Architectural Review #148

Architectural Review

ARCHITECTURAL REVIEW

S T R AT E GY | M A N AG E M E N T | F I N A N C E | L E GA L | H R | T E C H N O L O GY | L E G I S L AT I O N

THE BUSINESS OF ARCHITECTURE ISSUE 148 | 2017 ACCESS SOLUTIONS AGED CARE PRACTICE EXPANSION STRATEGY FEE PROPOSALS FINANCE PATENTS OR COPYRIGHT? LEGAL AFTER THE STARCHITECT DEBATE

The Business of Architecture

CHARLES WRIGHT Charles Wright Architects

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FEATURE INTERVIEW Charles Wright spends as much time running his business as he does actually being an architect… and that’s fine by him

CONTENTS

AR REGULARS 10

EDITORIAL

14

QUOTES

33

62

64

ISSUE 148

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BUSINESS 12

EMERGING PRACTICE Sara Kirby meets Lachlan Nielsen of Nielsen Workshop

OPINION Penny Craswell explores the ethics of unpaid overtime

24

BRAIN TRUST What can practices do to safeguard and promote the mental health and well-being of their employees?

TECHNOLOGY Anthony Caruana on the cutting edge tools used in the design of the VCCR and Banksia

26

FINANCE Ian Motley on fee proposals

28

STRATEGY Penny Craswell investigates expansion with Koichi Takada Architects and Turner

30

LEGAL Architects have long looked to copyright laws to protect their designs, but maybe it’s time to take a leaf out of Apple’s playbook and consider patents, say Anthony Cowle and Marion Heathcote

DEBATE Can a practice survive the demise of its starchitect founder? australiandesignreview.com

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CONTENTS

DESIGN 36

45

66

LEAD PROJECT TAS Science Facility at Trinity Anglican School, Cairns by Charles Wright Architects EMERGING PROJECT Tamborine House by Neilsen Workshop SKELETONS Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater house in Pennsylvania, US

APPLICATION 54

56

SKYSCRAPERS Reaching for the skies: the inaugural Australian Smart Skyscrapers Summit will be held in March 2017 LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE The winners of the AILA’s National Landscape Architecture Awards for 2016

59

CLOSED LOOP DESIGN Sustainable flooring solutions in homogenous flooring and timber

60 SHOWCASE New products under the spotlight

AR ADVISER 52

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THE BUSINESS OF ARCHITECTURE

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10 EDITORIAL

Editor Madeleine Swain madeleine.swain @ niche.com.au Assistant online editor and Social media coordinator Sara Kirby sara.kirby @ niche.com.au (03) 9948 4946 Business development manager Nirma Ledford nirma.ledford @ niche.com.au (03) 9948 4992

TAKING CARE IN BUSINESS

Production Art director Keely Atkins Production coordinator Alicia Pinnock alicia.pinnock@niche.com.au

M

y favourite quote of this issue came from Sandy Law. At very late notice, Sandy agreed to join the Brain Trust panel, which tackles the timely topic of mental health and well-being in the architecture profession.

When I first began thinking about this editorial the world was observing World Mental Health Day (10 October). By the time I got around to putting fingers to keyboard, it was during the week that Kanye West cancelled the remainder of his current tour and was admitted to a psychiatric facility, reportedly for stress and exhaustion.

When someone who features as prominently on the world stage as West is announced as having issues with mental health, it’s clear it’s no longer something in the shadows – only ever whispered about or mentioned obliquely.

In the architecture profession, mental health is receiving some welcome attention with several studies (from such bodies as The Architects’ Journal and the University of Toronto) plus the valuable work from Australia’s own Parlour, underlining how the long working hours common in the industry can lead to multiple issues, such as anxiety and depression.

Our lead interview this issue is with Charles Wright, who says the biggest challenge of his career at the moment is that he spends much of his working life travelling between Far North Queensland and Victoria, and so is often away from family. To counteract the effects of this, when he is at home in Port Douglas, he tries to finish work by six and not work on weekends, so that he can spend time with his wife and children.

Elsewhere in the magazine, Penny Craswell ponders not only the mental health effects of working long hours of overtime, but the actual ethics of such practices – how those unwilling or unable to do so are also affected.

And our aforementioned Brain Trust discuss some of the ways their individual practices have confronted the issue head-on, with recommendations for internal counselling services, reflective practices, staff get-togethers and regular workplace health checks.

Oh yes and of course there was that lovely quote from Sandy… “When all else fails get a dog. We did. His name is Jimmy.”

Look after yourselves. And each other.

Madeleine Swain Editor madeleine.swain@niche.com.au

GLOSSARY Throughout this and subsequent issues of AR you will notice icons that indicate the relevant article has material on the website, which may be text, further images and/or video. The icons’ meanings are: Image gallery

Video

Text

Additional text

AR ADVISER CONTRIBUTION An AR Adviser is an organisation with which we’ve entered into a partnership to provide expert insight from their respective industries. In this issue, we welcome dormakaba: dormakaba’s Shayne Bamford Shayne Bamford, manager EAC Australia AS APAC, has been working with Kaba products for 26 years with 10 years’ experience in Kaba’s EAC products.

THE BUSINESS OF ARCHITECTURE

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Design & digital prepress Monique Blair Publishing Chairman Nicholas Dower Managing director Paul Lidgerwood Publisher & Commercial director Joanne Davies Content director Chris Rennie Financial controller Sonia Jurista Subscriptions Subscription enquiries Call 1800 804 160 or email subscriptions@niche.com.au Cover: Charles Wright Photo: Eamon Gallagher Printing Graphic Impressions

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12 OPINION

THE ETHICS OF UNPAID OVERTIME / PENNY CRASWELL

A

ustralia has one of the worst levels of unpaid overtime in the developed world, on average 4.28 hours a week (Randstad report, 2016). Exactly how much depends on your individual workplace and your industry, with the legal profession renowned for being one of the worst, and architecture not far behind. Many architects have struggled with the personal question of how to deal with the culture of long hours, especially when work goes into the night (or even through the night) and starts to affect your health, well-being and personal life.

But it’s important to recognise that there are wider societal issues that unpaid overtime creates. In other words, it’s not just about you.

There are a couple of factors that have contributed to the prevalence of unpaid overtime and long hours generally in the field of architecture and one of these is the myth of the genius architect. The profession of architecture has a certain cachet linked to the image of the individual, genius figure working hard to create a masterpiece. This translates into a sense of responsibility

for architects, especially those who are passionate about what they do (and so they should be), who end up sacrificing unpaid hours, health and work/life balance to the altar of architecture.

Although the concept of collaboration among architects has somewhat dampened this genius architect narrative, another event has had major implications on unpaid overtime. The global financial crisis saw businesses across the world tightening their belts and individual workers either laid off or in doubt about their job security. But, even though the crisis is long behind us and the market is buoyant (in Australia at least), the belt has not been loosened and competitiveness among workers leading to long working hours has been normalised. Add to this new workplaces designed to keep you in the office, with inducements such as coffee machines and ping pong tables, and the ability to work remotely thanks to changing technologies, and it seems everything is conspiring to keep us working longer.

So what are the disadvantages?

Fewer people doing more hours leads to

REWARDING INDIVIDUALS WHO WORK LONG HOURS MEANS THAT HIGHLY TALENTED, CAPABLE STAFF MAY BE DISADVANTAGED, JUST BECAUSE THEY CANNOT OR CHOOSE NOT TO WORK OVERTIME.

fewer opportunities for young people to enter the profession.

Rewarding individuals who work long hours means that highly talented, capable staff may be disadvantaged, just because they cannot or choose not to work overtime – a particular problem for those who need to dedicate time to parenting. And new research by the NSW Architects Registration Board shows that excessive working hours can take its toll on the mental health of architects and those around them.

Which means that, as well as being a personal issue for individual architects, the culture of long hours has serious implications for business and society. ar

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14 QUOTES

“OUR GROWTH STRATEGY IS ORGANIC, BUT IT’S HIGH GROWTH. WE BELIEVE THAT IF YOU HIRE THE RIGHT PEOPLE, THE WORK WILL COME TO YOU.” / KARL MAY, PAGE 28

“THE PROFESSION OF ARCHITECTURE HAS A CERTAIN CACHET LINKED TO THE IMAGE OF THE INDIVIDUAL, GENIUS FIGURE WORKING HARD TO CREATE A MASTERPIECE.” / PENNY CRASWELL, PAGE 12

“THERE IS A POSSIBILITY OF 3D PRINTING REALLY LARGE BUILDING PARTS AND POSSIBLY, IN THE FUTURE, DOING THEM ON-SITE… IT’S JUST NOT COSTEFFECTIVE YET.” / DEBBIE-LYN RYAN, PAGE 24

“BEING AN ARCHITECT IN YOUR OWN BUSINESS MEANS RUNNING A BUSINESS.” / CHARLES WRIGHT, PAGE 16

“SELLING DESIGN SERVICES ISN’T ABOUT SEARCHING FOR THAT ONE MAGICAL FEE NUMBER THAT MAXIMISES PROFITS WHILE ALSO MAXIMISING SALES – THAT DOESN’T EXIST.” / IAN MOTLEY, PAGE 26

“THE FIRST CONCEPT MEETING IS KEY AS WELL AS THE ABILITY TO SELL IDEAS.” / LACHLAN NIELSEN, PAGE 33

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“WHEN YOU GET BIGGER, YOU NEED OFFICE SUPPORT AND PROPER INFRASTRUCTURE. BUT, MOST IMPORTANTLY, YOU NEED TO CREATE AN ENVIRONMENT WHERE EACH EMPLOYEE CAN PERFORM AT THEIR BEST, INCLUDING ME.” / KOICHI TAKADA, PAGE 28

“THE PATENT SYSTEM COULD PROVIDE AN EFFECTIVE TOOL TO PROTECT ARCHITECTS’ CREATIVE TECHNIQUES.” / ANTHONY COWLE, MARION HEATHCOTE, PAGE 30

ISSUE 148

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“NO MAJOR ARCHITECTURAL PRACTICE ESTABLISHED UNDER THE NAME OF ITS FOUNDER HAS SURVIVED MUCH BEYOND THEIR DEATH.” / EDWIN HEATHCOTE, PAGE 65

“WE’RE ALWAYS AWARE OF MAINTAINING A CERTAIN LEVEL OF ACTIVITY, SO OUR STAFF DON’T BECOME EITHER STAGNANT OR, ALTERNATIVELY, BURNT OUT.” / JESSICA RISKE, PAGE 62

“WE ARE ALSO PARTICIPATING IN ST JOHN’S PILOT MENTAL HEALTH FIRST AID PROGRAM TO HELP STAFF IDENTIFY AND UNDERSTAND WHEN OTHERS MAY NEED SOME EXTRA SUPPORT.” / STEVE COSTER, PAGE 63

“WE NEED TO RECOGNISE THAT A STARCHITECT IS A BRAND AND, AS SUCH, THAT BRAND NEEDS TO BE MANAGED TO ENSURE IT IS ENDURING.” / SIMON NELSON, PAGE 64

“WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS, GET A DOG. WE DID. HIS NAME IS JIMMY.” / SANDY LAW, PAGE 63

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TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS CHARLES WRIGHT CHARLES WRIGHT ESTIMATES HE SPENDS JUST AS MUCH TIME ON ADMINISTRATION AS HE DOES ON DESIGN, BUT HE’S NOT COMPLAINING. / MADELEINE SWAIN

T

here are architects who are passionate about their craft, but loathe all the peripherals that go with it, believing that the hours they spend actually running their business is precious time that could be better spent doing what they love and are good at – design.

