September 2012 - Architectus

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says urban designer Henry Crothers. “We are interested in working with people who bring ..... Henri Ciriani's Pontoise Court of. Law immediately comes to mind.
09/12 Collaboration

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Lorne Street, Auckland

Lorne Street Auckland

Interview: Rewi Thompson

The use of language, text and typography as a design theme gives a nod to the adjacent Library and Gallery. Recently completed, the Lorne Street Shared Space features a series of design interventions developed as a collaborative project, with inputs from a range of specialist contributors.

“The letterforms created for the seats are a balance of form and function – being letters, casual seating elements and sculptural objects at the same time” Curnow explains.

Collaborative design opportunities and potential contributors were identified as the project evolved. “We wanted to make a family of interventions that not only resonated with the place but could also be engaged with physically” says urban designer Henry Crothers. “We are interested in working with people who bring specific technical expertise – crafts people and other design disciplines.”

“Our process has been instinctive” says Crothers, “balancing creativity with the technical and pragmatic constraints of the public realm. The outcome has successfully achieved our intent of bringing the library out into the street.”

The project palette of basalt and bronze provides a sense of tactile/materiality, the introduction of text invites contemplation and the combination offers a sense of timelessness. The use of language, text and typography as a design theme gives a nod to the adjacent Library and Gallery. Poet Robert Sullivan developed a site specific work for the library stairs that celebrates the relationship between the Auckland Library, the city and its people. “The poem stands for the many voices within the library. I wrote ‘Kawe Reo’ with echoes of nursery rhyme and waiata and used historical information about the library’s place near Horotiu stream and Lorne Street” says Sullivan. Working with graphic designer Toby Curnow, it became clear that the type block and stair needed to work together. “The slabs that makeup the stairs, and the type on them are one system, a medium for the poem” says Curnow. “The fun thing is how the words interact and unfold in three dimensions as you journey through the space. Like text in a book, it’s not visible all at once, it’s revealed through time.” The hand cast bronze ‘REO’ seats introduce both furniture and sculpture into the space and feature the Maori translation of Sullivans poem. “The word ’reo’ can mean ‘the Maori language’ and also ‘voice’. Voice is part of the library’s ethos which contains information in a wide variety of formats. I also like the fact that ‘reo’ contains the idea of breath and life-force’’ says Sullivan.

Lorne Street Collaboration ‘REO’ seats: Architectus Auckland with Robert Sullivan, Toby Curnow, HUB Street Equipment and Skellern’s Metal Castings and Foundry. Site Specific Poem: Robert Sullivan, Typography and design: Toby Curnow and Architectus Auckland.

Rewi Thompson is a distinguished Maori Architect and Adjunct Professor at the School of Architecture, University of Auckland. Rewi, of Ngati Porou and Ngati Raukawa descent, has been involved in a number of prominent Maori and bi-cultural architectural projects. Patrick Clifford: We are going to talk about our collaboration in relation to the extension to the Manukau District Court. Is collaboration a significant part of your practice? Rewi Thompson: My approach has been more about creating the right sort of environment for the community, whoever that may be, and also working with those who are interested in the same sort of ideals. So it’s never been about me, the architect, but it’s been more about who I am, I guess – and about working with others to achieve the best type of building or space. A lot of it is based around community, both the social or cultural aspects. PC You work with Architects, but are there other groups? RT There are government agencies needing advice, also local authorities and designers such as Architectus. My main thrust though has been more to do with issues, rather than building as a physical thing. This then doesn’t limit me in terms of the other ways I can look at things, like the spiritual side, so it’s more of a holistic approach that I have adopted. PC When you approach a project like the Courts expansion, what are the influences or interests you would bring to that? RT Previously I have been involved with correctional facilities and health projects. What I have noticed, is that these spaces or places have high stress levels. Whether you are a patient, visitor or member of staff – how do you create spaces for people that will help to reduce that tension, or reduce the temperature in these high stress areas? With the new addition to the Court, the large foyer you come to is quite critical. I think it will be the success of the project. It organises, from the public’s point of view, what they can see and where the court rooms are – depending on the first and second levels. This helps to take away a lot of stress. The other point is that it relates back to the natural landscape, so you have the vistas that go toward the north and east. PC You bring a particular view that is rooted in a particular cultural awareness, particularly with regard to landscape. Is that really just because of who you are? Is that unselfconscious? RT I think it’s important to try and identify. Rather than it’s one solution fits all and deny a difference, I think difference is a good thing. And so with the courts in particular, they bring some of that landscape and make it more visible in terms of the use of stone, relating to the stone fields there. This natural stone has I think a quality to it, just like water, that does help people to relax before they go into a high tension environment. Not in this case healing, but reducing the temperature.

