As June closes and we roll into July, we’ve decided to recap the top 10 stories covered this month.

Click on the title to be taken to the original story, and let us know which your favourites were - or what else we should have covered.

1.jpg1. Has the age of prefab finally arrived?

From Australia’s history with prefab to its future, limitations and benefits, we look at the construction method in detail and assess its relevance to future markets.

See projects from Arkit, Archiblox, Modscape, Habitech and Jackson Clements Burrows Architects.

 

 

2.jpg2. Eight of Australia’s best low and zero VOC paints

We are no strangers to the saying ‘nothing a fresh coat of paint won’t fix’, but not everyone stops to consider the health and environmental impacts of the tins of colour we use to spruce up our homes. We look at eight low or zero VOC products available in Australia.

 

 

3.PNG3. New George Street hotel marries Gothic and Brutal neighbours with massing and materials

Designing a new building that is sympathetic to its neighbours can be difficult at the best of times. Imagine then the challenge faced by PBD Architects who were tasked with designing a new building for a small site in Sydney’s Haymarket that has a Telstra equipment building for a neighbour on one side and a heritage-listed Venetian Gothic Revival-style library on the other.

 

3.JPG4. HDR Rice Daubney and Grimshaw create new entrance for Sydney Uni

Two development proposals for the University of Sydney have been put to NSW planning simultaneously, one each from HDR Rice Daubney and Grimshaw architects.

The projects will be located opposite one another at the entry to one of the gateways to the university’s Camperdown Campus, effectively redefining this arrival point that has remained mostly unchanged since the 1960s.

 

4.jpg5. Overwhelmingly positive or disgraceful? - Newcastle Post Office concepts unveiled to mixed reaction

While they’re just hypothetical, there are three design concepts floating around of a renovated Newcastle Post Office Building by EJE Architecture and DWP|Suters that are causing a stir among the community.

 

 

5.jpg6. People’s Choice finalists announced for Living Building Challenge

Everyone loves a people’s choice vote, in this case the vote was for a design competition that challenged participants to envisage what the world’s most sustainable retail centre would look like. Three entries based on a lush river valley theme, Passive House principles, and prefabricated construction techniques were shortlisted.

 

 

7.png7. Australia’s first CLT commercial building added to Barangaroo

Lendlease will claim another first in Australian construction next year when it completes Australia’s first cross-laminated timber (CLT) commercial office building in Sydney. See the design by Sydney architect Alec Tzannes, of Tzannes Associates.

 

 

 

8.jpg8. Architectus and Make’s $1 billion Wynyard Station vision gets the go ahead

Sydney’s Wynyard Station precinct will receive a $1 billion-plus revamp by a design team comprising Britain’s Make Architects and Australia’s Architectus. The project cleared its final planning hurdle on 1 June, gaining final approval from the NSW Cabinet through the Government's Unsolicited Proposals pathway.

 

 

9.jpg9. NSW Government rejects 13 private sector proposals for White Bay Power Station

The NSW Government have rejected 13 private sector proposals for the transformation of Sydney’s White Bay Power Station, a move welcomed by the Australian Institute of Architects NSW chapter but lamented by the property industry.

 

 

 

10.jpg10. Making room in a crowded inner-city home: Brooke St House by Timmins+Whyte Architects

One of the biggest talking points of this election cycle is housing affordability (or the lack of) – an issue that commonly plagues new homeowners. But the debate isn’t limited to a particular age group and lifestyle; rising house prices are also affecting many families who already have homes that are growing too small for their needs.