; the ongoing conservation of St George’s Cathedral which impacts on the way the Cathedral is and will be used, in an integrated precinct redevelopment; to minor external works to the Barracks Arch which add a subtle but delightful improvement to the streetscape. Palassis Architects 2014
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David Weir
David Weir Architects
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Name of practice: David Weir Architects Name(s) of principal(s): David Weir Date of practice commencement: 2009 Size of office - Small (1-5), Medium (6-15), Large (16-25), Extra Large (26 & up): Small Practice Statement (one paragraph): A small firm doing things which we find fun and interesting. Most often it is architecture. Ongoing Research: We are not big on research. We are too busy doing architecture and fun things like rooftop bars. Current Projects (key projects for the night): Apartment House, Exploding Shed House, Dave’s Cans
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On Impact The whole proposition depends on your definitions and your expectations. With a certain reading the result approaches acceptable, with another it could be more than a little disappointing. Are we talking about the magazine architecture which so many of us seem to strive to create? Are we talking about the fetishised architecture of Perth periods past? Are we talking about the architecture in which the vast majority of Perth’s residents live? So how do we argue if architecture has had any real impact on our city? Is it more of an oddity than it is a meaningful protagonist in our cultural day to day? Some might feel the work we do is a niche extravagance; some of us might see it as an exercise in chipping at the edges of a disappointing norm. As a personal experience the impact might be huge and long-lasting; on a wider scale the impact might appear to be more passive. Let’s shout some ideas out into the void and see if anything useful bounces back... David Weir Architects 2014
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Libby Guj + Will Thomson
JCY Architects & Urban Designers
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Name of practice: JCY Architects & Urban Designers Name(s) of principal(s): Paul Jones, Richard Young, Libby Guj, Andrew Rogerson, Scott McConn Date of practice commencement: Originally established in 1986 Size of office - Small (1-5), Medium (6-15), Large (16-25), Extra Large (26 & up): Extra Large (39) Practice Statement: JCY is an internationally recognised Western Australian owned Architectural practice focused on providing the highest quality built-form outcomes for a broad range of clients within both the public and private sectors. The scope of our work is extensive as are our clients, resulting in an exciting and diverse portfolio of projects reflecting our knowledge and our desire to express the uniqueness of people, environment and vision. Our philosophy is to listen first and then respond. Ongoing Research: JCY seeks to provide a unique and appropriate design response to every project with sustainable and innovative solutions that eschew a trademark style or response, with liveability, longevity, durability and excellent design being of paramount importance. It is the belief that all projects must fulfil the functional and long term needs of the client as well as being of architectural note and aesthetic excellence. Current Projects (key project/s for the night): Edith Cowan University, Student Services and Administration Building
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On Impact ECU B34, now also known as Ngoolark, the indigenous name of the Carnaby Cockatoo, is not only a significant addition to the facilities landscape of the Joondalup Campus, but is also, most importantly the centre of a new kind of campus ‘web’ which creates a true transformational urban environment within its heart, linking together various buildings, connections and campus spaces and making each an integral part to the overall development. This project’s impact is not only bedded in its own identity and vitality but most importantly in how it transforms everything around it by its own physicality and ‘life’, its connections, its extended vitality and the opportunities it creates for the campus as a whole. It can no longer be enough to simply build facilities in the growth of education campuses, be they school or tertiary. Investment must wholly encompass quality of campus and educational life as a founding part of not only achieving academically but also in the meaningful participation in civic and human activities. Our places for learning must make spaces which provide a sound foundation for human values and not just academic achievement with the hope that society will reflect these underpinning values in the future. JCY Architects & Urban Designers 2014
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The 3 Over 4 Under forum was brought to you by MERGE - Emerging Architects www.3over4under.com