PC I’m interested in talking about the models – something that your design is quite strongly based on. Do you make them yourself? RT Yes, I always have. I think it is part of any design. I use the model to not only convince myself that it’s on the right track but also as a tool to communicate with the clients and designers too. It is a simple way of communication. PC So do you do drawings first? Or do you tend to model things as you go along? RT No, I tend to just doodle first - then I might look to do a model, but not always. In this case, with the courts, I thought it was a good way of explaining the idea to the Architectus team. If I just said it’s a ‘henake’, then you may interpret it a different way. It is my responsibility to say you need to think about these two models and relook at the design after that. RT When we talk about this word collaboration, I think part of it is that I come here, not saying this is the solution, but how can I make a meaningful contribution? I know who the designers are, so I think in terms of their ‘mana’ and their role. I am sensitive to that, so I say here is a cultural idea that I think can add to the project in some way – and that’s the way I come, that’s how I come here. PC I think that is a really good description, because certainly my observation and experience is that these models have been received very positively. I think you’ve been very respectful. This has been collaboration, not a competition, so you’ve built on a conversation – and added to it. RT You’re paddling the same as me, the same direction.

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Entering the former gymnasium of the c.1930 heritage listed Frank Tate building, within the heart of the University of Melbourne, a visitor might be struck by the diversity of activity. A round-table discussion group is screened from a teaching simulation in part of a mock-up classroom. Adjacent areas are hosting design presentations, or occupied by workshop participants. All groups have visual and acoustic autonomy, oblivious that they’re contributing to the space-modelling tests of a new audio-visual learning device, in the far corner. Yet, on a return visit, the space might be transformed, entirely given over to one discipline for a collaborative, team-teaching event. Now, the groups and partitions have disappeared and forty-two students are seated on individual, ergonomic chairs, centrally arranged in bright bursts of tangerine red, lime and sunshine yellow upholstery. Welcome to the Learning Environments Spatial Laboratory, conveniently known as LESL.

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Writing surface Coloured glazing or whiteboard sheeting

Display surface Pinboard sheeting

Exposed plywood finish

The collaborative brainchild of Architectus and Associate Professor Peter Jamieson (the University’s Strategic Advisor on Learning Environments), the LESL project is an advanced pedagogical initiative. It’s also at the forefront of exploring how to facilitate collaboration, through design and learning – or vice versa. LESL works ‘every-which-way’. Conceived as a dedicated, experimental environment for specific investigation into the pedagogy-space relationship, LESL challenges educators, designers and institutions to test and refine their visions of learning. Visitors to LESL simply, and continually, ‘reinvent’ and recreate its form, to suit their own requirements. LESL ‘speaks’ a collaborative design language: of unique, yet practical and flexible adaptations; inspired by the metaphorical notions of ‘circus’, ‘garage’ and ‘theatre-set’, as sequences of performance manoeuvres, mechanical movements and changes of scene. Learning environment issues – colour, materials, orientation, group size, technology integration, space division and the shapes, types and

heights of tables and working surfaces –  all become physically and experientially available, within LESL’s matrix of occupantadaptable, multi-divisional spatial elements. Joinery units slide and panels fold, in seemingly limitless configurations and combinations, becoming dividers that reveal (or conceal) a colourful inner dimension of writing surfaces, storage, pin-up and niche space. Tables have multiple forms and functions, for seminar, lecture and boardroom ‘modes’. A digital desktop suddenly reappears, enlarged or multiplied on LCD screens. Discreet discussion pods materialise with the push of a handle, a rolling of wheels or the whisk of a curtain. All components were delivered as a cost effective, environmentally sensitive package; manoeuvrable elements have OHS and WorkSafe compliance verification. On-campus patrons, local admirers and international academics alike, LESL’s stream of visitors are all keen to experience the facility. LESL can play both host and model to: masterclasses, CPD sessions, design workshops, trials, seminars, school projects, staff meetings, training and educational events, inspiring classroom design and learning practices. In LESL, design and collaboration are united, becoming tangible expressions and sensory-rich experiences of project and process: nontraditional learning and innovative environment.

