Viridian Glass Case Studies 2012
Chinatown Tourist Information Kiosk
The Chinatown Tourist Information Kiosk in Sydney has become a favourite ‘photo opportunity’ backdrop for locals and tourists alike. John Power speaks to architect David Stevenson from Lacoste Stevenson Architects about this dazzling glass attraction.
Killen Falls
Situated adjacent to rainforest, the Killen Falls house is perfectly suited to its spectacular setting. The house is almost entirely sheathed in glass, and has been deeply integrated into its surroundings. ‘The big driver for using such extensive glazing was the terrific view,’ says Peter Lane, who co-designed the house with Stephanie, his wife and fellow director of Jackson Lane. ‘The site gave us superb rainforest views on three sides,’ he continues, ‘and the house was designed to take full advantage of these.’
Blurred House
A new breed of architectural lions is embracing the best of heritage and modern design trends within single projects. Nowhere is the meshing of old and new styles better presented than in Blurred House by Bild Architecture.
Swinburne Advanced Technology Centre
When designing Swinburne University’s new Advanced Technology Centre, Mark O’Dwyer of H2O Architects worked to a demanding brief. ‘The ground plan needed to have a very high degree of visibility and transparency,’ Mark explains. ‘The ground-level use of glazing inside the building became part of advertising the university to the adjacent street, which is quite busy. It’s a
way of representing and relating the university to the community – including potential future students.’
Milson Island Indoor Sports Stadium
Milson Island Indoor Sports Stadium, situated on New South Wales’ beautiful Milson Island, is deeply integrated into its spectacular landscape. ‘There are beautifully coloured eucalypts surrounding the building,’ says Architect Michael Heenan of Allen Jack+Cottier architects. ‘Every colour used in the stadium comes from one of these trees, which is visible on the right when you walk in.’
Kooyong Residence
The recently completed Kooyong Residence by Matt Gibson Architecture & Design in Melbourne seamlessly integrates a classical Victorian home with a major contemporary addition. An impossible marriage of ideas? Not so, writes John Power.’
Canberra Hospital Adult Mental Health Unit
The new Adult Mental Health Unit at Canberra Hospital in the ACT, by PTW Architects, is a perfect example of ‘fit for purpose’ building design – specifically aimed at achieving ‘fit for life’ healthcare outcomes.
Centre for Sustainable Water Management
The recently completed Centre for Sustainable Water Management, at the Chisholm Institute of TAFE in Cranbourne, Victoria, is an educational facility dedicated to the study of water in the natural and built environment. In a bid to celebrate the power, colour variation and dynamism of water, Vincent Chrisp Architects, who designed the facility, used a variety of evocative glass and glazing options. The stunning result has just been recognised with the 2012 Vision Award – Commercial Creative Interior Glass Application, as announced at the recent Architecture Institute of Australia’s National Conference in Brisbane.
Bondi House_1
When Carter Williamson Architects received their initial brief to extend and improve a modest, semi-detached dwelling in Bondi Beach, their challenge was to ‘push the boundaries’ of design and functionality. The result is Bondi House_1, which has just been named joint winner of the Viridian Vision Awards – Residential Creative Interior Glass Application, at the Australian Institute of Architects 2012 National Conference in Brisbane, Qld.
Museum of Contemporary Art
Sydney’s new Museum of Contemporary Art is the benevolent blockbuster. Its birth results from an extraordinary act of philanthropy. Simon and Catriona Mordant’s Powerball sized gift of $15million is without precedent in Australia’s arts scene. The Mordants’ Medici-like generosity included lobbying other prospective arts patrons and the State Government to back the venture. Sam Marshall in association with the NSW Government Architects office designed the project.
Victoria Rd House
Fiona Winzar Architects’ exuberant extension is the joint winner of Viridian’s 2012 Vision Awards’ Residential Creative Interior Glass Application category. The semicircular Victoria Road House is a bold, open-plan space which seems to float on a sea of glass. It presents a highly unconventional solution to the compact backyard. ‘Where you have a limited amount of space, you need to take full advantage of connections between outside and inside,’ Fiona explains. ‘The block is generous, but a considerable amount of space is taken up by the front garden.’