Charles Wright of Charles Wright Architects (CWA) is not one of those architects. Originally training in fine art at RMIT, he became increasingly intrigued by the discipline of architecture in the third year of his course. And it was its varied facets that really attracted him.

“It was a growing realisation,” he says. “I liked the complexity of architecture; it involved so many fields of discipline. So there was science, technology, engineering, working with people. There was a business acumen side, but most importantly a design and creative component. And I thought it would be a really good fit as to how my mind works.”

It’s no surprise then to hear that, after graduating with first class honours from his architecture course in 2000, he only spent four years working for Lyons Architecture before striking out on his own.

“I was lucky I had an opportunity,” he says. “I’d always had the idea that I wanted to start up my own practice one day. It wasn’t dissimilar to being an artist and working solo in a studio, except that you had that interaction with a lot more people to get the thing done.”

That springboard opportunity was designing a house for family

members. The project also took him up to Far North Queensland, which is where he is still based today. The practice is now divided between that studio in Port Douglas and another one in Melbourne.

“The biggest challenge for me is time spent away from my family,” says Wright. “I travel regularly between the two offices, which can at times take a toll physically and mentally.”

On the plus side he says this does mean CWA is able to service projects all along the eastern seaboard. His travels often include work stopovers at Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sydney and other regional centres.

And then he loves the lifestyle. “I made the decision over 12 years ago to call Port Douglas home – something of a sea change and a curious location to run a successful national practice, but as it turned out it’s the perfect niche market for the kind of work I wanted to do. I really enjoy the tropical climate.

“We currently have six staff across our two locations,” says Wright.

“We have a base core of full-time staff, which is complemented by others who work on a contract basis calibrated by the current workload.

Given the lean model and the nature of the market, we are ultimately adaptable and very deliberate in the way we can expand and contract in size as required to maintain the quality on all of our projects.”

The business is essentially a family trust, although expansion was always in Wright’s mind, hence the plural in the company name. “The company is a sole directorship structure; however, we do have

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INTERVIEW 17

photography Eamon Gallagher.

ISSUE 148

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18 INTERVIEW

+

Charles Wright on…

Starting out. Be prepared to work hard and think lean. You need to have a clear idea of what kind of work you want to do and how you will become best at it.

Continuing professional development. We encourage our staff to actively engage in professional development, through sponsoring membership with the Australian Institute of Architects (AIA), to attendance at conferences and seminars, and I regularly speak at such events.

Growth opportunities. We have successfully delivered projects in cultural, health, education, research, multi-residential and residential. As the population grows along with our economy, there will be opportunities across all industry sectors.

Upcoming influences affecting the industry.

• Sustainable business practices are in a period of rapid evolution.

We can slash energy consumption by 60 to 70 percent.

• There will be a lot more adaptive re-use of existing building stocks and assets.

• Technology is key. We need to be in a position to adopt new technologies at the same time as driving innovation to continually develop new ones.

Ensuring future growth. The best way to work toward this goal is to consistently achieve excellence and continue to win work across a broad range of sectors simultaneously. Competitions are also a good way to achieve this.

a hierarchy in practice management with senior staff holding executive roles as principals and associates,” he says. “In some cases, we work on a direct percentage of profit commission basis for projects that senior staff bring into the practice. This model provides for incentive-based promotion with no cap or limit for individual success within the company.”

Despite being a relatively small practice, CWA does all of its modelling and rendering in-house. “The only thing we outsource is printing if required,” says Wright. “The modelling and rendering process is integral to how we design, develop and document projects. It’s not a separate activity that can be outsourced.”

When it comes to the basic administration though, Wright takes care of most of the heavy lifting on his own. He puts the breakdown of his time at 50/50 for designing and the actual running of the business.

Unusually, he’s happy about that. “I love every aspect of being an architect,” he says, “and being an architect in your own business means running a business.

“I don’t actually consider the two things as totally separate,” he adds. “One informs the other, directly or indirectly.”

But how did he learn the specific skills needed for the administrative side of running a practice? Especially considering his original training was in fine art, which is hardly a traditional path to economic success.

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“YOU HAVE TO BE A STRATEGIC THINKER MOST CRITICALLY. YOU ALSO NEED TO BE CLIENT FOCUSED AND HAVE THE ABILITY TO COMMUNICATE CLEARLY.” ISSUE 148

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20 INTERVIEW

“Initially, I relied on good advice from a range of professionals to assist in setting up the systems and procedures,” he explains. “However, the vast majority has been learned ‘on the fly’ over time.”

Sometimes that even means picking up tips from his actual clients, many of them being leaders in their fields. “I’ve learned a lot from the many in-depth business discussions over the past 12 years or so. Clearly their businesses are in different and varied sectors; however, overall strategic business principles can be similarly applied.”

This ‘learning and listening’ ties in with his recommendations for the skills you need to be an effective company head.

“Be a good listener, with humility,” he says. “This way you’re in a better position to develop trust with staff and clients alike.”

That’s not all…

“You have to be a strategic thinker most critically. You also need to be client focused and have the ability to communicate clearly.

“BEING AN ARCHITECT IN YOUR OWN BUSINESS MEANS RUNNING A BUSINESS.”

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“GIVEN THE LEAN MODEL AND THE NATURE OF THE MARKET, WE ARE ULTIMATELY ADAPTABLE AND VERY DELIBERATE IN THE WAY WE CAN EXPAND AND CONTRACT IN SIZE AS REQUIRED TO MAINTAIN THE QUALITY ON ALL OF OUR PROJECTS.”

Flexibility is key, however. You need to be flexible but firm – to know when to be resolute and pragmatic.”

It’s clearly working for him. Despite the fluctuations in the market, CWA has thrived in a variety of different areas. “We are unique as a relatively small firm to have successfully delivered projects ranging from cultural, to health, education, research, multi-residential and residential,” he says, in stark contrast to some boutique firms that advocate finding your niche and sticking to it.

If the proof of the pudding is in the eating, then the validation of Wright’s approach is the recognition the practice’s work has received, the most recent notable example being the inaugural Educational Architecture Jennifer Taylor Award for the TAS Science Facility (see page 36).

“We are thrilled to have won such recognition for a project where we have attempted to innovate within building typology,” he says.

ISSUE 148

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“Winning such awards gives the practice credibility and encourages us to keep striving to push hard with the things we think matter.”

Such as? Sustainability for one. Like many, Wright has strong opinions on the most pressing issues ahead for the profession.

“The biggest challenge we face is the impact of increasing density of population in our cities in an era of climate change,” he says.

“Sustainable building practices are in a period of rapid evolution… it’s time to move beyond the checklist approach and tackle the issue head-on. There is no excuse not to, as all the science already exists. We have the tools and there are thousands of good examples. We have a professional responsibility to build things well and make them last.”

And if he were starting a business in the current economic and political climate – would he do anything differently? “Not really,” he says, “but I would probably jump straight into competitions and tendering on larger-scale projects from the outset.” ar

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24 TECHNOLOGY

GREAT TOOLS OPEN NEW POSSIBILITIES THE JOURNEY FROM AN IDEA AND SET OF PROBLEMS PRESENTED BY A CLIENT TO AN ARCHITECT FOR SOLUTION CAN TAKE MANY DIFFERENT ROADS. / ANTHONY CARUANA

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ebbie-Lyn Ryan from McBride Charles Ryan (MCR) says this road requires a combination of a flexible approach and using the right tools for the job.

“Normally the client will give us a brief of what they’re after and then we come up with ways of solving their problems. We see ourselves as problem solvers,” she says.

While many of her clients have some idea of what they want, this is often based on past experience. Ryan is able to show clients new opportunities that are made possible through the application of innovative technology and the availability of new materials.

“Part of adapting these technologies comes with managing frustrations,” she says. “Clients are coming to us to show them something. They’re not coming saying they want something. They are coming because they know we have the potential to show them something they haven’t thought of.”

As an example, the company used computer generated imagery (CGI) via software tools like Rhino, 3ds Max and Revit to create the decorative exterior designs at the recently opened Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre (VCCC).

These tools helped to show the use of innovative materials for the colonnades and branching decorations of the VCCC. They also helped to exhibit the use of glass reinforced concrete and fibre reinforced polymer in another

MCR project – Banksia, in Melbourne’s Monument Park.

Why does the practice use these technologies? Simply because MCR believes CGI is the best way to illustrate a project to the client, purchaser and other relevant stakeholders, while the innovative materials are particularly strong and can create unique decorations, which were previously impossible to fabricate.

THE DESIGN OF BANKSIA LED THE PRACTICE TO USING MAYA, AS THIS GAVE MCR THE CAPABILITY TO ILLUSTRATE THE OVERLAYING OF DIFFERENT FABRICS ON THE SOLID SCULPTURES.

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MCR HAS PROVEN ITS FLEXIBILITY AND TECHNOLOGICAL EXPERIENCE TO DELIVER INNOVATIVE PROJECTS USING CUTTING EDGE MATERIALS.

“It’s about knowing the parameters of the projects and making them the best they can be,” says Ryan.

With so many different tools available to architects, the company retains flexibility and is able to use many other applications. This is critical, as some of the fabrication firms MCR deals with require data delivered from specific applications. A flexible approach allows the practice to take advantage of a wide variety of fabrication partners. And where the firm doesn’t have in-house

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expertise, MCR is prepared to bring in contractors or outsource work in order to deliver the best outcome for clients.

“We’ll use whatever we can to achieve the result that we want,” explains Ryan. “We are developing some things within our office. We have people working on that full-time, on better ways to communicate our ideas.”

When it came to the Banksia project, the combination of complex geometry, input from local traders looking to increase foot traffic and the need for sculptures to be robust, but able to float on water presented some challenges.

While Rhino is a tool MCR has used extensively, the design of Banksia led the practice to using Maya, as this gave MCR the capability to illustrate the overlaying of different fabrics on the solid sculptures.

MCR has looked at some of the technologies that have garnered big

headlines, Ryan notes. For example, she says the practice has considered threedimensional printing beyond smaller design elements.

“There is a possibility of 3D printing really large building parts and possibly, in the future, doing them on-site,” she explains. “We’re looking at those technologies, but we’re waiting for a time when they are viable. It’s just not costeffective yet.”

She does, however, mention a large project in Dubai, sponsored by some very wealthy parties, which has started pioneering that technology.

In MCR’s role as a problem solver, Ryan says one of the most important tasks she has as an architect is facilitating communication. With large projects, such as Monument Park and the new VCCC under its belt, MCR has proven its flexibility and technological experience to deliver innovative projects using cutting edge materials. ar

previous page Banksia in Melbourne’s Monument Park. this page Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre.

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26 FINANCE

FEE

PROPOSALS BLUE TURTLE’S IAN MOTLEY OFFERS AN INTRODUCTION INTO THE PRACTICE OF FEE PROPOSALS, AND SUGGESTS SUCCESS MAY NOT DEPEND ON THE AMOUNT YOU QUOTE, BUT THE RANGE OF OPTIONS YOU PROVIDE.

