F.Dip.Arch
How long have you been an architect, is it something you always wanted to do and are you happy with your choice of career on reflection?
I completed Architecture at RMIT in 1977 so I have been in practice now for over 30 years. For some obscure reason I had set my sights on architecture back in primary school. My interest in sport had me almost change to physical education late in high school but the allure and intrigue of a career, which combined art, design and construction, drew me in. It has been a fascinating, challenging and absorbing profession. A significant aspect of architecture as a career choice is the longevity. The professional and creative growth required and experienced is continuous. The capacity for a chosen career to continue to challenge and inspire over decades is quite amazing. It is well recognised in architecture that the insight and skill which continues to develop with age, can lead to some really significant and creative work being done by an architect at a rather mature age.. so I am still optimistic that I may get there.
Do you see architecture as an art form or do you see it as more of a technical or practical pursuit?
The powerful thing about architecture as a creative profession is that in essence it is a pure and simple art form. One takes empty space, a piece of land and creates an object; a piece of sculpture, which is also a building and that creation, is the start of a complex construction project. There is an extraordinary moment for an architect, at the beginning of a project, on site, taking in and understanding the space and its surroundings, considering the client’s brief and thinking, what am I going to do with this space, what am I going to create. To harness and direct one’s creative “instincts” to cope with the challenges and to accept the responsibilities of this role, is very stimulating. Then there is the moment when the architect is staring at a blank piece of paper - the creative process begins, the lines, shapes and spaces unfold, it is always exciting and in many ways very humbling to be given that responsibility. Then, of course, the documentation, which we must create, is highly technical. We are communicating with the construction industry. The end user is a person with a nail bag standing out on a windy, muddy, building site, or puzzling over a tangle of structure. He must have precise and detailed construction drawings to work from. The success of the project depends on it. The technical rigor in preparing those drawings is substantial. It is a complex and challenging task.
Do you have any architectural heroes? If so who?
I was very fortunate early in my career, to graduate from RMIT, wide-eyed, excited and pretty much useless, to be adopted by a couple of legends in Australian architecture, John Baird and John Cuthbert. The “two Johns” were doing amazing work. They were at the cutting edge of sustainable design, where their “low energy” architecture combined with brilliant architectural design, a combination that not many architects have achieved before, or since. They were both lecturing at RMIT as well as practicing and they nurtured an environment where creativity and knowledge was encouraged and celebrated on all levels. The day I sat down at a drawing board in their office was actually the start of my education. They probably had some doubts when I turned up in scruffy board shorts, tee shirt and thongs. Fortunately they were patient as I took some time to adjust to the notion of a professional dress code.
Your collaboration with Inform in designing a range houses that buckedthe trend of ‘faux’ period housing that had dominated the market, has had quite a dramatic impact on our urban landscape, a very positive one I would suggest. Did you ever envisage the impact that those houses would have? And are you annoyed by the fact that most of the larger housing companies have since quite openly and effectively copied your design?
When Inform approached me to design a range of homes for them, there had not been many examples–particularly in recent years–of good architecture in the “Design- Construct” Industry. In my view the building industry has been letting their clients down for a long time, in producing badly designed and poor quality residential buildings. Inform’s vision and mine coincided. We wanted to create carefully designed, well detailed homes with architectural flair and to make them readily available to the community. From an aesthetic point of view we wanted the houses to sit comfortably within the suburban context, to be non-confronting yet to be architecturally “edgy”. The houses are simply the result of considered and experienced architectural design supported by a construction team committed to a quality end result. There is little doubt that the designs broke new ground. Many architects had explored modular concepts for houses. We developed a concept where a “central core” of service areas - kitchen, laundry, powder room and stair allowed great flexibility around it, for room layouts and arrangements. It is similar in principle to the service core of a multi-storey building. I am not sure that the building industry has understood the design principles behind the evolution of these buildings. It would seem that they only noticed and picked up on the aesthetics and form of the range of homes. I think that it was simply time for the volume market to grow up and perhaps inevitable that they would start to see the value in architectural design, with contemporary buildings designed to suit the Australian climate and shrug off the tired old imitation of period styles. Nevertheless it appears that much of what has been adopted is superficial and we can only hope that the community will demand and insist on quality architectural design from this part of the building industry. This will lead to a greater and more effective collaboration between builders and architects.
