Every complex project has a gap between designer and developer. As both reach the limits of their respective field, it seems the best outcomes lie undiscovered between the two.

Barrie Barton has spent his career working in that gap. As co-founder and CEO of Right Angle, he helps developers and architects step outside their usual roles to find common ground and better results.

In conversation with Richard Francis-Jones, Barrie will share what gets lost when architecture and development don’t connect, and what becomes possible when someone bridges the two.

Join us to explore the critical space between development and architecture.

circlesix

Level 6/264 George St, Sydney NSW 2000

Thursday 30 July 2026

5:30 pm — 7:30 pm

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Australia’s Parliament House, designed by Mitchell/Giurgola & Thorp, is a synthesis of architecture, symbolism, and landscape, which supports and reflects Australia’s democratic values. It is one of the most important building projects ever undertaken in Australia.

Join the free event where Richard Thorp will share his incredible stories and insights behind the design and construction of this remarkable and ambitious civic project.

circlesix

Level 6/264 George St, Sydney NSW 2000

Thursday 25 June 2026

5:30 pm — 7:30 pm

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We are thrilled that Yellamundie Library at Liverpool Civic Place has been awarded ALIA Public Library of the Year.

Positioned at the end of Liverpool’s main street and pedestrian mall, Yellamundie was designed as an open and visible civic place that draws people through the city’s vibrant multicultural centre. The project responds directly to Liverpool’s identity as one of Australia’s most culturally diverse communities, while recognising its significant context at the curve of the Georges River – a place of gathering for centuries, connecting with the Cumberland Plain.

Named after the local First Nations word for “storyteller”, Yellamundie combines library, gallery, technology and community functions within a highly connected public building. The oval form, inspired by the flow of the nearby river, creates an “eddy” in the city that encourages movement, gathering and exchange around a transparent civic heart. At night, the library glows through its translucent facade, expressing the activity and life within.

The project carefully distributes spaces across six levels to support different forms of occupation and learning. A sunken courtyard level provides quiet reading rooms, exhibitions and study spaces illuminated by gardens and skylights, while the upper levels prioritise children and young people with dedicated areas for group study, creativity and social connection. Flexible interiors, mobile shelving and specialist spaces including the Create Space STEM lab allow the building to continually adapt to changing community needs.

Yellamundie is also a benchmark for sustainable public architecture in Western Sydney, achieving a 6 Star Green Star rating through initiatives including a highly innovative triple-glazed facade system, recycled water irrigation, green roofs, extensive daylight penetration and all-electric building systems.

Music and architecture share a language of structure, proportion, rhythm, and emotion. One creates spaces of experience and feeling through sound, while the other does so through materials.
Join Hikaru Fuminashi, Elizabeth Carpenter, and Annie Hensley as they explore the depth and richness of the relationship between architecture and music.
Central to the event will be a live performance by Sydney Symphony Orchestra cellist Hikaru Fuminashi, featuring Bach’s First Cello Suite and Max Reger’s First Cello Suite.

circlesix

Level 6/264 George St, Sydney NSW 2000

Thursday 28 May 2026

5:30 pm — 7:30 pm

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What began as a series of conversations and sketches working with Dr Shannon Foster and Jake Nash has become a public place for Sydney, shaped by its context, its history, and its community.

Working with our design collaborators, early ideas explored a hard-lined, orthogonal form returned to Saltwater Country. The project completes a headland once cut away, reframing it as a place of gathering, reflection and cultural continuity.

“Seeing the first tree-like timber forms rise within the Cutaway is an incredibly proud moment for our team. This milestone brings to life years of design thinking and collaboration with our First Nations designers Shannon Foster and Jake Nash. It’s been a privilege to contribute to a project that so beautifully blends design innovation and technical excellence with cultural respect.”

Design Director Richard Francis-Jones

This outcome reflects the NSW Government’s commitment to delivering high-quality public infrastructure and is delivered in partnership with Infrastructure NSW, Placemaking NSW, ICC Sydney and Darling Harbour Live. It also reflects the expertise of an extensive consultant team, the dedication of FDC as contractor, and the guidance of First Nations collaborators and industry stakeholders. Above all, it is the result of an extraordinary collective effort across the fjcstudio team. The response from visitors speaks louder than words.

“This extraordinary space is unlike anything else in Australia—deeply connected to Sydney, architecturally striking and built to host major events that draw visitors, investment and creative talent to our city.”

NSW Premier Chris Minns.