Y

ou may be familiar with this situation: a client approaches you – perhaps it’s a cold call, perhaps a referral or perhaps you’ve worked together before. They’re excited by the project and keen to get started.

After explaining their requirements to you, they ask you, “How much do you charge?”

You respond with hesitation and agree to send them your proposal shortly. You return to your office and begin to think about the project, the client and the level of fee you should propose. You spend the next couple of days searching for that magical fee number: a fee that’s low enough to win you the work, while also being high enough to ensure a reasonable level of profit. Before long it’s decision time and, with a mixture of optimism, relief, trepidation and resignation you settle on a fee number, complete your proposal, attach it to an email and hit ‘Send’.

It’s now that the silence ensues. The once eager client is notably absent. At first, they have plausible reasons for the delay, until, finally, they no longer return emails or answers calls. Apparently, they weren’t in that much of a hurry after all... or, at least, not in a hurry to appoint you.

So, what happened? How did this ‘eager client’ suddenly disappear? Most design professionals assume that it was their fee – too high again! ‘Nobody values good design!’ Don’t be so sure.

Let’s examine where we may have gone wrong…

Traditionally, we in the design industry, viewed our fee proposal document simply as a legal instrument for executing an agreement between ourselves and our client: a document that set expectations, explained the process and informed our client of the associated fees, making very clear all the disclaimers, exclusions and liabilities the client will accept... not unlike the instruction manual and warranty card you find at the bottom of the box when you’ve purchased a new kitchen appliance, or the like.

So, what’s wrong with that? Well, for a start, retailers don’t try to use the instruction and warranty booklet to encourage buyers to purchase the appliance.

As our industry has become more competitive, we need to reconsider the way we view our fee proposal document: not simply as a legal instrument, but rather as a document that sells our services.

When it comes to selling design services, the solution may be closer than you think: selling design services isn’t about searching for that one magical fee number that maximises profits while also maximising sales – that doesn’t exist.

The success of a fee proposal is all about understanding that different clients have different reserve price preferences. Rather than trying to guess what that one magical fee number may be, it’s much more efficient to offer your clients a range of different fee options based on a range of different service

solutions. Then let your client tell you what they value and how much they’re prepared to spend.

This type of pricing model is commonly referred to as ‘price discrimination’. Nearly every other industry adopts this pricing model with great success… why don’t design professionals adopt it too? ar

Ian Motley is the founder of Blue Turtle Consulting and has over 18 years’ experience, a building science (project management) degree and a career that spans three continents.

Blue Turtle is a group of international consultants that specialise in writing, reviewing and negotiating architect fees and architectural contracts. Since starting Blue Turtle Consulting Ian has written and published a series of Fee and Appointment Guides that sell in 13 different countries.

Blue Turtle Consulting and the Fee Proposal Workshop – http://blueturtlemc.com/au-workshops

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28 STRATEGY

EXPANDING PRACTICE ARCHITECTURE STUDIOS ALL HAVE TO START SOMEWHERE, BUT WHAT MAKES A PRACTICE GROW TO A MEDIUM- OR LARGE-SIZED BUSINESS, AND WHAT INFRASTRUCTURE IS REQUIRED TO MAKE EXPANSION SUCCESSFUL? / PENNY CRASWELL

W

hile there are some benefits to keeping small, many architecture firms seek growth, utilising strategies such as an active approach to business development, expansion into new sectors leading to more projects, and hiring policies to increase staff numbers.

But there can be hiccups along the way, which is why it’s vital to consider the infrastructure and systems that must be put in place to make growth beneficial and avoid overreach or instability.

In a small practice, administrative tasks, IT, HR and marketing may be done by the architects and designers themselves, but when businesses reach a certain size, it is best to hire specialists who can dedicate their time to these tasks. Turner is an architecture studio that has grown from seven staff at its inception in 2001 to 100 staff 15 years later, which is a growth rate of about 20 percent per year.

For this practice, the appointment of general staff over the years has facilitated its growth, starting with an IT manager, then a full-time HR manager.

“Having someone full-time in that job, which coincided with the GFC (global financial crisis) tailing off and architecture starting to pick up, made such a big difference, and contributed to our growth,” explains Turner managing director Karl May.

Next was a business development manager who was able to identify new business opportunities for the practice, followed lastly by the creation of the managing director role itself. “When we were a small practice growing, I at some time was the IT manager or the HR manager,” May says. “Now, the management team set the direction and I liaise with different parts of the practice to make things happen, giving us new strength to drive bigger changes.

You need to put the structure in, otherwise you end up getting stuck at a certain level.”

The history of Turner’s high growth goes right back to its first years in practice, when it secured one particular repeat client with many projects, which, in combination with some early architectural competition wins, secured a pipeline of projects very early on. The practice’s hiring policy is bold – the team is unafraid to hire staff even when there is no project for them to work on yet.

“Our growth strategy is organic, but it’s high growth. We believe that if you hire the right people, the work will come to you,” says May. Koichi Takada describes the question of whether to hire the staff first or wait for the projects as a bit like the chicken and egg. But, more important for his practice, Koichi Takada Architects, is ensuring the studio’s culture is (KTA)

reinforced. Communicating with and educating his team on the practice’s particular approach to design has been vital as the studio has grown.

“My clients come to us because our product is unique. Without a strong concept there’s no point in doing it,” says Takada. “Design is the DNA of the practice and the office has to facilitate this. You need to show the culture and philosophy, and how we draw.” When the studio was small – up to 15 people according to Takada – this information was passed on naturally. Past that point and it needs to be formally taught.

“When you get bigger, you need office support and proper infrastructure. But, most importantly, you need to create an environment where each employee can perform at their best, including me.”

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For Koichi Takada, the growth of his practice has been fast, but his approach to life is not. “In our busy business lives and fast-growing economy, I encourage people to ‘slow down’ and think more before we make rushed decisions,” he says. “In my practice, we see every challenge as an opportunity.” It was during the GFC in 2008 when the world ‘slowed down’ that Takada decided to establish his practice, which now numbers 45 staff.

“I saw an opportunity in the industry.

As design and construction businesses across the board struggled, it became, to my eyes, a more level playing field.”

Even though the practice now has numerous architecture and interior projects across a number of sectors, for Takada it is very important to keep a boutique approach to design.

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above left Cave restaurant – one of the innovative projects that triggered KTA’s expansion. above right Koichi Takada Architects – from one to 45 staff in eight years.

“I started with a white desk and an empty sketchbook, with infinite thoughts,” he says of the studio’s beginnings. “Even today Koichi Takada Architects carries the tradition of starting every project fresh from a blank sketchbook.” This way the practice aims to come up with original designs for each individual client.

“My clients come to us because our conceptual approach is unique and the outcome creates a point of difference,” says Takada. Creativity is the lifeblood of the practice and, as the practice has grown, it has become increasingly important to communicate this approach, which focuses on unique and innovative designs inspired by nature and contemporary urban life. Up to 15 people, this information is passed on naturally, but as the practice grows past that point, it becomes important to create an environment where each employee is working according to the same creative design process, which is at the centre of the practice.

Koichi Takada Architects’ early business and design success centred on restaurant design, for which the studio became well-known. But the business really began to grow when the practice was able to extend into other sectors and start doing large, architectural projects.

Takada says: “Designing restaurants gives us a lot of freedom. We love experimenting with innovative concepts

“I SAW AN OPPORTUNITY IN THE INDUSTRY. AS DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION BUSINESSES ACROSS THE BOARD STRUGGLED, IT BECAME, TO MY EYES, A MORE LEVEL PLAYING FIELD.” – KOICHI TAKADA

in our restaurant projects.” Now, the unique qualities that Koichi Takada brought to signature restaurant projects like Cave, Tree, Shell, Ippudo Sydney and Zushi are also being carried into private residential and multi-residential design.

The studio has several large architectural projects under construction around Australia and is about to announce its first international project.

While growth isn’t everything – some of Australia’s most awarded architecture studios choose to remain extremely small – it is important when you do grow to get it right, outlining the vision and principles of the practice, recognising where there are gaps in personnel that need to be filled, ensuring infrastructure and policies are in place, and reinforcing the culture of the practice at every step of the way. ar

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30 LEGAL

IP – AN ARCHITECT’S FOUNDATION STONE / ANTHONY COWLE AND MARION HEATHCOTE

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ecent attempts to save Tao (Theodore) Gofers' controversial brutalist-style housing complex, the Sirius Building, by seeking Heritage listing, has again brought to the fore the role that architects and their style have within a community’s psyche.

A harbour eyesore or iconic structure, it represents a distinct period in Sydney’s history and a specific architectural style. With the increasing pressure for aesthetic use of public spaces and modern techniques enabling more imaginative construction, a question for many emerging architects seeking to develop an individual style regards the available options to ensure their creative endeavours remain unique to them and thus may one day help qualify them for Heritage listing.

Where architects have traditionally relied on copyright laws to protect what they can of their stylistic form, the patent system could provide an effective tool to protect their creative techniques.

It’s well-known that building construction/engineering techniques form patentable subject matter.

Examples include patents for new concrete compositions, for the Waffle Pod slab construction technique, for new formwork systems… to name a few. Often overlooked is the fact that many of the ‘creative’ ideas of architects are also patentable. And with a patent,

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the architect as the ‘inventor’ can obtain an ‘exclusivity’ for a 20-year term, during which time either copying may be prevented, or the ‘invention’ may be licensed for use in return for a royalty. So what sort of ‘architectural’ ideas are patentable?

It won’t be surprising given the company’s core business is both to push boundaries of innovation on both a technical level and on an aesthetic level, but Apple is now also obtaining patents to protect architectural features of the distinctive elements that collectively comprise the ‘Apple feeling’ in an ‘Apple store’ – glass-fronted buildings, glass-fronted entranceways and glass stairwells.

Apple has secured a patent for its cylindrical glass building, which is the

Figure 1

APPLE IS NOW ALSO OBTAINING PATENTS TO PROTECT ARCHITECTURAL FEATURES OF THE DISTINCTIVE ELEMENTS THAT COLLECTIVELY COMPRISE THE ‘APPLE FEELING’ IN AN ‘APPLE STORE’.

showcase feature of its Shanghai store.

The patent relates to a number of curved laminated glass panels that fit together in a particular way in a structurally secure configuration (Figure 1).

The patent, in effect, prevents others from copying this unique architectural invention for the 20-year term of the patent, effectively preventing others from imitating this ‘Apple look’ entranceway in their stores. In addition, Apple has a Registered Design to protect the appearance of its glass stairway, which leads its customers into the store (Figure 2).

And what better way to showcase Apple’s famous brand and trademarkprotected ‘apple logo’ than in this pure glass architectural creation!

Architects are by nature creative people and invest a lot of thought into developing unique architectural features, and then implementing them from the drawing board to the commercial world. Copyright, which

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Figure 2

automatically exists at the creation of architectural plans, provides a degree of protection, against someone copying the actual drawings. However, copyright does not stop another ‘copycat’ seeing the final form and then using this as inspiration for their own project. Inferior workmanship and poor imitation in stylistic rendering can quickly move an homage piece to a reputational travesty for the original design creative.

