News

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.

SPA was once again proud sponsors of the SA Seniors PGA Championship. The annual event held at the Adelaide Shores Golf Club earlier this month saw SPA staff, clients and other amateur golfers team up with the pros for a day on the fairways battling the not-so-fair weather with Queensland’s Richard Backwell taking out the Championship.

We hear a fun time was still had by those who braved the conditions, rest assured we’re putting our order in early for some sunshine next year!

For more details on the event visit the PGA Australia website here.

We were delighted to receive two awards at this year’s SA Landscape Architecture Awards, held at the Art Gallery early this month.

M2 and the Plasso for UniSA achieved an award in the ‘Design’ category and we shared an ‘Award for Excellence’ in the ‘Planning’ category for the Tonsley Urban Design Protocol for Renewal SA with practices Oxigen, Woods Bagot, Jensen Planning + Design, Tridente Architects. Congratulations to all the award winners!

Swanbury Penglase have entered M2 and the Plasso and Glenside Precinct 1 (New Health Facilities) in the Landscape Architecture Awards this year. Both projects are in the running for the People’s Choice Award in The Adelaide Review for AILA SA in the categories of Landscape Architecture.

Voting is open till the 30th of August (this Friday); ‘Town and Park’ and ‘Urban Furniture Specialists’ are sponsoring the People’s Choice Award and have provided two City Profile Benches (RRP $990 ea) to offer as a prize for voters!

Click here to be directed to the Adelaide Review website to vote!

We are proud to announce that the New Health Facilities at Glenside Campus are complete! The project team attended the official opening by Premier Jay Weatherill at a ceremony in the new Administration and Learning Services building on Sunday the 28^th of July. Swanbury Penglase in association with Medical Architecture have been working towards this goal for six years and we are thrilled with the result. The new facilities have received international recognition and have  set a new benchmark for mental health design and are already being cited as an exemplar for mental health design in the United Kingdom.

We opened our SALA exhibition ‘Different Spokes’ last Thursday night. It was a fantastic event and a great opportunity to catch up with colleagues and friends in celebration of the exhibition theme – the humble bicycle. Thank you to all who attended, for those who couldn’t make it to the opening please drop in to view the works during business hours till the 28^th of August.

We are excited to be participating in the 2013 SALA festival! This year’s exhibition features works by Wayne Grivell, Paul Rawinski, Theftique, Dion Byas, Witold Generowicz, Peter Semple and Andrew Steele.

A collaboration of bicycle-obsessed architects and photographers present a series of images in honour of the humble yet wonderful pedal machine.

Opening night is Thursday the 1st of August at 6PM, we hope to see you there! RSVP at [email protected]. The exhibition will continue to the 25th of August so please drop in anytime during business hours.

If you’re a Sitenotes reader you’ll know that Swanbury Penglase and Immanuel College have been working together on a really exciting project – The Margaret Ames Centre.

This new facility for senior students sets the benchmark for cutting edge learning environments. It will contain studio spaces, an open plan learning hub, senior school administration, conference facility and 200 seat lecture theatre.

Construction is about to commence and we look forward to bringing you more details as things develop onsite, in the meantime view a walk-through animation by Tree House Studio below.

SPA was pleased to sponsor the SA Seniors PGA Championship again this year. Held at the Adelaide Shores Golf Club earlier this month, SPA staff and clients joined other amateur golfers who were teamed up with the pros for a day on the green. Peter Fowler won the Championship for the third year running, with special support from SPA architect Dan Fighera! A healthy $8000 was raised at the event for the Westward Ho Junior Golf Foundation. To visit the Adelaide shores website for more details on the event click here.

We are excited to announce that the Australian Red Cross Regent Blood Donor Centre has been shortlisted in the National Interior Design Awards. With some incredible projects shortlisted we are thrilled to be among them! You can check out all the entrants here.

We have issued the final Sitenotes for the year! This newsletter includes the completion of Stage 1 of the New Glenside Health Facilities plus a sneak peak at the new $15 million senior school we are designing for Immanuel College. Contact the office or pop in for your copy.

SPA wishes you a happy festive season and all the best for the New Year. The SPA office will be closed from COB Thursday the 21^st of December, open again on Monday the 7^th of January for another exciting and eventful year!