Tonsley Park

Sustainable Industries Education Centre Architectus with MPH Architects Project team: Architectus Melbourne with MPH Architects

In ‘distance-challenged’ collaborations, visual communication devices can really push some boundaries. Drawing, drafting and modelling remain the essential means of communicating architectural ideas, whether collaborators are in the same city, or seven hundred kilometres away. But, in ‘distance-challenged’ collaborations, visual communication devices can really push some boundaries. Brilliantly illustrating how to overcome the tyranny imposed by distance, the Architectus Building Information Modelling systems (BIM) have brought a mammoth, South Australian adaptive, re-use project back to life. The TAFE SA project is set to play an integral role in redevelopment of the former Chrysler/ Mitsubishi manufacturing site at Tonsley Park into a new industry and education precinct.

Learning Environments Spatial Laboratory (LESL) Project team: Architectus Melbourne with Associate Professor Peter Jamieson, University of Melbourne Award: 2012 CEFPI Education Initiative/Design Solution for an Innovative Program National Award

Sustainable Industries Education Centre South Australia Initial sketches investigated the idea of ‘animating’ the distribution of mechanical and electrical systems throughout, by inserting servicing ‘rigs’ within the grid structure. Complementing the skeletal steel character of columns and trusses, the rigs could also create pods and platforms for teaching and learning opportunities.

TAFE’s new Sustainable Industries Education Centre (SEIC) will transform roughly one-third - an Adelaide Oval size portion - of the cavernous, disused, mega-shed into an exemplary trade training facility. (The existing c1964 car assembly plant covers a total 100,000 m2 under its huge saw-toothed roof.) In mid 2011, armed with BIM and backed by a strong track record of successful trans-Tasman and interstate collaborations, Architectus (Melbourne) joined forces with MPH Architects (Adelaide) and were awarded the SIEC project.

Simultaneous with conceptual sketch drawings, BIM was an early introduction made available to all consultants, for superior correlation of the massive grid of existing structural elements, with new design and service components. BIM also proved invaluable as a rendering source; generating high quality, realistic 3d renderings for design and documentation discussion. Melbourne staff could quickly access detailed and insightful 3d views of the Adelaide project. BIM adds value. In fully integrated versions, it offers time and cost saving advantages from coordination and clash detection of service and structural elements, to accurate costing and risk management. BIM can produce energy analyses, collate room data or calculate quantities. It links into other software to provide operational costs and as-built information. In SEIC, early set-up of a Building Information Modelling platform was vital to support Architectus communication, collaboration and quality management processes with interstate counterparts.

Q+A Brisbane Law Courts Brisbane’s new Queen Elizabeth II Courts of Law officially opened on the 3rd of August 2012. Over 19 levels, these Supreme and District Courts have 45 courtrooms and accommodation for 68 judges. The complex took almost 4 years to construct. The new building creates a unique legal precinct between George, Roma and Turbot Streets with a major public square linking the existing Brisbane Magistrates Court.

In 2006, the Architectus offices in Auckland, Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney teamed up in a crosscountry and cross-practice collaboration with Guymer Bailey Architects to win this prestigious commission. Architectus Directors John Hockings, Mark Wilde and Patrick Clifford recall aspects of the court’s collaborative origins and processes, through various stages of the project. How did the courts collaboration begin? JH All Architectus offices have design directors, increasing the opportunities for interesting design interactions across the group. The national Brisbane Supreme and District Court Competition presented an ideal opportunity for such an interaction and collaboration. To increase the depth, we teamed up with Guymer Bailey, a practice with experience in regional Queensland courthouse design.

How did you approach the project? JH Once shortlisted – we were one of three competitors – we organised a week-long design charrette* in Brisbane. To make this period as productive as possible, we undertook considerable preparatory work – collecting reference material, brief analysis and summaries, doing urban analyses at site and city scale. PC With the design group coming together for a short intense charrette, this pre-organisation is critical to success. Along with providing good information, the best preparation is early design work, complete with a number of propositions. It’s provocative, useful and informed, and provides a stimulus to the charrette itself.

are a measure of our people and practice. We can draw on the combined talents and resources of inspirational designers, strategic thinkers and skilled professionals across regions – and apply them in a way that delivers the best results, appropriate for a specific project or location.