For fifty years, the Sydney Opera House has inspired a prodigious hagiography of personalities and their legendary quarrels. Yet its operative construction decisions (especially those behind the sail-like roof) remain under-explored.

Drawing on recently surfaced documents and 5,000 Hornibrook shop drawings held by Museums of History NSW, Paolo Stracchi (University of Sydney) and Luciano Cardellicchio (University of NSW) reconstruct the exact procedures that made the sails possible (1963–67).

Thursday 30 April 2026
5:30pm – 7:30pm
circlesix

Level 6 Australia Square
264 George Street
Sydney NSW 2000

Secure your spot here

How can architecture and design overcome the gendered structures, inequities, and exclusions that are deeply embedded in the built environment? 

How can feminist approaches to design support women’s wellbeing, safety, and agency?

In what ways can architecture and design create culturally safe, healing environments and support services for women experiencing trauma and domestic violence?

Dr Ses Salmond is the Manager of Australia’s first women’s health centre, established in 1974 under the Whitlam Government. Ses will present the vision of the Centre and its partnership with fjcstudio.

Ses will draw on her extensive experience in women’s health, community-led practice, and advocacy to explore how feminist perspectives can support inclusive and sensitive design outcomes.

Thursday 26 February 2026
5pm – 7pm
Circlesix

Level 6 Australia Square
264 George Street
Sydney NSW 2000

Secure your spot here

fjcstudio is honoured to have played a part in creating essential social infrastructure for Mongarlowe through the development of the new Community Hall and Refuge Centre.

This hall is the result of a community recognising the need for a safe place to shelter after the 2019–20 fires. Over four years, a small but dedicated group of locals met every fortnight, advocating tirelessly, submitting numerous grant applications, and, when funding was secured, engaged a fully local team to design and build the hall.

Congratulations Mongarlowe, a remarkable example of the spirit of collective action and mutual support.

The Fencing of Architecture and The Villa of the Architect

What do the fence and the villa tell us about how we divide, possess, and retreat from the world?

This panel debate explores two architectural typologies that continue to shape, and fragment, our built environment: the fence and the villa.

The Fence evolved from the wall, is not simply a barrier: it is a declaration, a spatial instrument of control, exclusion, and proprietorship. It draws lines not only across land but through communities, turning shared terrain into contested territory. Behind its claim to order lies a long history of dispossession and enclosure.

The Villa meanwhile, has been romanticised across architectural history, from Palladio’s classical geometries to the glazed purity of the Farnsworth House. But beneath the ideal lies a spatial logic of withdrawal. The villa domesticates the landscape while placing the individual at its centre. It distils a worldview in which privilege and detachment are built into form.

Together these elements converge in suburban typologies that perpetuate isolation: fenced-in dwellings that reduce place to replication, erasing ecological and cultural complexity in favour of a privately curated sameness.

Following a series of sold-out events, this one-night-only Brisbane edition continues the conversation sparked by Richard Francis-Jones’ book Truth and Lies in Architecture. The panel brings together some of Brisbane’s leading architects, designers, and academics for a thought-provoking evening on architecture, ideology, and consequence.

Speakers

Richard Francis-Jones

Zuzana Kovar

Erin McDonald

Chris Saines

Dirk Yates

Details

Get your tickets here, limited seats available so reserve your spot now!

Gallery of Modern Art [GOMA], South Brisbane QLD

Thursday, 11th September 2025

5:30 — 9:30PM

What can you expect? Watch a snippet of our past Sydney event

Reuben College by fjcstudio UK claimed the highest honour in its category, the Hugh O’Neil Award for Heritage in the Australian Institute of Architects International Chapter Architecture Awards – a program that honours exceptional buildings designed by Australian architects but situated overseas.

As Oxford’s 39th and first new college in nearly 30 years, Reuben College is a transformative adaptation of Grade II listed buildings within the University’s Science Area and Central Conservation Area. The project unites the 1901 Jackson and 1934 Worthington buildings of the Radcliffe Science Library, the Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory, and the 160-year-old Abbot’s Kitchen, reimagining them as inclusive, contemporary spaces for graduate study, interdisciplinary collaboration, and community life.

One of Oxford’s largest decarbonisation and decontamination initiatives, the project removed over 800 tons of asbestos contaminated materials, while preserving heritage fabric and restoring traditional carpentry and masonry. The design establishes a vibrant social heart in repurposed laboratories, integrates a new Collections Teaching and Research Centre uniting Oxford’s four museums, and creates accessible facilities that support the College’s diverse community. Despite the complexity of heritage approvals, procurement, and pandemic disruptions, the outcome has been an outstanding success for the college and a benchmark of innovation in adaptive reuse.