It’s far better to overlay copyright wherever possible with protection for these architectural ‘inventions’ and ‘designs’ to thwart copycats, and/or have the ability to license these intellectual property rights and return an appropriate royalty to the ‘inventor’.

If you, as an architect, create a unique ‘architectural style’, it may be worth speaking to a patent attorney now to see whether it or any of its elements may be patentable or entitled to design registration, rather than wait decades for a public rally to recognise your unique mode and form. ar

Anthony Cowle is a registered patent attorney and Marion Heathcote a registered trademarks attorney with award-winning patent and trademark attorney firm, Davies Collison Cave Pty Limited. www.davies.com.au.

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EMERGING: NIELSEN WORKSHOP LIKE CHARLES WRIGHT, THE SUBJECT OF THIS ISSUE’S LEAD INTERVIEW, LACHLAN NIELSEN BEGAN HIS ARCHITECTURAL PRACTICE BY BUILDING A HOME FOR FAMILY MEMBERS. SARA KIRBY FINDS OUT WHAT HAPPENED NEXT.

“DUE TO THE FACT THAT I WAS MAKING SOME FURNITURE PIECES WHILE STUDYING AND WORKING, THE TRANSITION INTO STARTING MY OWN PRACTICE WAS VERY NATURAL.”

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B

ack in 2002, while studying his architecture degree, Lachlan Nielsen began working for Brisbane-based James Russell Architect. He stayed with the studio for three years and, during his time there, he was introduced to the technique of combining architecture and construction – something he found he had an unrivalled passion for and sought to pursue. While at the studio, he worked on the design and construction of several projects that received architectural awards, proving his talent in the field early on.

Following the completion of his degree, Nielsen took a year off to build a house that he had designed for his parents at Mount Tamborine.

“After that, I returned to Brisbane and worked for Kevin O’Brien Architects for 18 months. I then moved to Dublin, where I worked and travelled for two years,” he says.

With study, travel, and local and international architectural work under his belt, Nielsen completed his registration and building licence certificates. Over the next couple of years, through word of mouth, work picked up and he started getting stuck into design, as well as some furniture projects. When the demand became too much work to manage part-time, he decided to start up Nielsen Workshop – his own full-time studio.

The practice is now six years old and kicking goals and, under its name, Nielsen has completed around the same number of projects.

During the initial stages of opening up the business, however, he was feeling his way through the dark, working with next to no experience in initiating a start-up. “I began the practice by myself,” he says. “Regardless, due to the fact that I was making some furniture pieces while studying and working, the transition into opening my own practice was very natural.”

With the help of mentorship from James Russell and Kevin O’Brien (from James Russell Architect and Kevin O’Brien Architects respectively), he was able to get the practice up and running successfully. “Both of them are really interested in the process of

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“IF I COULD GO BACK, I WOULD HAVE ANALYSED THE ARCHITECT AND CLIENT INTERACTION/NEGOTIATION THAT MY EMPLOYERS PERFORMED MORE CLOSELY.”

designing and building, as well as running successful small practices,” he says, of the mentorships and passion that helped build him and his studio into what they are today.

“My first project was really the new dwelling for my parents.

Under the formal name of Nielsen Workshop, however, my breakout project was Brisbane’s Super Whatnot, a bar in a CBD laneway,” he says. “I was fortunate enough to be invited by Marc and Co to join the design team and also be appointed as the main contractor for the fitout. It was challenging; however, the design evolution and refinement throughout the project construction enabled a very customised and refined project.”

In 2014, Nielsen collaborated with Morgan Jenkins, with whom he had been working for a couple of years, to design and build a small pavilion on the side of an historic Queenslander in Taringa. Initially, the pair, who lived 400 metres apart, began their work together through a process of designing projects separately and then critiquing each other’s work. This kicked off a friendship and method of teamwork that Nielsen says they still practise today.

Now, six years down the track, and Nielsen can recognise that a plus to opening up his own studio is that it has helped to refine his personal architectural style. “While studying and when I first started out, I loved the expression of materials in the works of Australian architects Brit Andresen, Donovan Hill, Sean Godsell, Glenn Murcutt and Peter Stutchbury,” he says. “I think now, however, I’m starting to solidify my own individual style. I’m pretty reluctant to put myself in a corner in regard to that, but I’m interested in the expression of natural materials, the environmental/landscape spaces created by the built environment and also creating buildings that have a timeless sensibility.”

The freedom to explore the design process at will is another positive that Nielsen notes about starting his own practice. With advantage often comes some disadvantage though, of course. Bigger firms have at their disposal a range of design communications and interrogations, which a small, self-run studio misses out on, he says.

Getting your name out there as a fresh practice, especially in the age of the internet, where it is easy to get lost among the online hubbub, can be difficult. “Word of mouth and Instagram are both huge for our marketing,” Nielsen says. “Being picked up by a publication can also lend that helping hand; being published in local and national papers and magazines is great exposure.”

A number of years with his head in the business has also taught Nielsen a thing or two. Starting your own practice takes great patience, he says, and it takes a long time for people to trust you as a young designer, a fact he quickly came to realise and accept.

“Also, if I could go back, I would have analysed the architect and client interaction/negotiation that my employers performed more closely. I feel that the presentation process and the ability to promote designs is a craft that you only start to finesse after many presentations,” Nielsen reflects. “The first concept meeting is key, as well as the ability to sell ideas and settle blank faces.”

Having survived the start-up process and established himself in his field, Nielsen is now looking to the future for the Workshop. “I would like to keep it pretty small and to maintain contact with clients, builders and the process of refinement through making,” he says.

Up until this point, most of his work, including projects in collaboration with Morgan Jenkins Architecture, has been focused on new houses, extensions and renovations, but Nielsen aims to soon become more involved in commercial and retail design.

In addition to the work he does on other people’s homes, Nielsen and his wife have also been renovating a workers’ cottage for the past five years. The cottage is envisioned as the next home for Nielsen Workshop – a space that will accommodate a handful of staff.

“Hopefully once this project is finished next year, we can focus on the next stage of Nielsen Workshop,” he says. And we look forward to seeing it. ar www.lachlannielsenarchitect.com

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36 LEAD PROJECT

TAS SCIENCE FACILITY AT THE TRINITY ANGLICAN SCHOOL

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The Science Facility at Trinity Anglican School (TAS), Cairns, Queensland won the inaugural Educational Architecture Jennifer Taylor Award at the 2016 Queensland Architecture Awards for Queensland architecture firm, Charles Wright Architects.

TAS was founded in 1983. Construction on the school’s new science building began in September 2014 and finished in early 2015. Designed by Charles Wright Architects and built by Hansen Yuncken Construction, the building inspired Wright to create a unique design characterised by a host of striking science symbols

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including helix, slinky and science apparatus – leaving the design open to interpretation. The symbols epitomise the idea of linkage and connection and also prompt an iconic image of science in the mind of a student.

The most visually striking aspect of the new facility, the helix twist, links the science building to the rest of the campus and is also featured in the design of the staircase. The facade was inspired by the double helix shape of a DNA molecule and forms a threedimensional, steel-wound exterior for the senior science building.

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38 LEAD PROJECT

Architect’s statement.

Conceptual framework A cutting edge new science facility for Trinity Anglican School (TAS) in Far North Queensland, proposed as a new prototype for educational buildings in tropical latitude. Science symbols and experiments inspired the design, which is open to interpretation as helix, slinky or apparatus providing an iconic image of science in the eye of a child.

Public and cultural benefits The school engaged us with the view to utilising our design as an opportunity for architecture to assist with rebranding, marketing and changing culture on campus. The first stage of a new masterplan to be rolled out over the next 15 years, this building is sited as the new school entry and represents the future in development.

Relationship of built form to context With a permeable ground plane, the science facility acts as an open conduit with direct covered links through to the rest of the campus.

Program resolution All six laboratories have been consolidated on the upper level with a linking spine support zone. The main circulation through the heart of the building is via an open central atrium entry with feature helix staircase. All circulation corridors are open yet protected from the elements via off-form concrete balconies and the feature twisting steel sunshade façade.

Integration of allied disciplines In all of our work, we strive for innovation and new solutions to the problems of living with climate change in the 21st century. Integration of allied disciplines was critical to the successful delivery of our vision for the project, advanced sustainability initiatives and practical requirements for withstanding annual cyclonic weather events. All services in the building are exposed, which required intense crosscollaboration from all allied disciplines.

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Cost/value outcome The project was developed and procured through an intensive value management process, resulting in a highly cost-effective solution to the client’s specific requirements.

Sustainability As a new science facility, sustainability was core to the concept for the project. From the feature sunshade façade to the photovoltaic panel array on the roof to the VRV (variable refrigerant volume) cooling systems and advanced energy monitoring, every design decision was about efficiency. The exposed engineering services throughout the facility are used as building science educational tool. The roof area is harvested into a water tank for grey water recycling and we utilised lowenergy LED fittings throughout along with low water usage plumbing fixtures. The planned configuration of teaching spaces allows for mixed mode operation via openable awning windows. With insulated thermal mass engineering, the shaded concrete structure is ideal for the location due to its inherent long life cycle efficiency and material properties to deal with the harsh, corrosive wet tropical environment.

Response to client and user needs The school’s science facilities had not been updated since the mid 1980s and they required a new building to cater for emerging technologies and changing pedagogies in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) field. As the first building block in a new masterplan, this science building brings forward a bright future for TAS and its students.

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THE SCHOOL ENGAGED US WITH THE VIEW TO UTILISING OUR DESIGN AS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR ARCHITECTURE TO ASSIST WITH REBRANDING, MARKETING AND CHANGING CULTURE ON CAMPUS.

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Project details Name: TAS Science Facility Size: 3000 square metres Client/occupier: Trinity Anglican School Project manager: Charles Wright Architects Quantity surveyor: Davis Langdon/AECOM Brief consultant: Charles Wright Architects Architect: Charles Wright Architects Principal design leader: Charles Wright M & E: WSP Structural engineer: Flanagan Consulting Group Contractor: Hansen Yuncken Photography: Brad Newton

Lead architect, Charles Wright Architects Charles Wright How did the project come about?

The school had put the project out to tender, so pretty much every architectural practice in Cairns went for the job. We entered our tender submission and were successful.

And how long was it between the tender submission and completion?

By part of the grant funding requirements, there was actually an expedited program that was required, which we agreed to in our tender submission. So in fact from being appointed to submitting documents for tender I think it was 10 weeks for design and documentation.

And until completion?

Completion was approximately nine months’ construction.

Apart from the speed, what were the particular challenges of the project?

We had big aspirations, we wanted to achieve a lot, so it was really about controlling the budget, but it was more about what systems we were going to put in place.

How did you come up with the design?

We held a series of intense workshops at the beginning of the project, so there was a lot of client consultation. I wanted the building to be immediately about science. So in the eyes of a child, they look at the building and conjure that it is about science immediately. But I also wanted it to be something that was open to interpretation. Something that was artistic. So it’s almost like a combination between something sculptural and something scientific.

Now it’s finished, what pleases you most about the building?

I love the quality of light, behind that façade. As the light shifts throughout the day, the changing striation of shadows is really quite ephemeral. That component I think is magic.

