We are thrilled to share that Arts Project Australia has received a Commendation for Small Project Architecture at the AIA Vic Awards!

This unique project for a wonderful client, Arts Project Australia, was completed during the pandemic; so it is great to see it be recognised for its clever use of space and uplifting design.

Jury Citation:

Small only in its scope and budget, Arts Project Australia achieves a lot with very little – leveraging its smallness with a humble material palette that cleverly references past utility, and by carving a new entry that meets requisite DDA compliance and provides a clear sequence of arrival and departure that was previously absent. In so doing, what was an underutilised car park is now transformed into a delightful undercroft that is immediately welcoming to both artists and the public.

Read more about the project here. 

Last month Amelia and Nicholas joined Dave Sharp on The Architecture Firm Marketing podcast. They shared some insights into Sibling’s research based practice, how we keep things interesting with a diverse of project typologies and most importantly having fun with our brand 🙂

Listen to the interview here.

Queer space is a term that has recently rerisen in popularity in the architectural profession. So, what’s up with queer space? How can we make buildings safer and symbolic for the LGBTQI+ community? And the big one: How do we challenge the world view that heterosexuality is the norm in how we construct the world? Sibling’s Timothy Moore and Nicholas Braun recently wrote about the conception of queer space in their review of the Victorian Pride Centre in the January 2022 issue of Architecture Australia. These musings developed from Sibling’s experience working on a shortlisted entry for the Victorian Pride Centre with BKK Architects.

Read the review below:

The making of “queer space”: Victorian Pride Centre

“On 24 May 2016, Victorian premier Daniel Andrews stood in front of the state parliament to deliver a historic apology for a law that had made homosexual acts punishable by a maximum jail sentence of 15 years up until 1980. He noted, “It is the first responsibility of a government to keep people safe. But the government didn’t keep LGBTI people safe.” This was a watershed year for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ+) rights in Victoria. Along with the apology, pledging to continue the Safe Schools program, and granting adoption rights to same-sex couples, the Victorian government committed $15 million dollars to build Australia’s first purpose-built Pride Centre as a symbol of the freedom of expression and diversity of LGBTIQ+ communities.

A two-stage competition was organized in 2017 to create this landmark project in Melbourne’s seaside suburb of St Kilda in the City of Port Phillip. Brearley Architects and Urbanists (BAU) and Grant Amon Architects (GAA) won the commission for their design that, as competition jury chair Dimity Reed stated, “promises to provide a building with a memorable and exuberant identity.” With the spectre of the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey looming over the competition throughout 2017, an “exuberant” building to champion the rights and freedoms of LGBTIQ+ communities felt as urgent as ever.”

Completed in 2021, the Victorian Pride Centre holds – within its 6,200 square metres – symbolic and safe space for members of the LGBTIQ+ communities. It achieves this by providing tenancies for a spectrum of civic organizations alongside co-working, commercial and cultural spaces. In giving form to this rainbow coalition, BAU and GAA avoid tropes of LGBTIQ+ representation. A game of subtraction unapologetically drives their architectural approach, with extruded ellipses, or tubes, punched through the maximum building volume on one axis across the 58-metre-deep site. (The positioning of the precast concrete columns, arches and blade walls that mark the extracted tubes is regulated by the practical force of the carparking grid below.) Echoing the ornamental arches marking St Kilda’s faded palatial hotels and pleasurescapes – including Luna Park, Catani Arch and the Esplanade Vaults – the ellipses are a sign that the architects know this raffish neighbourhood well (they live and work here). The holey game, read in the Fitzroy Street facade, also shouts difference.

Read the full article at ArchitectureAu

Sibling director Dr Timothy Moore bunkered down during COVID to complete his PhD at the University of Melbourne, which investigated temporary projects within longer-term urban development. He traversed Amsterdam, Athens, Christchurch and Melbourne to evaluate how temporary architecture contributes experimentation, innovation and place-making to large-scale urban development projects, or how the pop-up has a legacy after it pops-down. This research has contributed to Sibling’s work in temporary-use, adaptive re-use and urban design, including the temporary ateliers at Beulah and Over Obelisk at the Vic Market. He has also written widely on the topic, including on The Conversation.