Which direction do you see urban planning going over the coming decade? Is the urban sprawl going to continue, or will authorities need to reassess their thinking in this area?
Melbourne’s population is growing steadily and this will maintain the demand for housing growth. The inner and bayside suburbs are established, unique and well served by the diverse facilities, resources and services which help to create the notion of a “wonderful place to live”. Medium density developments, whether it is an extra house on a normal site, or a number of compact houses on a larger site, can be done well. This is not always the case, but an experienced and capable architectural team working with the planners at council level and with an open minded community can produce a good result. These developments can bring quality, new buildings to a neighbourhood, they can create more affordable housing leading to greater diversity and vitality in an established area. It is worth the effort. The alternative is a greater urban sprawl. Often the outer fringe residential subdivisions, as well as being compromised by distance and a lack of neighbourhood history, are poorly served by public transport and virtually devoid of community infrastructure. These fundamentals can lead to a really isolating and characterless urban environment. Occasionally new suburban subdivisions are done well, Springthorpe in Macleod is a good example. We must encourage the authorities to plan carefully, to introduce and administer guidelines, which will lift the standards of the new estates to create “townships” with identity and community facilities rather than endless hectares of a maze of anonymous subdivision.
Do you see a way to streamline the planning process at local government level? It seems that no-one is satisfied with the current system.
The complexities of the urban planning process require considerable expertise to decipher. Local Politicians perhaps through their background, work commitments, skill level and perhaps limited tenure in the role, seem to
bow to various pressures and often casually dismiss the advice of their professional Planning staff. I am committed to a high level of competent of planning applications and the appropriate engagement of the community in Strategic Planning, but it seems to me that there should be a reconsideration of the balance of power held by the various participants in the process. In terms of streamlining the process. It would be enormously helpful if Councils had more experienced planning staff to process and manage
applications in a timely fashion.
Urban planning has an enormous impact on all our lives, do you think the planning process for the growth of our cities is in the right hands at the moment? Meaning in the hands of politicians, or would it be better governed by a politically independent body of experts whose tenure is long term, not a three or four year term?
Recognising the need for more housing in metropolitan Melbourne as well as the importance of understanding the broader planning and development issues supports a centralized decision making authority. The task of evaluating and guiding urban growth is vast. Subsequently the notion of special development areas administered by a separate authority, to some degree removed from local authorities is imperative. The loss of control at the local level clearly leads to much angst. The complexities and challenges of these processes will not be resolved easily.
If you were building a new house for you and your family and had an unlimited budget, how big would the house be, what would it look like and where would it be located?
My family is very fortunate to live in a two storey “town house” overlooking a park in Hampton. Every room in the house has a view of the park and enjoys northern sunshine - we love it. The “ideal house” would have to do better than this and it could. A house down the coast overlooking, and within a short walk of, a surf beach would be a start. The house would be a reasonable size with good zoning, as energy efficient and autonomous as all of our homes need to be. Internal spaces should have raw, textured “natural” materials, concrete, steel, timber, a splash of colour with an emphasis on quality of light, natural ventilation and efficient in all functional respects. It should have a seamless connection with outdoor spaces, with activity areas on floating decks, surrounded by bush, sand dunes, ocean views, etc. Aesthetics should embrace the local landscape with simple massing, perhaps expressed structural elements with infill panels of materials. Soft sweeping roof form providing deep weather protection and shading of walls and windows. A house like this would be a wonderful escape from the busy work place and the demanding urban lifestyle which we find ourselves in. Perhaps early retirement would help…(dream on). This type of architecture can hopefully embody the spirit of place of our coastline and say something about a building’s (and our own) connection with nature. It is important to endeavour to achieve this with all of our buildings, and perhaps critical to achieving a healthier balance in our lifestyles.