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42 LEAD PROJECT AR: What were the top five elements that were most important for the finished building to have integrated into its design?

Frontage – the building needed to have dual frontage. The main entrance is created for access from the existing school facilities; however, a second frontage needed to be established to enable the building to align with our future vision of the school.

Science laboratories – there was a requirement for six science labs to be incorporated into the facility, all of which were to have direct access to the science prep area.

Multipurpose – although these six rooms were predominantly for science teaching, they needed to be adaptable to enable standard classroom activities.

Modern – the expectation was that this STEM facility would become our signature building, identifying with the fact that TAS is the leading independent school in our region.

Environmentally aware – where practical, the building was to integrate as many environmental practices as possible.

Post occupancy evaluation AR conducts an informal post occupancy evaluation of the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) facility with Colette Phillips, business manager Trinity Anglican School (TAS).

How was Charles Wright Architects chosen for the project?

TAS held a tender process that incorporated written tenders, shortlisting and interviewing. Charles Wright was selected based on the vision for our project, and their understanding of our criteria and needs.

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How was the briefing and consultation period handled?

The briefing and consultation period was managed very well with open two-way communication and regular contact.

During construction, how easy was it for the school to continue its daily business and how long did the construction process take?

Due to its location and the project set-up, our school was able to continue its daily business with very little disruption, which was well appreciated.

Now that the project is finished, how well does it respond to those top five elements, individually?

Frontage – the end design of the building enables us to have access from the current school grounds, but has also been designed with the future in mind.

Science laboratories – the requirement for six science labs to be incorporated into the facility, all of which were to have direct access to the science prep area, has been met.

Multipurpose – although these six rooms are predominantly for science teaching, they are adaptable to enable standard classroom activities.

Modern – the STEM facility has become our ‘hero’ building, a very impressive statement about the future direction of our school.

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Environmentally aware – the implementation of many design aspects, inclusive of, but not limited to, solar panels, steel façade, water tanks and motion sensors on lights have all added to make this an environmentally aware building.

What has been the reaction from the various stakeholders in the school body – the principal, other staff members, pupils, parents?

Our building is held in high regard, and is the centrepiece of our school tours. The School Board and other key stakeholders are happy with the project outcome.

How is the building being used on a day-to-day basis?

As intended, all science teachings for our senior school now take place in the STEM facility.

Have you needed to go back to Charles Wright with any queries or responses to the project? And, if so, was the practice able to handle any issues successfully?

Of course, with a project this size, there has been the need for ongoing consultation and queries. We have experienced a very positive relationship with Charles Wright and have been able to resolve any issues and queries efficiently and successfully. ar

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EMERGING PROJECT 45

TAMBORINE HOUSE SARA KIRBY TALKS TO LACHLAN NIELSEN ABOUT HIS FIRST PROJECT, THE TAMBORINE HOUSE – A COUNTRYSIDE HOME HE DESIGNED AND HELPED BUILD FOR HIS PARENTS, SITUATED ON A PICTURESQUE MOUNTAINTOP.

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How did the Tamborine House project evolve?

My parents bought the two-hectare (five-acre) block after downsizing from a farming property. They settled on the mountain as the area was familiar to the family and the elevation of the mountain offered a cooler and different environment to live.

I was a student when they bought and I jumped at the opportunity to be involved in the project. I worked on the design for the next year, finished my degree and time with James Russell Architect, and moved to the mountain to build the house with my parents.

What were the important elements of the brief?

The primary goals were to capture the setting of the block and for the house to be imagined as a deck on the edge of the lawn. Our original family home was a Queenslander on a farm on the outskirts of a little town called Kalbar. The house sat atop a hill with a 180-degree view of the Great Dividing Range. Although the house was positioned on the top of a ridge, it had no connection with the setting and so we often sat out on the lawn under the trees.

This brought about ideas of whether the same could be achieved through the new house’s design. My parents wanted to sit on the

lawn and have the building connect with the landscape. The site was previously a grazing paddock for a dairy farm. It’s a grassy, open space and bound by tree-lined fences, which offer protection from the everconstant and often howling winds. In the early phases of design and site analysis, there were lengthy discussions about how the building was to open up yet remain protected from the elements.

The clients were your parents – were they happy to sit back and let you take the creative reins or were they involved in the design of the home?

Not really, I was young and half-trained. We had quite a few takes on the design and, as they were exposed to architecture, they started getting quite involved. They probably didn’t know what they wanted, but they were quite outspoken on what they didn’t like.

Were there any other points of inspiration for the design?

At that stage in my studies, I was quite interested in some of the expressed structure and gridded layouts that Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe and some of the Californian modernists employed in their designs. I was also attracted to the limited palette, rawness

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EMERGING PROJECT 47

“THE GLASS PAVILION PROVIDES THAT ABILITY TO OBSERVE THE CLOUDS, BIRDS AND WILDLIFE THAT MOVE ACROSS THE SITE. WE’VE OFTEN SEEN BLACK COCKATOOS, SNAKES, DINGOES, KANGAROOS AND THE OCCASIONAL BANDICOOT FROM THE LOUNGE ROOM COUCH.”

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48 EMERGING PROJECT

and expressiveness of materials used by architects like Glenn Murcutt, Peter Stutchbury, Rick Joy and Sean Godsell.

My father is quite handy with metal fabricating and, since we were going to build the project, he was very keen to use exposed steel in the design. My parents were also very eager to spend minimal time on maintenance, which led to the limited material palette.

How does the home connect the occupants with the landscape?

The glass pavilion is very exposed and connected to the landscape. Not only due to its proximity to the ground plane and its openness, but also the ability it provides to observe the clouds, birds and wildlife that move across the site. We’ve often seen black cockatoos, snakes, dingoes, kangaroos and the occasional bandicoot from the lounge room couch.

The site had two existing buildings with a grain silo to the north and a small cottage to the west. Within the proposed works was the master-planning of the positioning of a storage shed, a rainwater tank

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and the house. Their positioning was based on forming a cluster of buildings, which allows for an informal occupation and movement between the buildings.

What was the biggest challenge?

My relationship with my parents! Being young and naive about architecture was one thing, but educating my parents on the principles of architecture while I was being educated myself put considerable pressure on the design. My parents had never lived in an architecturally designed house before, but after it was finished, it was gratifying when they started giving guests tours through the house and proudly explaining the whys and hows of the architectural reasoning and elements.

In your view, what is the most successful element of the Tamborine House?

The glass front. Although this house is not for everyone, its connection to nature and the exposure of the occupants to the elements is incredible. The weather at the site often changes quickly, and the ability to observe the warm, blue-skied days in contrast with the cold, viciously windy days in comfort is very rewarding.

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This was the first project that you completed alone. Did you learn any valuable lessons during its creation?

A lot. I had worked on a few projects at James Russell Architect where the design was built within the office, so I had exposure to preparing shop drawings, organising consultants, material take-offs and coordinating the timing of trades. Once it’s all on your shoulders though, it becomes a completely different story. One habit that I’m still employing is not being afraid of asking lots of questions. Whether they are to a consultant in regard to a steel connection detail or to a tiler on the fixing allowance of a tile angle, all questions lead to a growing knowledge that benefits my future projects.

What is the clients’ favourite element of the project?

The glass pavilion’s closeness to the lawn. Although most of the site is lawn, the area adjacent to the pavilion is the only portion that is level. This man-made build-up of earth is an area that has been used for weddings, bocce, Frisbee, cricket and waterslides. The floor’s seamless proximity to the lawn not only provides a sitting edge, but also allows for cooking, dining, lounging and outdoor activities to be performed.

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“AFTER IT WAS FINISHED, IT WAS 50 EMERGING PROJECT GRATIFYING TO SEE MY PARENTS GIVING GUESTS TOURS OF THE HOUSE AND PROUDLY EXPLAINING THE WHYS AND HOWS OF THE ARCHITECTURAL REASONING AND ELEMENTS.”

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Project details Client: Craig and Christine Nielsen Area: 176 square metres (including garage) Scope: Design and construction Collaborative partner: Tanya Nielsen (interior designer) Principal design leader: Lachlan Nielsen Architect: Lachlan Nielsen Interior designer: Tanya Nielsen Builder: Nielsen Workshop/Craig and Christine Nielsen (owner/builders) Engineer: Bligh Tanner Photography: Alicia Taylor Photography

Architect’s statement. The Tamborine House is sited within the grounds of an old dairy farm. Although located less than an hour from the Gold Coast, the site is situated on a ridge 650 metres above sea level in a climate zone much more similar to that of Sydney’s. Due to the height of the site, protection from winds became a significant factor in the design. The massing of the building was critical in providing this protection while still connecting the occupants with the landscape and view.

The house is imagined in two parts. The back half of the house is zoned with the more private and service functions such as the bedrooms, bathrooms, laundry and garage. This room edge has been designed to be snugger, with flat ceilings and minimal openings, and is positioned to act as a windbreaker to the south. It is split in the middle

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to allow a framed view down the site to the south. The front half of the house is imagined more like a deck/greenhouse that sits adjacent to a lawn – the only piece of flat ground on-site. The pavilion has full-height glass opening up to the lawn at the north, a garden to the west and a rolling hill ending with a rainforest to the east.

The whole front of the pavilion features bi-fold doors that can be adjusted to the winds.

The glazed pavilion has a minimal material palette with timber floors, white plasterboard and exposed steel to the internal space, and glass and corrugated steel to the exterior. The minimal palette was selected to align with the rural setting of shed buildings with the internal finishes selected to draw attention to the green carpet of the Kikuyu grass and the trees that are situated on and around the site. ar

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52 AR ADVISER: DORMAKABA

A TOUCHING

SOLUTION ACCESS CONTROL FOR PEOPLE WITH DEMENTIA AND RELATED CONDITIONS IS A SIGNIFICANT ISSUE FOR THOSE CREATING THE INFRASTRUCTURE WHERE SUFFERERS WILL LIVE, REPORTS SHAYNE BAMFORD. LATERAL THINKING HAS LED TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF A PRODUCT AND SYSTEM THAT MAKES IT ALL THAT MUCH EASIER.

I

n line with technological advancements and unprecedented breakthroughs in medicine and disease prevention and cure, Australia is experiencing a significant rise in the ageing segment of its population. The country’s median age has increased by four years in the last two decades and this will increase even more rapidly in the next few years. An extreme, but telling statistic is that, today, there are more then 4000 people over the age of 100. According to the Intergenerational Report, by 2056 there could be over 40,000.

While many of us are living longer and better, with improved healthcare practices and knowledge leading to a greater quality of life well into our 80s and beyond, the sheer numbers mean that the concurrent segment of the population who don’t fare so well is also on the increase.

One of the biggest challenges for both healthcare providers and those in the A+D industry working on the necessary infrastructure relates to people suffering from the various forms of dementia – the single greatest cause of disability in Australians over the age of 65 years and the third leading cause of disability burden overall. Current predictions state that there will be around 400,000 people with dementia by 2020 and about 900,000 by 2050.

That’s more than double the number in just 30 years.

For architects, the rise in our ageing population means opportunities abound for projects in the field of aged care facilities, retirement homes and other centres of assisted living. When the residents and staff of such facilities are coping with the effects of dementia, though, a whole different way of thinking and approach is required.

