Our Insightful Articles

Located within the Sunshine Coast Health Precinct, Vitality Village is a new 5-storey health and well-being space aiming bring together industry leaders and service provides to make a difference in the lives of the community. The project is the first of its kind in Australia and is expected to be completed by May 2021.

The Auckland War Memorial Museum prepares to open the doors to its South Atrium to the public this week on 3 December, after undergoing refurbishment for approximately 18 months.

Richard Harris is one of New Zealand’s most experienced architects and practice leaders. Now running his independent company, he was a co-founder and long-time director of Jasmax, a past president of the NZIA and a Distinguished Fellow of the Institute. In his career, from graduate to practice director, he has encountered – and survived – several significant economic downturns. He discussed his experience of difficult times, and the lessons he learnt, in a webinar addressed to NZIA members. This article is based on that presentation.

In the recent years, e-commerce has been disrupting the operations of physical retail spaces, especially malls and department stores. But even if many people now prefer to shop through their handheld screens, the culture of hanging and dining out with others prevails. This makes way to new developments of retail spaces, such as a lifestyle mall that is smaller in size and provides more dining experience and entertainment. These smaller spaces that contain only more or less a dozen curated outlets have been gaining popularity and popped up in many cities.

Of a few places one could safely retreat and relax in this pandemic time is one’s own abode. Many have since reconsidered and rethought their perspective of what an ideal home should be. Among many criteria of an ideal home expected by many homeowners today, having an inner garden or courtyard is on the top list. Completed in 2020, the Raffles House by eben is an ideal example of a house with courtyards that promotes the dwellers’ well-being in this current situation.

Although terraced house often represents a mass production for dwellings, there are many ways design intervention could give this building typology a more personalised touch. Bewboc House by Fabian Tan Architect displays an interesting design intervention to a young family’s terraced house in Kuala Lumpur.

State Library Victoria is one of our city’s most loved institutions. The Swanston Street landmark welcomes more than two million people every year, making it the busiest state library in Australia and the fourth most visited library in the world. It takes up a full city block and is comprised of 23 buildings that have evolved over the last 163 years. The Library is undergoing a once-in-a-generation redevelopment, Vision 2020, which will be completed by the end of the year.

AJ+C successfully led the redevelopment of The Cruising Yacht Club of Australia. The club’s design combines modern and classic features in its traditional location on the Rushcutters Bay foreshore.

Among the typical home office buildings in Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur, the office of Mantab Group stands quite prominently thanks to its gleaming gold-coloured façade.

The Auckland War Memorial Museum prepares to open the doors to its South Atrium to the public this week on 3 December, after undergoing refurbishment for approximately 18 months.

Mary Henry reflects on three recent Jasmax tertiary education designs that respond to the evolution of the tertiary education sector, its contradictory drivers of physical and virtual environments and the ways in which universities encourage students to stay on campus.

Richard Harris is one of New Zealand’s most experienced architects and practice leaders. Now running his independent company, he was a co-founder and long-time director of Jasmax, a past president of the NZIA and a Distinguished Fellow of the Institute. In his career, from graduate to practice director, he has encountered – and survived – several significant economic downturns. He discussed his experience of difficult times, and the lessons he learnt, in a webinar addressed to NZIA members. This article is based on that presentation.