Junglefy’s sad demise

Green roofs and walls are essential aids to sustainability and one firm leading the way was Junglefy in Sydney. I say was, as sadly they closed their doors last Friday week.

Founded by Jock and Hanna Gammon over 10 years ago as a landscape firm that specialised in greening of buildings, they developed expertise particularly in difficult wall installations. You see can see some of the work, including this carpark in Manly Vale Sydney, on their website (while it lasts): Junglefy.

In 2007 Suzie Barnett took over as CEO and impressed everyone with her enthusiasm and entrepreneurial skills (see the excellent coverage in the Fifth Estate). Projects included internal walls of specially selected plants that filtered the air, and their designs attracted the attention of the ‘big end of town’ such as the Lend lease offices seen here.

The firm grew to 30 staff, with design, installation and maintenance projects, but the recent construction difficulties and delays were catastrophic. Junglefy grew the plant material ahead of installations, which were delayed and delayed, or never happened, and that became a catastrophic supply chain issue.

One vitally interesting aspect of their work was teaming up with Professor Sarah Wilkinson at UTS, to do detailed laboratory research into ways in which plants can sequester air pollutants into their roots and soil, permanently removing toxins such as those in car exhausts and cigarette smoke. I was privileged to have a tour of their labs in 2016, prior to the launch of designs for their Breathing Wall technology. What becomes of all this innovation, research and expertise is unclear as the receivers have only just been called in.

Moonee Ponds market

Moonee Ponds has been much in the news lately, which recalled the Moonee Ponds Market, which I would credit as one of our earliest, and best, postmodern buildings. Designed by Karl Fender in 1975, it used polychrome brickwork, repetitive forms redolent of old warehouses and markets and an esprit at the entrance doors that summed up the optimism of the times.

Based on this building, Karl was invited to the 1981 architecture student conference in Canberra, entitled the Next Wave. The championing of this invitation was down to student Nigel Fitton, who has had a stellar design career in Melbourne working with various firms, and now is indespensible to Karl and Nonda at Fender Katsilidis.

But just as the housewife superstar from Moonee Ponds is no more, so Moonee Ponds Market, on the aptly named Everage Street, is no longer with us. As the area became more ‘effluent’ as Kath and Kim would say, the markets became passé, and then passed, being demolished in 1997 for a cinema complex that never eventuated.

After being an unsightly carpark for many years, by 2020 high rise residential towers were completed and no sign remains of the old Moonee Ponds, and the sights and sounds of a popular market. It now looks like this:

Warragamba Damned

Regular readers will know of my trenchant opposition to the proposed raising of the Warragamba Dam, championed by the former NSW LNP government. I had written about in these A&D ‘pages’, and it was also published in The Guardian.

One of the first actions of the new Minns’ Labor government was to can the idea. Dead. Buried. It is no more. Curled up its toes and gone to that great pork barreling rorts cemetery in the sky. You might say I am delighted.

Bookends: Sustainable Design

I’m often asked for the best books on sustainable design (not surprising really, given that I was Adjunct Prof for that course at UNSW for many years). My answer is none. Just two websites, both great Aussie research products.

For house design, go to Your Home, a government backed website that was originally developed in 2001 at the Institute for Sustainable Futures, principally by Dr Chris Reardon, who managed it up until his passing in 2014, and more recently by Caitlin McGee.

For larger buildings it’s Energy In Buildings 50 Best Practice Ideas, produced in 2017 by the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) with engineers Norman Disney and Young. Each idea is referenced to the appropriate climate zones where it is applicable, the relative costs and the payback periods and the kinds of buildings the idea can be used in. It’s comprehensive and so, so easy to use.

You can look at all the pretty picture books you might find (and there are thousands) but nothing comes near these two websites as references for the start of sustainable architectural ideas.

Sign of the times

A new addition to A&D Another Thing: a ‘sign of the times’ - this one on a side street in Darlinghurst in 2018.

More things next week. Tone Wheeler is an architect / the views expressed are his / contact at toneontuesday@gmail.com.

Tone Wheeler

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