The traditional set-up in nursing homes can lead to problems when there are multiple residents with dementia and other similar conditions living there.

At night, residents can be found wandering around the building. They may enter other people’s rooms, no longer recognising their personal spaces or belongings. Understandably, this can lead to increased confusion, distress and conflict for all concerned.

Security access, therefore, becomes a major issue. But expecting elderly and perhaps infirm people to carry around keys, when they are in what have now become their own homes, is not only unfair, but also fraught with challenges.

Keys or indeed key cards can be lost or cause problems when people are unwell or perhaps have additional issues such as rheumatoid arthritis or osteoarthritis in their joints, making it difficult to manage the handling of small objects.

CURRENT PREDICTIONS STATE THAT THERE WILL BE ABOUT 400,000 PEOPLE WITH DEMENTIA BY 2020 AND ABOUT 900,000 BY 2050.

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Hoping that older residents, particularly those with dementia and related illnesses, will be able to remember PINs and access codes is even more unreasonable.

Following research undertaken in northern European aged care facilities, hospitals and retirement homes, however, there is now technology designed to address all of these issues.

The system is called TouchGo and it involves each resident in a facility being issued with a personal transponder, which can remain in their pocket, on a cord around their neck or wrist, on a keyring, in a card holder or armband, or even attached to their wheelchair or walker at all times, which means there is no need for the user to search for keys.

The transponder sends a message to a receiver in the door and, if the person has been granted right of access to that particular room, they can unlock the door simply by operating the door handle. The system’s central allocation and deletion of access rights means that the locking system remains secure at all times.

From inside the room, the door is always open; from the outside it’s locked to all except those granted access, including the resident and their associated caregivers.

The Kaba TouchGo system was developed with RCID (resistive capacitive identification) technology, which uses the body’s natural electrostatic energy to transmit the access rights to the door handle. Your hand is the key.

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Dependent on the project, architects can specify just the component or they can engage a dormakaba team member to assist with the overall design. We can assist with individual components to turnkey solutions. The software can integrate with both Kaba evolo offline software and Kaba exos online software leading to a holistic access solution from one single source.

The convenience and streamlined nature of the system means future applications are limited only by the imagination, with future applications in high quality private homes and office fitouts. ar

Shayne Bamford, manager EAC Australia AS APAC, has been working with Kaba products for 26 years with 10 years’ experience in Kaba’s EAC products.

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54 APPLICATION: SKYSCRAPERS

UP, UP AND

AWAY

WITH INNER CITY SPACE AT AN INCREASING PREMIUM, MANY BELIEVE THE ONLY SOLUTION IS TO REACH FOR THE SKIES. BUT HOW DO WE ENSURE THESE TALL AND SUPER-TALLS ARE TRULY SUSTAINABLE? IN 2017 THE INAUGURAL SMART SKYSCRAPERS SUMMIT WILL ENDEAVOUR TO FIND OUT. / MICHELLE KANEVSKY

A

ustralia will experience an influx of sky-high super towers, many of which will feature smart, green design features and innovations, looking to a sustainable future in highrise construction. With a plethora of high-rise projects on the horizon, highrise experts and industry leaders are breaking ground with innovative design standards and construction. Prominent high-rise infrastructure projects such as 1 Bligh Street and One Central Park will

be featured in the Australian debut of the Smart Skyscrapers Summit 2017.

Director at Arup, Alistair Guthrie, who will be appearing at the Summit, describes smart skyscrapers as constituting several defining features – a smart location near public transport hubs, a building structure that minimises the use of material through smart design and building systems such as air-conditioning, lighting and lifts that respond directly to individual user

needs. These are all the elements that contribute to the smart identity.

The building façade must also act as a modifier of the climate, which may vary depending on the location within Australia, using available climate conditions such as sun, wind and air, to keep operating at low energy.

Sydney’s 1 Bligh Street, conceived

by Architectus, is one such example of a high-rise construction using innovative environmental technologies for the first

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time in a commercial tower in Australia.

Managing director at Architectus, Ray Brown says the building design focused on four critical considerations – the view, the public space, the work environment and green building.

Brown considers the fully glazed double-skin façade to be the structure’s standout feature, due to its optimisation of amenities for occupants, as it is designed to facilitate continuous perimeter offices without the complication of external columns that block views, creating a high degree of equitable floor space.

“The naturally ventilated glass atrium, running the full height of the building, introducing a rare level of natural illumination and ventilation throughout the building, presents a strong statement about connectivity between people and public and private interface”, says Brown.

The atrium brings a diversity of space to the workplace previously unseen in Sydney high-rise offices. Features include breakout spaces, meeting pods and bridges that enjoy access to fresh air and natural light at every level.

At PTW Architects, senior associate Mark Giles brings 25 years’ experience in the built environment to some of Australia’s major high-rise projects.

Sydney’s One Central Park, a major project from PTW Architects, is a 117-metre tower, housing the world’s tallest vertical garden and Australia’s first residential cantilevered heliostat.

One Central Park’s mixed-use tower establishes the use of steel solutions in realising the smart, green high-rise construction. Giles estimates that high-rise development will feature richly landscaped façades that deliver “remarkably green, organic lived experiences in a highly urban, highdensity context”.

Peter A Weismantle, director of Supertall Building Technology at Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture (AS+GG) in Chicago, spearheads the technical development of super tall buildings around the world. With towers of 636 metres and 468 metres in height under construction in China, as well as a project in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, which, when completed, will be the first building in the world to be

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more than 1000 metres in height, to his name, Weismantle also worked on the 162-storey Burj Khalifa, which at 828 metres is still the world’s tallest building.

Currently engaged in a project in Dubai that will consist of seven tall buildings, including two super-tall structures coupled with challenging super-tall projects in India, Russia and China, Weismantle believes that the future of high-rise construction lies in the necessity for architects and engineers to learn to create sustainable, urbanistic and connected communities.

Advancements in materials and technologies – such as selective

One Central Park Photography

by Simon Wood, courtesy of Frasers Property and Sekisui House.

coatings for glass, high strength concrete and composite materials – have allowed super-tall buildings to thrive.

Recent progress in vertical transportation systems has greatly increased the feasible heights of elevators, especially with the development of Kone’s composite material lightweight rope and Thyssen Krupp’s ‘rope-less’ technology, says Weismantle.

These experts in high-rise construction are set to present at the Australian Smart Skyscrapers Summit 2017, which will be held in Melbourne on 28 and 29 March at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. ar

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56 APPLICATION: LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE

ALIA NATIONAL AWARDS WINNERS THE AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS (AILA) HAS ANNOUNCED THE NATIONAL LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE AWARDS FOR 2016, SHOWCASING LEADING GREEN, OPEN AND PUBLIC SPACES FROM AROUND THE COUNTRY. THE AWARDS HIGHLIGHT HOW LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE CAN COMPLEMENT BUILT ENVIRONMENTS TO PRODUCE REJUVENATED AND REINVENTED SPACES. AR TAKES A LOOK AT THE WINNER IN EACH CATEGORY.

CIVIC LANDSCAPE Winner: Conrad Gargett

PARKS AND OPEN SPACE Winner: Hansen Partnership

Brisbane’s Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital (LCCH) is Australia’s largest children’s hospital. Based on research that shows the significance of nature on health, well-being and reduced hospital stays, the design includes healing gardens and community spaces aimed at stimulating neurological, psychological and physiological responses, including the reduction of stress and anxiety.

The MacKenzie Falls Gorge Trail features a newly aligned footbridge, expanded mesh steps and a walkway that seamlessly integrate with the natural surroundings. Manmade elements such as those in the walkways, steps and crossings were constructed using mild steel, which will rust over time and take on the warm hues found in the surrounding environment, while rocks and stone used in construction were sourced locally from the site.

INFRASTRUCTURE Winner: Spackman Mossop Michaels The Bowen Place Crossing replaces a dangerous crossing on Bowen Drive with a pedestrian and cyclist underpass. The project is minimal in appearance so as to allow the surrounding landscape to take precedence. “[It] connects people physically from the Kings Avenue Bridge to the shores of Lake Burley Griffin, while providing an immersive experiential connection to the highly significant cultural and heritage values of the place,” says the studio.

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CULTURAL HERITAGE Winner: ASPECT Studios Harts Mill Surrounds is a revitalised public space in Port Adelaide, which features one of the city’s most iconic Heritage buildings as a backdrop. The project includes a large play space with recreation areas and an adapted flour shed, which provides a multifunctional space. The project works to reveal the cultural significance of the mill and its surroundings as a key piece of industrial heritage in the area.

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left to right Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital.

Photo by Christopher Frederick Jones.

Gum Scrub Creek.

Photo by Nick Stephenson.

Harts Mill Surrounds.

Photo by Don Brice.

LAND CONSERVATION Winner: Outlines Landscape Architecture

TOURISM Winner: Tract Consultants Pty Ltd with Wood Marsh Architects

Gum Scrub Creek was once inhabited by the Kulin Nation and part of the Great Swamp but, following European settlement, it became an artificial agricultural drainage line. The rerealisation of the land has brought a range of local plant species along the length of the creek, providing habitat for the threatened growling grass frog and southern brown bandicoot. The project has managed to turn a farmers’ drain into a beautiful riparian environment.

The Penguin Plus Viewing Facility provides a replacement access boardwalk, viewing platform and underground viewing facility for visitors of Phillip Island’s Penguin Parade, including disabled access. The project is a higher capacity, more flexible and site-sensitive facility, which allows freedom of movement for both wildlife and visitors, a more active engagement with the landscape and a new approach to managing infrastructure maintenance and renewal.

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THE WORK INVOLVED CAREFULLY READING THE SPECIFICS OF SITE, THE GEOLOGY, FLORA, ASPECT, AND PATTERNS OF FIRE AND DROUGHT THAT SHAPE THE LAND.

COMMUNITIES Winner: HASSELL and Sinatra Murphy The Afghan Bazaar “demonstrates a new direction in the design of public cultural spaces that aims to move beyond the clichés of precinct branding,” the studio says. The design team consulted with the community in order to understand the way people used the existing space, and how it could better accommodate cultural requirements. For example, the custom seating featured in the space reinterprets the traditional Arabic suffah, or dais, for the urban Australian context, allowing people to socialise in familiar ways.

GARDENS Winner: Jane Irwin Landscape Architecture

URBAN DESIGN Winner: McGregor Coxall The Parramatta River urban waterfront project aims to activate and grow the riverside region in Sydney’s second largest metro centre. It includes a city beach, a square with riverside entertainment space, cafés and plazas, flood engineering technologies, an outdoor cinema and the ability to use the river for activities such as paddle boating and kayaking. “[The project] will improve the city’s connections and relationship to the river, protect it and activate it for people to enjoy,” says Cr Scott Lloyd, Lord Mayor of Parramatta.

RESEARCH POLICY AND COMMUNICATION Winner: City of Melbourne The Urban Forest Strategy and Precinct Plans aim to combat Melbourne’s rapidly declining elm population, climate change, heat island effect, urban densification and divergent public views in regard to sustainability. Now in its fourth year, the program has involved the community in its tree planting plans and has seen 12,000 trees planted, along with 60 new species added to the city’s forest. In response to the community’s requests for continued involvement, the Citizen Forester Program has also been developed as part of the plans.

top Afghan Bazaar.