In the words of the Jury: “Reuben College by fjcstudio is an exemplar of exceptional architecture underscored by the integration of solutions to diverse challenges. Indeed, the fully realised built outcome demonstrates design excellence; sensitivity to heritage character and context; skilful adaptive reuse; respect for craft and the restoration of traditional carpentry and masonry structures; extensive decontamination due to past use; integration of allied disciplines; management of challenging project, brief and procurement issues; and thoughtful consideration of user and stakeholder needs. The result is outstanding architecture that wonderfully exemplifies the value of skilled and experienced architects achieving in all aspects of our profession.”

Click to view Reuben College

You can now find us at:

Level 6, Australia Square, 264 George Street Sydney, NSW 2000

This is a significant moment for fjcstudio. For the first time in many years, we are all gathered together in a new space, with a great opportunity to share what we do every day.

Moving to Australia Square carries special meaning for us. As an iconic Seidler tower and one of Sydney’s most important modernist buildings, it reminds us of architecture’s power to shape our built environment. It also serves as a reminder that buildings are not just where we work — they reflect how we work and what we value.

Together, these two projects form a compelling picture of what architectural education can be: both technically rigorous and socially attuned. At fjcstudio, this kind of thinking is not peripheral. It is central. It lives in the studio’s ongoing mentorship culture, its interdisciplinarity, and its belief that architecture is as much about questioning as it is about building.

Cheera’s material experimentation and James’ urban critique remind us that emerging designers are not just learning. They are leading. They are challenging conventions, reframing practice, and pushing architecture into more sustainable, more critical, and more resonant territories.

Congratulations to Cheera and James, not only for these accolades but for the depth and vision they bring to our collective practice. We’re very proud of our graduates and students, whose work continues to enrich fjcstudio’s evolving narrative — one grounded in context, driven by curiosity, and committed to meaningful design.

fjcstudio is honoured to be part of the creation of essential social infrastructure in Mongarlowe with the development of the new Community Hall and Refuge Centre.

In collaboration with the Mongarlowe community, fjcstudio is working to deliver essential social infrastructure: a multi-purpose hall that will also serve as a refuge centre during emergencies. The 2020 bushfires underscored the urgent need for a safe space in Mongarlowe, where residents faced a lack of shelter and resources to protect themselves. Approved in late 2023 with government funding, this facility represents a critical step in addressing that need.

Mongarlowe, located within the Queanbeyan–Palerang Local Government Area, has long been vulnerable to bushfires. Identified as one of the 12 most fire-prone regions in New South Wales, the area faces an even greater risk due to anticipated climate changes. With the community’s population growing and the median age increasing (51 years, compared to the national median of 38), the need for this infrastructure is more pressing than ever.

Despite past challenges, the Mongarlowe community has shown remarkable resilience and collaboration. During the 2019–2020 fires, groups such as the “Mongarlowe Mozzies” and the “Mongarlowe Sirens” emerged, highlighting the spirit of collective action and mutual support.

 Last Friday, Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories, Hon Kristy McBain, praised the team for delivering a high-quality building within a constrained budget and remote location.

This project not only symbolises recovery but also hope—a step toward a safer, more connected future for Mongarlowe. We are proud to be part of this effort and look forward to sharing more updates as the project progresses.

Thank you to our collaborators Mongarlowe community, Olaf Thiele, RAICO Pacific and Krout Constructions Pty Ltd

RIBA South Jury Chair Fergus Feilden, Director at Feilden Fowles, said:

“This year’s shortlist demonstrates the depth and diversity of architecture in the region, spanning all scales and programmes from the domestic to large-scale commercial along with numerous education projects. Collectively, these projects, enriched through detailed, diverse materials, enhance the lives of their users and strengthen the wider community through social programmes and innovative environmental strategies.”

All projects shortlisted for RIBA Awards will be visited by a regional jury, and the winning projects will be announced later this spring.

Richard Francis-Jones, writing for

Architecture, Au

honors Gevork Hartoonian, a dedicated teacher, prolific author and internationally acknowledged scholar in the historiography and theory of architecture.

A memorial service will be held for Gevork at 2.00 pm on February 20 at St Barnabas Church, 57-61 Mountain Street, Ultimo, Sydney.

Two slim 80-storey towers are elegantly integrated into the Midtown precinct, fostering a new network of laneways and public squares. These spaces are framed by a fine grain of street-defining low-rise buildings, creating a vibrant microcosm of city life.