Hill House
The striking and innovative Hill House by Andrew Maynard Architects, situated in the serene inner Melbourne suburb of Northcote, has been awarded First Prize in Viridian’s 2012 Vision Awards.
Glen Eira Sports and Aquatic Centre
The City of Glen Eira’s highly anticipated $43m Glen Eira Sports and Aquatic Centre is now open to the public. The Centre contains a collection of high-grade sporting and recreational facilities, including five pools; two waterslides; a spa, steam and sauna Centre; a crèche; a gymnasium; and a wellness suite (with 3 multi-purpose wellness rooms). This superbly equipped resource has been designed to meet the needs of all sections of the community, from babies right through to senior citizens.
Viridian Vision Award Winners
Viridian would like to congratulate the winners of the 2012 Vision Awards which were announced at the 2012 National Architecture Conference in Brisbane. The Vision Awards were designed to celebrate and promote the energy efficient and innovative use of glass in Australian architecture.
Margaret River Shire
The striking new Margaret River Shire Offices have already survived a natural disaster – and they’ve been open less than six months. Chief Architect Edwin Bollig of Edwin Bollig Architects discusses the setbacks and triumphs involved in the design and construction process.
Melbourne Brain Centre
In what must be a professional career highlight, the challenge of creating a pair of worldclass neuroscience facilities in Melbourne proved inspirational to the design team at Lyons Architects, says Associate Neel Charitra. Winner of a national competition to design the Melbourne Brain Centre is comprised of two Centres, Lyons affectionately dubbed the Parkville and Heidelberg campuses ‘Big Brother’ and ‘Little Brother’..
Medibank Icehouse
The striking Medibank Icehouse provides Melbourne with an ice skating and sporting facility to match its internationally acclaimed collection of sporting venues. Cox Architecture’s Marc Raszewski talks about the unique challenges of designing and constructing the city’s new subzero landmark.
Zara Bourke St Mall
Spanish fashion powerhouse Zara chose Melbourne’s prime shopping strip for the location of its first Melbourne store which opened amid the buzz of Bourke Street mall last year. Viridian supplied a striking glass awning and supersized store windows drawing customers to visit the world’s largest fashion retailer. Zara engaged Sydney architects Bokor Architecture + Interiors to work with their in-house design team on the new Australian stores. Bokor Architecture + Interiors director Julius Bokor said light was very important to the Zara street frontage. The Melbourne Zara store achieved this with its spider glass awning and spectacular glass frontage.
Springvale Homemaker Centre
One of the latest projects by Leffler Simes Architects is the new Springvale Homemaker Centre in Melbourne’s south east. Specialising in commercial projects within the retail, industrial, hotel, residential and educational sectors, the firm was a natural choice for the centre, which features IKEA and Harvey Norman as well as 26 speciality homemaker style tenancies. Visually, as anyone who has driven past the centre will attest, the building creates a striking structure from its prime highway corner site. A large curved façade creates the backbone to the areas within, snaking from the façade into the main foyer space and then along the full extent of the arcade, revealing more distinctly different retail spaces as the customer walks along.
Triniti III
Australia’s leading manufacturer of building products and energy efficient materials, CSR, last year relocated its headquarters to new 5 Star Green Star premises located at Stockland Triniti III Campus in North Ryde. The headquarters also achieved 5 Star Green Star - Office Interiors v1.1. Comprising many products from CSR’s different units, the office building doubles as a working showroom. CSR products used throughout the Triniti III building include: Bradford Insulation, Cemintel Fibre Cement, Fricker Ceiling Systems, Gyprock Plasterboard, Hebel Aerated Concrete, Rockcore and Alutri Panel Systems, and Viridian glass. As CSR’s youngest brand, glass manufacturer Viridian was eager to showcase the diverse capabilities of its glass products.