News

The Australian Civic Trust Awards were held recently and we were happy to walk away with three awards across two projects. The Elder Park Rotunda restoration was acknowledged with the Colonel William Light Award for Excellence in Design. The jury citation stated that the ‘restoration was undertaken at a high standard…without compromising the cultural significance of the structure.’ The project was also the winner of the People’s Choice Award, so thank you to everyone in the public who voted.

The restoration of Ayers House was the recipient of an award in the Urban Category. The structure and exterior of the building was showing signs of age and deterioration before a four year project to return it to its former glory commenced. The result according to the jury is ‘an award winning building, beautifully conserved using the best materials and practice available whilst respecting the heritage values.’

The Stage 1 conservation works on the two former Hart’s Mill flour mill buildings at Port Adelaide, which Swanbury Penglase documented for Renewal SA, is drawing to a close.

A landmark element is the large wind driven vent that crowns the ridge of the roof at the top of the tall brick mill building. Its exact age is uncertain, but similar vents have been installed on this part of the roof for over 100 years.

Affectionately called ‘the tuba’ by the trades of the contractor, G-Force, the vent had to be disconnected and craned down to the ground to properly carry out the necessary repairs. This was mainly due to corrosion of the steel which were placing it at risk of collapse. The repairs were carried out by Metal Fabricators at Edwardstown, including welding in a new plate at the central support pivot, replacing the bottom ring and the rim of the wind vein, as well as welding in new steel to major holes around its base. Repairs were also carried out to the bearing which had prevented the vent swinging around with the direction of the wind.

The vent was then fully prepared and painted using a very durable paint system and a grille fitted within its mouth to prevent the pigeons that had previously been roosting within the structure. The timber support structure which had been suffering from rot caused by water entering through the rust holes was in the meantime repaired, before the vent was lifted back into place. Interestingly the top sits on the base without any fixings, kept in place by its own self weight.

While not quite as good as new, the signature vent can now look forward to a much extended lease of life.

For our latest residential project our client approached us with a brief to create a new environmentally sustainable two bedroom home to replace their existing 1960’s energy sapping cream brick residence.

The resulting design comprises an in-situ concrete raft slab, steel superstructure, LVL rafters and reverse brick veneer wall construction to both the skillion roofed open plan living area and the sleeping quarters. The cladding is predominantly reverse brick veneer with a lightweight steel lining to the external side and masonry internally in order to protect the thermal mass.

The form of the house is striking, with wrapped skillion ends to buffer eastern and western sun whilst opening up living areas to the northern light. Thermal performance was a major factor in siting the plan-form; carefully positioned awnings and retractable blinds ensure optimal active environmental control.

The use of reverse brick-veneer construction has also enabled the masonry thermal mass to be insulated via the use of high performance thermal (and acoustic) insulation.

The plan defines a separation of living and sleeping quarters, expressed in such a way to present two distinct plan forms, linked by a central glazed hallway link. This has also enabled the creation of separate summer and winter courtyards, located to take advantage of conditions responsive to the extreme ends of each season.

The project is currently on site and is due for completion in early 2016. We look forward to showing you some more photos then.

Adelaide Microscopy opened their new state of the art $4.1 million ‘George Rogers Laboratory’ refurbishment on the 23rd of July, 2015. The facility is named after Emeritus Professor George Rogers AO FAA who is recognised as one of the first transmission electron microscopists in Australia and who, well into his eighties, continues to use the facilities regularly.

The facility includes a new $3.6 million atomic resolution transmission electron microscope that will form a critical part of future research work. The design involved the provision of a tailor made magnetically shielded laboratory to house the microscope which stands at nearly 3.5 metres tall.

“It is the first atomic resolution electron microscope to be installed in South Australia”, said Mr Angus Netting, Director Adelaide Microscopy, “and is the only one with its significant level of capability nationally. It’s a critical piece of research infrastructure that is now available to Australian researchers and to Australian industry nationally. Microscopy allows researchers to view nano-materials literally at the atomic level. That means being able to study material atom by atom to better understand, for example, chemical reactions critical to energy conversion or the structure of nano-crystals used for optical communication or sensing.”

The project, undertaken over the last two years, saw detailed work undertaken by a very collaborative client, design and construction team to ensure a highly successful outcome.