How will you grow old? Can you live forever? What kind of ancestor do you want to be? Will your house outlive you?

The twenty-first century has ushered in a longevity revolution with the life expectancy of human beings almost doubling in the last hundred years made possible by healthier lifestyles and improved medical care. This is echoed in Australia, which has one of the highest life expectancies in the world.
But growing older tomorrow will be very different than today.

The retirement of Australians relies upon the financial security of the home and superannuation. As home ownership is becoming an impossibility for many younger Australians, how does this shift future models of living for the elderly and for society? What can one learn from radical forms of dwelling currently underway in Australia and overseas? What models of home ownership can adapt to the maturing of society and a changing market economy?

New Agency is a research project that posed these questions. Taking the form of a public investigation, Sibling has collected and displayed its research as an exhibition in Melbourne and Sydney, with film screenings in Perth, Sao Paulo and Melbourne, and as a meditation at the 2019 National Architecture Conference in
Melbourne.

The research culminates in the publication New Agency: The future of ageing and dwelling that collates the findings, including the provocation of a cooperative housing model in order that land and housing in Australia are provided for the common good – for both young and old. Sibling believe transitions in housing markets are possible through rethinking finances, land ownership, and rental relationships. Read the publication here

This publication was made possible with assistance from the Alastair Swayn Foundation.

Publication design by Lloyd – MST.

We currently have two employment opportunities available in our Melbourne studio for a registered architect and studio manager roles.
Please email a CV and portfolio (max 10mb) to sister@siblingarchitecture.com with either “Architect position” or “Studio Manager position”  in the subject heading. Applications open until October 5th.
Details of the two roles as follows:

Registered Architect or Experienced Graduate :

This is a full time position where the applicant has had a minimum of five years post graduate experience. The ideal applicant will have had experience in public architecture, they will be an all rounder with a diverse skill set demonstrating the following:

– Confidence in design
– Clear communication, both verbal and written
– Proficiency in technical documentation including coordination of architectural design sets
– Experience in running projects including dealing with consultants, clients and managing timelines
– Graphic skills for presentations
– Proficiency in Revit, Rhino and Adobe Suite are a plus

Studio Manager:

The studio manager position is a 2-3 day/week role, where you will be responsible for the operations and administration of our busy and dynamic practice. Key responsibilities include:

– Coordinate the smooth running of the studio. Be accountable for all office operations including, reception duties, answering phones, greeting clients
– Work with our IT consultant to manage IT/technical issues
– Work with our accountant to reconcile expenses and payment requests, communicate invoices for payment
– Manage QA and Oh&S systems
– Manage HR procedures
– Organise events and studio activities
– Coordinate travel schedules as required

The ideal applicant will be a pro-active, highly organised and resourceful person and have had experience working in similar roles within architecture or related industries. Architects looking for a change in the conventional role are welcome to apply.

Two of our projects have been recognised at this years Dulux Colour Awards – Surfside Primary School and Rodda Lane!
Surfside Primary won the Commercial Interior – Public and Hospitality category, and Rodda Lane received a commendation in the Commercial Exterior category. Thank you to the jury for recognising both of these projects, not only for their inventive use of colour but also for their contribution to community and education.  The Dulux Colour Awards are in their 35th year and celebrate innovative use of colour through excellent design.

Congratulations to Nicholas Braun who has now registered as a landscape architect on the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects (AILA!)Adding to his expertise as a registered Architect, Nicholas’ passion for nature and landscape feeds into all of Sibling’s projects. Whether they be urban or suburban, private or public, landscape and urban design is always considered integral to our architectural project outcomes.

Some recent projects in which Nicholas has integrated landscape and urban design thinking are Rodda Lane, Bega Valley Regional Gallery and the Hello Houses.

We are hiring! Are you an architect with over 7years industry experience looking for a change? We are looking for a talented design focussed architect with excellent management skills, confident in client facing responsibilities, managing projects and staff.

Experience in education and cultural projects preferred as are REVIT skills. If this sounds like you please send a brief CV and folio to: sister@siblingarchitecture.com with the heading ‘Senior Project Architect’