News

The start of 2011 has been tough for the people of Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria, not to mention Christchurch and more recently Japan. In February SPA hosted a BBQ to catch up with colleagues from other firms and to raise money for flood relief. Attendees included staff from Lucid, Parsons Brinkerhoff and Wallbridge & Gilbert. Over $1000 was raised on the night from donations and a silent wine auction, with wines generously donated from our office! We also understand that Wallbridge & Gilbert made a separate contribution on behalf of their staff. A big thanks to the generous spirits of all who helped out and those who attended.

The team at Swanbury Penglase wishes you a happy and prosperous new year! After a relaxing break and lots of celebrating over the festive season, SPA is looking forward to another busy year ahead. Please stay tuned to the website for news on current projects and events.

To view the interview with director Eric Swanbury about his recently completed award winning Glen Osmond Residence we mentioned last year [click here].

Finally, see progress of University of South Australia’s M2 and the Plasso at Mawson Lakes [click here].

The last issue of Sitenotes for 2010 has been issued, here are some snippets……………

Late September saw the grand opening of the new gym and performing arts centre at St Andrew’s School in Walkerville. The facility consists of a multipurpose hall, dance studio, bands space, individual music rooms, change rooms and a number of learning spaces. SPA collaborated with acoustic consultants AECOM to achieve sound quality within the building. The end result is a dynamic, multifunctional facility with a vibrant interior and excellent acoustics.

SPA has been involved in the Linden Park Schools Redevelopment since 2005 and was a proud guest at the official opening of the Schools in November.

The SPA team has had a successful few months of fundraising with the Interior Design team attending the Stylecraft Bowling Fundraiser for breast cancer in October, and the men of the office taking part in Movember, growing moustaches in a bid to raise money for prostate cancer throughout November. Both teams were extremely successful, with our bowling ladies raising the most money in the national competition, and our Moustached men raising an amazing $4777.00!

The SPA Interior Design team won the Gold Award in Stylecraft’s ‘Design A Ginger’ competition for most outstanding gingerbread house. All the gingerbread houses in the competition were donated to Meals on Wheels.

As another busy year comes to a close, the SPA team wishes everyone a wonderful and safe festive season! Stay tuned for more SPA news in the New Year.

Swanbury Penglase took home two awards at the DIA Awards held at the Adelaide Zoo in November. University College London won the Silver Award in the Built Environment category and also won the Laminex Prize. The project was one of few representing South Australia in the national Idea Interior Design Awards. The Awards were held at The Ivy on George Street in Sydney and UCL was shortlisted in the Institutional category.

On the 17^th of September the Swanbury Penglase team ‘set up camp’ in a parking space on Gouger Street to join many other design practices in Adelaide’s first Parking Day event. Parking day is an annual, global even that began in San Francisco and is now celebrated in 21 countries. The aim of the event is to encourage everyday citizens to consider the role they play in their local urban environment, and the importance of urban public spaces. SPA transformed a metered parking space into a lush lawn complete with trees, music and a bbq, challenging the conventional ideas for renting a parking space by transforming the carpark into a positive public space. SPA won second place in the People’s Awards for the effort! For more information about Parking Day [click here]

The latest Sitenotes is out, with details of the award winning Glen Osmond Residence and more office news. Visit our newsletter page to view an electronic version of the document, or alternatvely contact Swanbury Penglase at space@swanburypenglase.com or call (08) 8212 2679 for a copy.

This year’s awards were held on July 2nd with Swanbury Penglase receiving two prizes. In the Residential Architecture category our Glen Osmond Residence received the John S Chappel award, the jury comments in the citation ‘If architecture needs a champion for sensitive, compact and space efficient, environmentally responsible appropriate suburban residential design, this house has got its gloves on’.  As winner of the named award, this project goes into the National AIA Awards program with winners to be announced in late October.

In addition, University College London received a Commendation in the hotly contested Interior Architecture category.

Congratulations to those involved and thanks for all your efforts.

Swanbury Penglase officially celebrated their 21^st year with a birthday bash held recently at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre’s new Theatre B.  Guests were treated to great food and wine and special guest comedian Claire Hooper got everyone laughing before official cake cutting business.  A great evening was had by all with an opportunity to reflect on the past achievements and the relationships built along the way.

Thanks to the party team and for our friends and colleagues for attending.

The latest Sitenote has just been issued, with details of recently completed projects, achievements and more. Here are a few highlights…

Swanbury Penglase continues its involvement in the development of an international university precinct in Victoria Square, with the opening of the University College of London. The interior design team worked through the challenges and constraints of working within a heritage building, resulting in a bold and sophisticated interior for the prestigious London based university.

The Swanbury Penglase architecture and landscape teams joined together, in collaboration with Aecom and art consultant Groundplay, to create the recently completed Glenelg tram overpass, which recently received an Excellence Award from the Institute of Public Works Engineering Australia.

Collaboration between Swanbury Penglase and Monsoon Architects in WA, saw the development and official opening of a new student hostel in Kununurra by (now) Prime Minister Julia Gillard on the 29^th of May, 2010. The hostel provides students from smaller communities in the Kimberly region the opportunity to complete their high school education at Kununurra District High.

For a copy of the current issue of Sitenotes please visit the Newsletters section of this website, contact Swanbury Penglase via email space@swanburypenglase.com or telephone 8 8212 2679.

We have recently announced a new Senior Associate team along with Matt Raven, Jason Timberlake, Kon Michael, Nathan Purdie and Brett Grimm being elevated to Associate status. More project pages have also been added into the educational, residential and interiors sections, along with the updated newsletter section with past and present issues as promised.

Following a busy and successful year, Swanbury Penglase is pleased to launch their new website. The site features information on recent projects across our three core disciplines of Architecture, Interior Design and Landscape Architecture, details about the firm and information about the practice’s Principals and Associates. There is a link to recent issues of our newsletter, Sitenotes and a new News section for updates on recent happenings and events. So welcome, have a look around and please come back soon.