Swanbury Penglase is very pleased to announce several new appointments within its management structure, having recently promoted several staff who have demonstrated long-term and committed service to the firm.

We congratulate Elizabeth Swanbury and Wayne Grivell who now join Stephen Penglase and Andrew Phillips as Directors of the Practice, and Justin Carter, Andrew Klenke and Matthew Raven who are now Associate Directors.

All have been instrumental in many of our more challenging and complex projects and consistent with our practice philosophy, they will continue to maintain hands-on project commitments, delivering an exemplary service to our clients whilst also contributing to the strategic and long-term future of Swanbury Penglase.

We wish them all the best in their future with our firm.

The South Australian Architecture Awards were held at the Entertainment Centre on Friday night. It was a very successful night for Swanbury Penglase picking up four awards and a commendation.

Old Parliament House and the Margaret Ames Centre at Immanuel College were the big winners on the night. Old Parliament House took home an award for Heritage Architecture as well as an award for Public Architecture. The project to rejuvenate South Australia’s only nationally listed heritage building impressed the jury with its restoration of the original building fabric complemented by contemporary additions that will allow the building the provide for all the needs of our parliamentarians into the future.

In the inaugural award for the Education category the Margaret Ames Centre was rewarded for its innovative approach to pedagogy. Earlier in the night it received the award for Interior Architecture. The new senior school has provided Immanuel College with a building that is at the cutting edge of educational spaces. Combing the latest technology with spaces that encourage students to explore independent learning and prepare them for tertiary education or the workforce.

The Glenside Health Facilities also received a commendation in the Interior Architecture category for our work in association with Medical Architecture.

A big thanks to everyone who we collaborated with on these projects, especially our clients, who were able to strive for excellence.

A full list of all the award winners can be found here.

Working in association with Sydney-based architectural firm BVN, Swanbury Penglase is currently hard at work completing detailed documentation for the University of South Australia’s new 14 storey Health Innovation Building (HIB) on North Terrace.

Located alongside the Morphett Street Bridge and adjacent the New Royal Adelaide Hospital, the SAHMRI building and Adelaide University’s (under-construction) Medical and Nursing School, HIB is a high-profile landmark and an integral part of the new South Australian Health and Biomedical Precinct. Our landscape architecture team is also currently working in collaboration with the Adelaide University design team to develop a new suspended landscaped ‘urban park’ between both buildings.

The building will house the Centre for Cancer Biology (CCB) which will link the UniSA community with up to 250 of Australia’s top cancer and health researchers.  In addition, the building will feature innovative, multidisciplinary research laboratories, practice based teaching spaces and clinical spaces designed to grow the next generation of nursing and allied health graduates.  At the lower levels it will feature Adelaide’s first Science Creativity Education Studio (SciCeD) intended to inspire a new generation of science aware community.

Site works are scheduled to commence in June 2015, with the project planned to open to the public in early 2018.

In late May, Wayne Grivell, Kon Michael and Dion Byas attended the 15^th National Council of Educational Facility Planners (CEFPI) Conference in Canberra. Always an excellent event, this year’s conference opened strongly with a thought provoking keynote address by learning theorist Ewen Macintosh and ended with a moving and reflective speech by the Director of the Australian War Memorial, Dr Brendan Nelson.

Our team had the opportunity to visit a number of venues, ranging from P-10 ‘superschools’ through to early learning centres, primary schools, high schools and galleries, demonstrating the various modes of learning across institutions. Other highlights included a welcome function at the National Portrait Gallery (pictured below) and the conference dinner at the National Arboretum.

The event was capped off with the presentation of the Annual CEFPI Awards, from which our recently constructed Margaret Ames Centre at Immanuel College received a well deserved Commendation in Category 3: Renovation/Modernisation over $2 Million .

We look forward to next year’s conference in Melbourne.

May saw the return of the ‘Swanbury Penglase South Australian Open’ hosted by Adelaide shores. Day one saw a professional-only field take to the course with Mike Harwood taking the lead with a 5 under par 67. Day two saw the return of last years wet and blustery conditions as a mixture of Swanbury Penglase staff and clients joined the professionals. Despite the conditions a good time was had by all who attended. Mike Harwood continued his good form, including a hole-in-one on the 13th! His a 3 under par 69 enough to take the win.

A big thank you to everyone who attended and made it a memorable day. More information and results can be found on the PGA page here.