Photo by Mark Wilson. bottom Forest Edge Garden.

Photo by Dianna Snape.

The Forest Edge Garden project began as the rehabilitation of a dam as part of a property situated on a ridge in the Watagan Forest, but quickly expanded to involve the clients’ whole site. The work involved carefully reading the specifics of site, the geology, flora, aspect, and patterns of fire and drought that shape the land – consideration that resulted in the retention of site soils, expansion of native habitat, the transplantation of seeds from the site, and a walled food garden.

INTERNATIONAL Winner: HASSELL The Tangshan Geopark’s gateway plaza and surrounding parkland connections is the home to China’s new Nanjing Tangshan Geopark Museum. The space “offers visitors an exploratory journey through the site that reveals its history and formation along the way,“ says the studio. ar

Visit www.australiandesignreview.com to see images of all the winning projects.

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APPLICATION: CLOSED LOOP DESIGN 59

SUSTAINABLE

FLOORING THERE’S MORE THAN ONE FACTOR TO CONSIDER WHEN IT COMES TO THE SUSTAINABILITY OF THE PRODUCTS ARCHITECTS SPECIFY IN THEIR DESIGNS. INCREASINGLY, USERS ARE BECOMING AWARE THAT THE RECYCLABILITY AND SUSTAINABILITY OF THE PRODUCT ITSELF ARE ONLY PART OF THE STORY. THE HEALTH IMPACTS OF THE PRODUCTS ARE ANOTHER CONSIDERATION.

T

he negative impacts of PVC (polyvinyl chloride) have been well-documented – with the dioxins released during manufacture linked with cancer, hormone disruption and immunotoxicity.

Accordingly many manufacturers are working on alternative materials that can boast PVC’s hard-wearing capabilities, with none of the negative health impacts.

Facilities designed for the more vulnerable members of our community (those in educational, aged care and healthcare environments) are being particularly targeted for new and less toxic materials.

Tarkett has recently released the iQ One flooring range. The company says this new product not only contains no PVC, but also addresses air quality issues and counteracts such adverse health issues as Sick Building Syndrome (SBS).

“To address the increased pressure on design professionals to build healthier, sustainable indoor environments, the iQ ONE flooring range provides them with a non-PVC and phthalate-free, low VOC emissions and fully recyclable option,” says Tarkett Australasia managing director, Ralph Jorissen.

The flooring range has been awarded a Green Tag Level A certificate issued by Global Green Tag and was the first homogenous flooring product to earn Cradle to Cradle Gold certification by the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute.

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iQ One is also 100 percent recyclable, wet room approved according to GBR trade standard and is low maintenance, as no wax or polish are required.

above Australian Timber Company.

BACK TO THE FUTURE

right Tarkett iQ One.

For those looking for more traditional aesthetically pleasing flooring options, a return to the world’s original renewable may be appropriate. Ensuring any timber specified is produced responsibly can be a challenge though. Australian Timber Company produces high quality hardwood for commercial and residential projects and its timber is all grown in certified, legal and sustainably managed Australian forests by only sourcing feedstock from leading companies, such as Boral. Adding to its sustainability credentials, ATC ensures that most of the tree is used with any offcuts

supplied to local business as a source of energy. Overseas timbers that potentially have not been logged under strict Australian standards are not imported, meaning the global environmental impact is further reduced.

Plus the company manufactures at its mill in country NSW, striving to hire locally rather than utilising cheaper overseas options. ar

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60 APPLICATION: PRODUCT SHOWCASE

▼ Viega Eco Plus in-wall and under-bench concealed cisterns Viega Eco Plus in-wall and underbench concealed cisterns are easy to install, operate and maintain. The in-wall model fits within standard 90mm framing and comes in floor or wall mount pan versions, while the under-bench unit has an overall height of just 830mm and suits wall mount pans. All Viega cisterns have a WELS 4-star rating based on a 3- and 4.5-litre dual-flush, and accept the full range of Viega Visign flushing plates. Viega’s range of flushing plates has been specifically designed around short-stroke lowforce activation, and include push button rocker action, Bowden cable, or electronic touchless technology, which is hidden behind a wide choice of beautifully crafted plates offering unique design and materials combinations.

▼ NAV – Navurban Innovative technology meets striking design…

Incorporating unique Japanese non-PVC Olefin surface technology, NAV’s Global Greentag certified Navurban collection delivers the perfect balance between modern sophisticated design, superior environmental performance and exceptional durability.

www.viega.com.au

▲ Aneeta Duomode Choose the mode to suit your mood.

A sleek and modern take on traditional counterbalance and bifold server windows, the Duomode sashless window gives the streamlined appearance of fixed windows, but also offers the functionality of a fully operable window. Each Duomode window features a patented locking system that allows the large panes to be locked to operate as either a counterbalance window or a servery window. This provides the maximum possible viewing area, along with unparalleled freedom and flexibility.

Live uninterrupted.

Available in an extensive range of colours, textures and wood grain effects, Navurban is ideal for any residential or commercial interior application with designs limited only by the imagination.

Unlike timber, Navurban delivers seamless batch consistency making it ideal for expansive areas. Supplied as a finished panel on any substrate complete with matching ABS edging, Navurban is quick and easy to install resulting in significant cost savings and a superior finish every time. www.newageveneers.com.au

www.aneetawindows.com

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► Kartell by Laufen The perfect emotion in the bathroom…

▲ Neolith – La Boheme B02 Neolith is an all-natural sintered compact surface composed of raw materials including clays, feldspar, silica and natural mineral oxides, pressed together under immense pressure and baked at 1200 degrees Celsius.

Neolith La Boheme B02 is a wood texture that has none of the disadvantages of wood. It is impervious to insects and fungi, and is heat, scratch and UV resistant.

It is also environmentally friendly and sustainable. It comes in large sheets, which are perfect for kitchens, bathrooms, alfresco, barbecue areas, floors, walls, exterior façades and even furniture. www.cdkstone.com.au

Kartell, the iconic Italian company that transformed plastic into a desirable design material, has partnered up with leading Swiss sanitary ware specialist, Laufen, renowned for its innovation and expertise in high-end ceramics, to create a complete bathroom project: Kartell by Laufen.

Designed by Ludovica + Roberto Palomba, the stunning new collection combines innovative ceramic fixtures with a series of translucent accessories and furniture embracing the DNA of both companies. The Kartell by Laufen collection includes the use of SaphirKeramik, a new lightweight and revolutionary material that is twice as strong, more ecological and thinner than ceramics.

The collection features a unified ecosystem where washbasins, tapware, vanities, bathtubs, shelving, furniture and accessories coexist with maximum flexibility. www.kartellbylaufen.com

◣ Allegion – Zero Zero International has been designing and manufacturing window and door seals, and sealing systems for more than four decades and is a worldwide industry leader in seal designs for acoustic doors.

Zero’s extensive experience in engineering solutions for demanding door and hardware applications has proved that one size does not fit all. The company specialises in the design and manufacture of performance-based systems for specific applications that block air, light, water, fire, smoke and sound.

Zero focuses on building the best possible product with an emphasis on its life-safety responsibilities. The Zero product range is now available to the Australian market. www.allegion.com

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62 BRAIN TRUST

BRAIN TRUST AR ASKS A PANEL OF INDUSTRY EXPERTS THEIR RESPONSE TO THE QUESTION: WHAT CAN PRACTICES DO TO SAFEGUARD AND PROMOTE THE MENTAL HEALTH AND WELL-BEING OF THEIR EMPLOYEES?

/ JESSE LINARDI DESIGN DIRECTOR, DKO Mental illness is an issue that we at DKO take seriously.

Mental health issues in Australia are rising, with one in five people being affected by mental illness every year. The human emotional toll can be acute when combined with a high-pressure work related environment, which is dealing with increasingly high program demands.

At DKO, we value all our staff and promote a supportive, active and healthy work environment.

We certainly believe in the adage of a healthy body equals

a healthy mind, and encourage and promote a range of physical activities within the auspices of the office that our staff can choose to, or not to, participate in.

Aside from providing secure bicycle parking, encouraging participation in our DKO soccer team, we also conduct weekly yoga classes.

Conducted by Jacinta Burnley, an excellent teacher, these yoga classes have a loyal following. Recent research from the University of Bristol on ‘Yoga in the Workplace’ has found that 79 percent of employees said that mental performance was better on yoga exercise days and dealing calmly with stress was 27 percent higher.

Sadly, the problem of mental illness extends across all industries, including of course, architecture. From a commercial perspective, mental illness now accounts for about 10 percent of all workers’ compensation claims, but psychological claims are far more expensive than physical cases, primarily because of longer recovery time.

DKO is a best practice business environment and how we provide this support in practical terms is by conducting regular workplace health checks, providing seasonal flu injections annually, promoting flexible working hours, organising extracurricular activities, functions and providing a family friendly environment.

Creating a positive, friendly, supportive workspace that is collaborative, where we can not only effectively manage stress, but also grow people within the company is paramount in DKO’s efforts on mental ill health prevention.

/ JESSICA RISKE PRACTICE MANAGER, WILSON ARCHITECTS For many years, mental health in the workplace was taboo – few firms were talking about it and fewer had the right practices in place to safeguard against it.

That’s all changing now and awareness is crucial; mental health and well-being has become a focus of support.

At Wilson Architects, we’ve learned the importance of focusing on family values, a physical environment connected to nature and striving to find that perfect balance between being underworked and overworked.

We’ve found these factors all contribute to promoting the wellbeing of our staff.

First and foremost, we’re a family business. We understand the critical importance in providing flexibility for parents (both male and female) in terms of working hours and offering the option of four-day weeks or job share.

We see diversity in the workplace

as a positive. Forty-eight percent of our staff are female and we’re fortunate to have staff from multicultural backgrounds, which ensures our viewpoints aren’t limited to a singular monocultural perspective.

It’s also important for directors to check in regularly with each staff member. This consultation process should look beyond performance.

Encouraging open conversation promotes a better workplace culture and ensures everyone feels valued and supported.

We know the physical environment of a space contributes directly to the wellbeing of an employee. Making sure there’s lots of natural light, access to fresh air and greenery in the studio is key.

We encourage our staff to come together for social occasions; birthdays are celebrated together, whole-ofoffice lunches are organised

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at project milestones and champagne is popped with the success of a competition.

It’s important to provide a careful balance of busyness, creative challenge and stress. We’re always aware of maintaining a certain level of activity, so our staff don’t become either stagnant or, alternatively, burnt out. We prefer our staff not to work overtime but, when they do, we ensure they take some time off to recover.

Practices need to support staff and maximise opportunities for them to interact, problem solve, up-skill, learn and grow.

Mentoring is a great way to achieve this, alongside offering changes in responsibility and mixing up teams.

Lastly, we actively encourage people to be curious about one another so that no one feels isolated.

/ STEVE COSTER PRINCIPAL AND BOARD MEMBER, HASSELL At HASSELL we know the health and well-being of our people is crucial to the success of our business – and our clients. Put simply, our priority is a happy and healthy workforce.