eMod

What’s most memorable or beneficial about the collaboration, either individually or collectively, to the project or practices? JH We used the charrette technique to start the International Court of Justice competition in The Hague, the Manakau Courts, and the collaboration with Kengo Kuma for the University of Queensland Business School competition too. If the charrette was the foundation for the collaborative design response, what factors established the solution? JH The site is near to other significant Architectus projects including the Gallery of Modern Art and the Harry Gibbs Commonwealth Law Courts. There was a very good in-house understanding of both major and some more subtle, but very important, urban issues. MW Our offices all had considerable experience in court design. But Architectus Brisbane was the practice with invaluable local knowledge. They contributed a comprehensive understanding of the site – on every level, from CBD and public space to local climatic effects. JH Critical to the success of the charrette and final design was the balance of input from the participants. We are fortunate in having a good shared architectural sensibility, balanced with diversely creative minds. This set up a good broad set of strong and notably different design options, which nonetheless shared common values. We worked by establishing options early, then developing them into strong propositions before choosing the preferred direction. PC We were all well informed, through longstanding experience. We stay connected to new ideas and developments in courthouse design and all forms of civic architecture. Also and importantly, we were very aware of the role of public space in the project: both internally and externally. JH That depth and breadth of understanding was integral to our response – we sought to establish dignity and signify presence in public perception and experience – but also contribute to the daily life of the city.

Are there specific examples of previous work and how it contributed?

JH The value of shared respect across the directors, and indeed the other staff involved in the various collaborative exercises, has been essential during the project – both in prompting vigorous debate during the course of the exploration of design possibilities, and in the eventual resolution of design issues.

JH John Grealy brought 20 years of court design experience to the table, including his design of the Commonwealth Law Courts in Brisbane, which I assisted him with to a small degree. There were other large court projects too, here and in the middle-east. Each courthouse is generally for a different jurisdiction – with different functional requirements and layering of circulation, whether horizontal or vertical, according to site, brief or context. There were so many individual and shared ideas, commensurate with those years of experience. MW We’d worked previously on Supreme and District Court projects so we had a good understanding of the likely functional and operational spatial relationships expected within a modern court building – both within a single courtroom and within the building as a whole. We understood how separate circulation systems could operate – without substantially increasing floor area and permitting a full wall of glass to each courtroom. What precedents in court tradition or architecture were influential? PC We’ve travelled widely and participated in study tours – looking at court and major civic buildings. Henri Ciriani’s Pontoise Court of Law immediately comes to mind. JH These experiences remind us of the balance between formal concerns and unique character – and confirm our understanding that light, dignity, clarity and scale are the most significant aspects of civic design. MW There’s the discourse on modern court buildings too. ‘Transparency’ has become a key driver for court building design, referencing preferences for transparency of the judicial system. The wider judicial body had been musing on the question of transparency for some time prior to the Brisbane competition design. The idea of the electronic or paperless courtroom – integrating technology without distracting from the qualities of the space – was important. Other community expectations or compliance requirements, like DDA, OHS design and security for occupants all played their part.

MW Making design decisions based on what is ‘best for project’ and achieving goals through collaborative problem solving. Sharing knowledge and ideas enhanced learning, fostered communication and established the core building blocks for the project design.

How did the collaborative process extend throughout the project? PC From the start, it was critical to accept the final design decisions lying with John, as the nominated design director for the Courts design project. It’s been the case in all recent collaborations that the team reaches a point of having two or three equally strong and convincing design propositions to choose between. Again, the mutual respect across the staff of the practices allows this to happen. MW The project office was Architectus Brisbane and the majority of services were delivered from that office. John Hockings led design throughout and worked relentlessly, in every phase, to maintain the competition design’s integrity. Contract documentation and construction services were managed in Brisbane too. Other offices contributed during the documentation stage for specific design elements. PC Architectus has this capacity, to support and contribute remotely, through all levels and stages of projects. We do meet regularly – and electronic media aids the processes – but these successful long-distance collaborations

PC The Brisbane Supreme and District Court is not a ‘normal’ courthouse. Its transparency, clarity and civic presence have been achieved through a highly sophisticated design approach, that’s solved all the complex technical issues, to achieve humanist outcomes. In a large part, that’s how the Architectus group came together – to sponsor and interact in challenging and engaging design collaboration and projects. JH A most enjoyable part of the collaboration was the last phase of the charrette where the adopted design option was developed by the entire design team into its final form. Design ideas naturally spring from individual minds, and designers will naturally develop strong affinities with their personal ideas. It’s been a mark of all the collaborations to date that the key designers involved, have not only contributed strong and convincing options, but have also been adept in positively contributing to the final solutions, in very insightful ways. Obviously, Architectus went on from the charrette to win the Courts competition, and the building has just recently opened. Five years on from the charrette, it has kept the key elements and values of that first design concept remarkably intact. *The word charrette refers to a collaborative session in which a group of designers develops a solution to a design problem. Architectus + Guymer Bailey — design director John Hockings design directorate John Hockings, Patrick Clifford, John Grealy, Mark Wilde, Lindsay Clare, Ralph Bailey project directors John Grealy, Phil Jackson

