Hamer Hall, Ashton Raggatt McDougall and Peter Elliot Architects, Melbourne
Melbourne architects Ashton Raggatt McDougall (ARM) and Peter Elliot Architects have been appointed to design the $128.5 million redevelopment of Hamer Hall.
Ian McDougall of ARM said reinventing the iconic building was “a bit like doing a makeover on the Queen”.
“It is our great delight to be able to work with the Arts Centre, retaining the best of the original, and transforming its future into a new, true city place; connected, contemporary, open and bustling, right there on the river … We have to get it right,” McDougall said.
The project will open up the Arts Centre Precinct to Southbank and the Yarra River.
“The project will also create a greener and more outward facing venue that integrates with new public spaces and the riverside to make it more accessible and inviting to the public,” arts minister Lynne Kosky said.
The redevelopment of Hamer Hall will include a new outlook and new connections to the city, St Kilda Road and the river, as well as new and expanded foyer spaces, better amenities, new stairs, improved disability access, escalators and lifts. The redevelopment will also improve acoustics, create new auditorium seating, cutting edge staging systems and technology, as well as improving the sustainable features of the building.
ARM will now work with the other alliance members Arts Victoria, the Arts Centre and Major Projects Victoria to select an alliance construction contractor for the project later this year. The Hamer Hall project is the first stage of the Southbank Cultural Precinct Redevelopment. Construction will begin in 2010.
Footscray Market, Melbourne
Baulderstone, Bovis Lend Lease and Thiess have been asked to submit detailed proposals to design and deliver the $300 million project to relocate the Wholesale Fruit, Vegetable and Flower Market from its current Footscray Road home to Epping.
The new relocated market will be situated on a 133 hectare site just off the Hume Highway. The new site will provide excellent road access to Melbourne and regional Victoria, vastly improved occupational health and safety for market users and greater efficiencies through the co-location of the trading area and ancillary facilities on one site.
Construction is expected to start later this year.
“The relocation will deliver benefits across the state through vastly improved facilities and logistical arrangements for both growers and retailers as well as up to 600 new Victorian jobs as part of the construction project,” minister for roads and ports, Tim Pallas, said.
There was a strong response to the call for expressions of interest. The wholesale markets, which have an annual turnover of more than $1.6 billion, are a vital part of the state’s infrastructure, Pallas said.
“The relocation project will ensure the ongoing viability and relevance of the markets as an essential link in the distribution channel for fresh produce in Australia by developing a new, efficient and integrated trading environment,” he said.
131 Queen St, BENT Architecture, Melbourne
BENT Architecture has snapped up a $10,000 prize for its green roof design for 131 Queen St as part of the Growing Up green roof competition.
The ‘Growing Up’ Competition is a response to the 2030 Climate Change Taskforce recommendation to increase Melbourne’s resilience to climate change by installing green roofs, thereby enhancing the city’s livability and it’s reputation as a centre for biotechnology, cohesion and inclusion, creativity, research and development, and culture.
BENT Architecture’s winning entry, entitled ‘Head for the Hill’, proposes a central landscaped hill, around which a singular circulation zone expands and contracts to create a number of gathering spaces of varying scales and orientations.
Bound by edges of seating and planting, inhabitants are to be completely surrounded by greenery along a continuous experience of the roof. Traditional garden structures, such as a folly, gazebo and terracing, create diversity along the journey.
In addition to the recreational functions of the roof design, the proposal also performs a research function. Monitoring equipment, a centralised roof water collection and irrigation system and a micro-weather station will allow researchers from The University of Melbourne to collect green roof performance data.
Construction of the winning design will take place this year with the assistance of Brookfield Multiplex.