In the workplace there are four key issues that impact mental health: high levels of demanding work, low autonomy,

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low levels of social and environmental support and long hours. Also another aspect that can impact employee wellbeing is the quality of leadership – are they aware of employees’ issues and concerns and then do they act on them?

These issues are making an impact on many industries – including architecture and design. For example, recent research has shown that absenteeism and presenteeism for mental health-related issues was double that of all physical health issues combined.

What can we do to make a difference? If we are designing places that people love, we need to ensure workplaces are somewhere they want to be.

Somewhere they feel supported and engaged in their work.

At HASSELL, we encourage client engagement in an organised and structured way in order to create control for project teams in how they meet project demands. Being proactive instead of reactive helps manage work demands in a healthier way. It also leads to better design outcomes.

We also promote flexibility in the way staff work. Our people have competing personal demands and we try to help them balance their lives in a way that suits them best. We also have extensive training programs for our current and emerging leaders and we check employee

engagement levels regularly. We want our leaders to be ‘in touch’ with our people often.

At HASSELL, all our staff have access to a 24/7 external, independent employee assistance and counselling program, as well as internal support networks. This can be accessed for a wide range of circumstances, including mental health concerns.

Finally, we are also participating in St John’s pilot mental health first aid program to help staff identify and understand when others may need some extra support.

We hope these initiatives will help address mental health issues for our people at HASSELL, but we are also continually looking for other ways we can have an impact on this important issue.

/ SANDY LAW DIRECTOR, LAW ARCHITECTS We’ve heard of a number of dimensions that contribute to well-being. Key among them is finding meaning and fulfilment in our work. Having time for reflection is a great way in, but we struggle to allocate appropriate time for ‘reflective practice’. We often crave time to reflect on the processes that were, the designs that ‘became’ and the decisions that were invariably made on the fly that retrospectively could have been different... and better?

Invariably, reflection is an overhead and we push it to the side because the next deadline is looming. We say to each other we ‘must talk about that…’, but we rarely do it formally. In our practice, we often find ourselves airing the energy we carry from a past project into the next one. Unexamined projects can feed into personal

narratives that then taint and skew new projects.

Informal expression of joys, frustrations and insights is customary and encouraged in our practice. They find expression over coffees, around screens, en route to meetings or at Friday’s pub lunch. Sometimes these occasions offer opportunity for reflection. But it’s casual, unmediated and sometimes the wrong time. The workplace is demanding and fast. It’s hard to unplug. Most of all, it’s harder to rewind the clock and spend time looking at what was. Formalising time in our programs at each stage of a project’s life, though, would do wonders for our collective mental health.

If we take time to reflect in a formal and safe way, then we are listening and learning from each other. Collectively and individually, we then grow our understanding of complex processes and somewhere in all that we hopefully might find some meaning.

Yes, ‘reflective practice’ is an overhead, but perhaps as essential as the organic coffee beans.

And, when all else fails, get a dog. We did. His name is Jimmy. ar

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64 THE DEBATE

THE DEBATE: LIFE AFTER DEATH CAN AN ARCHITECTURAL PRACTICE SURVIVE THE DEMISE OF A ‘STARCHITECT’?

RECENT EVENTS HAVE PROMPTED EDWIN HEATHCOTE AND SIMON NELSON TO TACKLE THIS TIMELY TOPIC.

THE CASE FOR:

/ SIMON NELSON PRACTICE PRINCIPAL, SEED (STUDIO FOR THE EXPLORATION OF EVOLUTIONARY DESIGN) History and conventional wisdom tells us that the death of a starchitect will lead to the demise of their practice. But times are changing, practices are becoming bigger and more professionally run, and the recent untimely death of Zaha Hadid has ignited a renewed interest in this subject. The issues that arise not only have ramifications for ‘starchitect’ practices, but also for any practice where key partners

are seen as its lifeblood. But really, the question shouldn’t be ‘can a practice survive’, because, simply, they can. Instead, the focus needs to be on how they can survive.

As with so much in business, left to chance, the odds are against survival, but with proper planning, a practice can survive and thrive even after the demise, or maybe even retirement, of the person who gave the practice its name.

So what needs to be done in order to protect the long-term future of a practice to ensure it survives its founder? The answers are wrapped up in those terms so many architects hate – strategy, marketing, planning, culture – in other words, in employing sound business management practices.

We need to recognise that a starchitect is a brand and that brands need to be managed to ensure they endure. This is easier where the practice has a distinct style, such as in the case of Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA), known for forms created by parametrics, where [Hadid’s successor] Patrik Schumacher says clients expect a certain typology.

Since the passing of Hadid in March, the practice has won significant new projects and looks secure for a number of years to come. The challenge will come as parametric design and ZHA’s style evolves, but that is a challenge the practice would have faced with or without Hadid.

“BY BUILDING A BRAND, PRACTICE CULTURE AND DEVELOPING A TEAM OF SENIOR PRACTICE LEADERS, IT IS POSSIBLE TO THRIVE UNDER A NEW GENERATION OF OWNERS.” – SIMON NELSON

ZHA’s chances of survival are also helped by its management structure. Schumacher was already a partner with a high level of visibility, and he is supported by a group of directors that has a combination of those with extended service who understand the practice and those with wider industry experience, not least Mouzhan Majidi, the appointment of whom is now looking rather inspired, as ZHA leverages his experience as CEO of Foster and Partners.

Another practice that manages its brand well is BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group). Not only does it manage its brand, but there is also a great, if not greater, emphasis on managing the business, building a culture and codifying the design process, with Ingels stating that this was a significant focus while establishing the New York office.

With a capable team of partners and a very focused CEO in Sheela Maini Søgaard, much of what is needed to survive Ingels is already in place.

Others have taken a different approach to the issue of succession planning. Richard Rogers and his original partners have planned their exit for many years, managing the transition to the next generation of partners.

To facilitate this, there has been a name change, to Rogers Stirk Harbour and Partners, reflecting the new creative and managerial forces, while a further name change is anticipated, with the dropping of the name Rogers at an agreed interval after his passing. Through long-term and careful planning, the practice has positioned itself for the inevitable changing of the guard.

In conclusion, not only can practices survive the demise of their starchitect, but valuable lessons can be learned through the study of how they do so.

All practitioners need to consider some form of succession planning and, through building a brand and practice culture, and developing a team of senior leaders, a practice can thrive under a new generation of owners.

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THE CASE AGAINST:

/ EDWIN HEATHCOTE WRITER, ARCHITECT, ARCHITECTURE CRITIC OF THE FINANCIAL TIMES, EDITOR READINGDESIGN.ORG This is the easier side of the argument to argue. Mostly, because it’s never been done.

No major architectural practice established under the name of its founder has survived much beyond their death. It might be a little surprising, after all, we know that architecture is collaborative and a work is never the product of a single mind… and yet.

The question has been brought up again by the death of Zaha Hadid, whose distinctive and fiercely original work put her among the select few starchitects who bestride the world like cultural colossi. But of the cohort, which includes Rem Koolhaas, Frank Gehry, Renzo Piano, Jean Nouvel, Tadao Ando, Herzog & De Meuron, Foster and Rogers, Hadid was the first to go, so there is no real precedent.

Instead we have to go back to see how the practices of Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier, Frank Lloyd Wright, Louis Kahn and the other greats of modernism continued after their demise. The answer, of course, is that they didn’t.

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Great architecture, like great art, is at least in part predicated on the ‘aura’, the halo of authenticity and genius that surrounds the real thing. Clients and cities want a piece of the stardust that glitters in the wake of the first-class arrivals of the big names. They want to be associated with the star, an association that brings cachet and prestige to both client and project. Partly, this is to do with the charisma of the individual architect, a cocktail of charm and an ability to impart a sense of creativity. The client feels valued. Starchitecture is not a million miles from starf****ing.

When the charismatic leader of the cult is gone, the glitter fades. You get the gist of the style, the afterglow perhaps, the skidmarks.

The curious thing is that this does seem to be a particular problem for architecture. The great fashion houses have mostly survived the deaths of their founders, the auto-manufacturers similarly carried on without their Fords or Ferraris around.

A few major practices have attempted to address their future through succession – most obviously Richard Rogers, who changed his practice’s name to include his amanuenses so that it now reads – Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners. Koolhaas meanwhile has always been keen to credit his colleagues and practices not under his own name, but under the typically generic Office for Metropolitan Architecture (of which Hadid herself was once a partner). The others, Gehry, Piano, Nouvel, [Álvaro] Siza and so on seem to have no plan – just as Oscar Niemeyer had no plan when he died. Legacy, on the other hand, seems to be something else. The big names are thinking about how they’ll be remembered – even if they may not be thinking too hard about how their colleagues will continue. Norman Foster has allegedly built a bunker in a Swiss mountain for his archives, Herzog & De Meuron have built an impressive building on the edge of Basel for theirs. Zaha Hadid bought the prominent Bauhaus-style building by the Thames that was formerly the home of the Design Museum in London to house her archive.

The only escape from oblivion for architects hoping to leave their practices running after they’re gone is in association.

“CLIENTS AND CITIES WANT A PIECE OF THE STARDUST THAT GLITTERS IN THE WAKE OF THE FIRST-CLASS ARRIVALS OF THE BIG NAMES.” – EDWIN HEATHCOTE

SOM has survived just fine without Skidmore, Owings or Merrill, and Kohn and Pedersen have survived the death of Fox. Perhaps though, this is a very good thing. Do we want architecture to be about brands? Do we want the design of buildings and cities to be analogous to that of the superficiality and commerciality of the world of haute couture?

Architecture is about interpretation and intelligence, about the application of a particular way of thinking onto the landscape and into a very specific cultural context. It is true that Patrik Schumacher’s thinking and his ideas about Parametrics have long been one of the underlying forces behind ZHA, but will one of his buildings be a Zaha building – or even a ZHA building? Or will it be a Patrik Schumacher building? Despite what the letterhead and the logo on the drawing say, we already know the answer. ar

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66 SKELETONS

FALLINGWATER IN SKELETONS, AR LOOKS AT NOTABLE AND ICONIC BUILDINGS WHEN THEY WERE STILL JUST A TWINKLING IN THEIR CREATOR’S EYE. / MELISSA RYMER

F

above Corsini Classic Summer 600. © Courtesy of the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy.

allingwater, designed in 1935 by the flamboyant and charismatic architect Frank Lloyd Wright, is possibly one of the most spectacular examples of 20th century domestic architecture. Located at Mill Run in a stunning, rustic region of Pennsylvania, the house was designed as a weekend retreat for businessman Edgar J Kaufmann and his family. The house is dramatically sited across a waterfall and in spring the excess water appears to literally spill over its front. It is one of the first examples of cantilevered concrete used in a domestic context. This feature, with its distinctive white horizontal balconies, has become emblematic of the modernist era.

Wright was heavily influenced by the aesthetics of Japan, and it is possible to see how this has been integrated into the design, with its harmonious integration of the beauty of the natural world with the pleasing geometry of the built environment. Wright was also passionate about the design of the interior spaces, so every detail from the furnishings and cabinetry, to light fittings and flooring was an integral part of the design.

The house is one of the few of his buildings open to the public and, in 1991, members of the American Institute of Architects named it the ‘best all-time work of American architecture’.

It is also listed on Smithsonian’s Life List of ‘43 places to visit before you die’. ar

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