As October closes and we roll into November, 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.

2.jpg1. Proposals sought to transform Sydney’s White Bay Power Station into Australia’s first Silicon Valley

The NSW Government has announced plans to develop the country's first high-tech hub at Sydney’s The Bays Precinct and is requesting proposals for the adaptive re-use of the area. Inspiration came from concepts from Woods Bagot, Cox, Grimshaw and Crawford Architects.

 

 

1.jpg2. 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 development will see the station surrounds and the Sydney Menzies Hotel receive a $1 billion-plus reinvigoration, the major addition being a 27-level, 58,000sqm office tower called ‘One Carrington Street’.

3.jpg3. Three concepts shortlisted in competition to redesign Sydney’s George Street

The crop of Australia’s young design talent have put their creative minds together to reimagine Sydney’s oldest and busiest street as a reactivated public place for people and leisure. There was input from Australia’s CHROFI and McGregor Coxall, and designs incorporating wayfinding, indigenous art, digital projections and ‘infrastructure carpet’.

 

4.jpg4. Final (170M high) stretch of Gaudi’s Sagrada Família underway

The final stage of construction has started on one of the world’s most famous and longest-going architectural projects, the Sagrada Família Basilica in Barcelona, Spain. Work has been underway for more than a century, a key role played over the past four decades by an Australian team led by architect Mark Burry, a professor from the University of Melbourne. Image: Wikipedia

 

5.jpg5. America's top 17 residences revealed at 2015 American Architecture Awards

Sixty buildings, including 17 new houses, have been announced as winners at the 2015 American Architecture Awards.  The 2015 edition featured everything from skyscrapers to landscape architecture projects and just about every building type in between. Photography by Maxwell MacKenzie

 

6.jpg6. Fender Katsalidis redesign 'monstrous' tower in Melbourne - VCAT gives green light

Fender Katsalidis have taken up the challenge to redesign an unpopular Victorian mixed-use project, including a 26-storey tower labelled ‘monstrous’ by some in the Ivanhoe community. See the before and after shots of the project and how the architects addressed community concerns. Image: Caydon.

 

7.jpg7. BIM - the Architects' Trojan Horse

Peter Barda, CEO of the Australian Construction Industry Forum, argues that BIM offers a way for architects to regain their role as trusted advisor. He timelines how architects lost their way as managers of big projects but predicts that BIM will see them return as leading advisors.

 

 

8.jpg8. Polyurethane Methacrylate (PUMA) - the new concrete coating on the block

The new concrete coating on the block is PUMA and it addresses some of the limitations of epoxies and urethane systems. See the pros and cons of PUMA and listen to some expert commentary before specifying a concrete coating on your next project.

 

 

10.jpg9. Senior architects cashing in as high-rise apartment approvals soar

Architects for high-rise apartment buildings in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and the Gold Coast are in high demand and getting better pay, that’s according to a number of recent industry reports.

The amalgamation of the findings of five recent surveys and studies shows that architects are designing more apartment buildings and are getting paid more for it. Image: SydneyEye

nightingale.jpg10. VCAT knocks back carpark-free Nightingale Apartments by Breathe Architecture

The architect-led apartment development Nightingale Apartments in Brunswick, Melbourne has had its council approval revoked by the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) because it doesn’t have any car parks.

Comments came in thick and fast for this article, most in support of Breathe Architecture’s vision for sustainable apartment developments.