With an intention to revolutionise the humble portable classroom, Architectus entered the ‘2011 Future Proofing Schools Competition’ and —  with a serendipitous collaboration —  took out first prize. The winner was eMod: a prefabricated modular system, resembling a 3d tangram with endless, easy, geometric variations. The eMod’s plan and form maximise options, configurations and adaptations (while minimising site-works) in the widest variety of contexts, climates, conditions and topographies. The flexible, internal spaces accommodate diverse activities. Extensive glazing, louvred walls and covered external areas connect learning with landscape. From the start, eMod looked like a winner. Designed with reference to the best practice in education, prefabrication, landscape integration and sustainable design, it re-imagined both the form and function of relocatable teaching spaces. When Josh Platt arrived in the Melbourne office, the final piece of the eMod puzzle fell into place – realizing a way to fully synchronise eMod’s digital learning and building design principles.

Josh, an RMIT ‘gamer’ student, specialised in app development. With Josh’s collaboration, an eMod app was hatched. Offering different modes and options, the app gives clients and users first-hand experience of eMod’s design flexibility and tailor-made solutions. Fully aligned with eMod’s design strengths, the app makes eMod ‘publicly’ available. Function, context, surrounding environment and future development are all easily explored. Architectus takes this opportunity, once again, to thank Josh for his skilful contribution. eMod app can viewed at: http://www.edu-mod.com eMod Project team: Architectus Melbourne with Joshua Platt Award: 2011 Future Proofing Schools International Design Competition

A successful collaboration requires clearly defined roles, mutual respect, obligations + responsibilities, but it also bestows benefits: enriching and expanding the experience of all parties, achieving the best result.

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Architectus has a long history of working in collaboration – our collaborations are local, regional, national and global too. We share expertise and exchange ideas to get the greatest results: adding value, technology and environmental advantages, for future currency and adaptability. We’ve teamed up with leading, worldwide specialists including Kengo Kuma, Jestico + Whiles London, CH2M Hill Glasgow, Kerry Hill Architects Singapore, LMN Seattle, Moore Rubel Yudell Santa Monica and Kohn Pedersen Fox New York. Architectus Sydney’s highly successful collaboration with environmentally renowned Ingenhoven Architects began in 2006 when Architectus Sydney invited Dusseldorf based Ingenhoven to partner in the design competition for a proposed ‘green’ office tower in central Sydney. The collaborative result was the acclaimed 1 Bligh Street; honoured with the Arthur G Stephenson Award for Commercial Architecture, the Milo Dunphy Award for Sustainable Architecture and an additional Architecture Award for Urban Design in the 2012 Australian Institute of Architecture (NSW Chapter) Awards. The 6 Star Green Star office tower was also recently named ‘Best Skyscraper in the Southern Hemisphere’. Spanning more than 6 years, the Architectus + Ingenhoven collaboration continues today with the design and fit-out of the new Commonwealth Parliament Offices over three levels of the building. Another tower collaboration is currently underway with legendary Chicago practice SOM (Skidmore Owings & Merrill LLP). The new 38 storey mixed-use tower, at 100 Mount Street, North Sydney, is designed to achieve a 5 Star Green Star rating. In this instance, Architectus Sydney was invited into collaboration with SOM. Nationally and internationally, Architectus enjoys strong, rewarding, professional connections, in a diverse range of benchmark projects. In Queensland, following successful collaborations with SKM-S2F for specialist laboratory design in the University of Queensland’s new School of Veterinary Science at Gatton and collaboration with Guymer Bailey on the Queen Elizabeth II Courts of Law, Architectus Brisbane joined forces with Lend Lease, Stantec USA and Rice Daubney Architects to win the bid for the Sunshine Coast University Hospital. Architectus and Rice Daubney will collaborate with Lend Lease on delivery of the building, due to open in late 2016. Architectus Melbourne is working with MPH Architects, Adelaide, on TAFE SA’s Sustainable Industrial Education Centre at Tonsley Park. After their successful collaboration on the AMI Stadium in Christchurch, Architectus Auckland has again joined forces with Athfield Architects on the Victoria University of Wellington’s Hub & Library project. Architectus Auckland teams up with specialist laboratory designers Labworks, to successfully deliver complex science projects at the University of Auckland and collaborates with respected Architect and academic Rewi Thompson on the Manukau Precinct project.

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