Central to the design is a reimagined public domain that enhances pedestrian connectivity between Pitt, Liverpool, and Castlereagh Streets. A new civic plaza, enriched with outdoor seating, landscaping, and integrated public art, revitalises the streetscape and fosters community interaction. Through-site links further activate these spaces, seamlessly blending urban functionality with public engagement.

Our design emphasises the refinement of Sydney’s urban geometry and structure while embedding moments of human-scaled interaction. This project  transforms underutilised space into a dynamic urban setting that resonates with the city’s character.

The development’s podium, designed collaboratively with;

Trias

Polly Harbison

Aileen Sage

anchors the towers in a harmonious interplay of residential, commercial, and public spaces. This mixed-use hub is designed to deliver a world-class experience, integrating luxury living with an active and accessible public domain.

338 Pitt Street exemplifies a thoughtful urban vision—redefining Sydney’s skyline while prioritising community and connectivity at street level.

This award joins our recent recognitions for Reuben College, including the Low Carbon Building of the Year Award at the 2024 Oxprop Festival and our selection as a finalist for the Architects Journal Retrofit Award 2024.

It is with great pleasure that we share the Yellamundie Library and Gallery at Liverpool Civic Place has been nominated for the prestigious IFLA/Baker & Taylor Public Library of the Year Award, recognised as one of only four nominees for the title of ‘Best New Public Library in the World.’

As we try to come to terms with the ethical and environmental issues of our time there is an urgency in our struggle to understand the nature and limits of consciousness. Is consciousness restricted to human life, or does it extend into the life and world around us?

This thought-provoking discussion on architecture and design, attempts to navigate the ethical and environmental challenges of whether consciousness extends beyond human life to the natural world and our creations.

Following a series of sold-out events in Sydney, this captivating evening—sparked by Richard Francis-Jones’ book Truth and Lies in Architecture — is in Brisbane for one night only. We have invited some of Brisbane’s leading architects and designers to delve into and debate the intersection of consciousness and architecture.

Anna O’Gorman

Richard Francis-Jones

Aaron Peters

Chris Saines

Tahlia Steadman

as they explore and debate;

Managing Principal of fjcstudio, Elizabeth Carpenter FRAIA, BArch (HonsClass I), BScience (Arch) has been elected as the Australian Institute of Architects NSW Chapter President.

Elizabeth will fill the role vacated by past Chapter President Adam Haddow, who stepped down following his election as National President Elect. She will serve as NSW Chapter President until the end of 2024.

We are very pleased to advise that our school, recently won the Architecture Award at the NSW Institute of Architects Awards night.

fjcstudio, would like to sincerely thank the Darlington School Community, who put their trust in us as architects, interior designers, and landscape architects. We would like to say thank you for involving us in this great project. It is so rewarding to see the students coming into the school, starting to discover their new world.

Our new home remains in the heart of the CBD (a short stroll from our old studio). 

You can find us at Level 17, 263 William Street, Melbourne.

We are eager to settle into our vibrant new studio space above the historic Melbourne landmark, The Metropolitan Hotel and look forward to welcoming you to our new studio.

Award Citation:

A beautifully crafted intervention into an important and historic part of Sydney that has been approached with a powerful yet understated design sensibility. The design is a clear response to the rocky nature of the original topography of The Rocks and has been designed in partnership with artists, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous. The project restores the fine-grain pedestrian networks of the rambling Rocks and celebrates the original character of the rocky shoreline and escarpment of Warrane (Sydney Cove). The project beautifully reflects the millennia of habitation by the Gadigal People on the harbour’s rocky foreshore, and recognises the colonial heritage of the site, celebrated in a place where streets were gouged out of the bedrock and children played amongst the tall rock faces.

The tower form at 111 Castlereagh Street is in progress, suspended above the 1930s heritage Art Deco form below.

The new architectural tower form is conceived as a suspended object, floating in space as a light, curvilinear object that contrasts and compliments the heritage building below. Visually the new form appears to bear no load on the heritage building it floats above but opens it to natural daylight through a newly created central atrium directly below the suspended form.

111 Castlereagh Street awaits to engage a thriving community, integrating the multiple uses of a luxury retail precinct, a unique and innovative workplace and contemporary living while creating a landmark building combined with the adaptive reuse of a significant historic Sydney building.

While conventional wisdom might have dictated the transformation of this space into yet another bar or restaurant,  fjcplace and the City of Sydney envisioned something more — a cultural space for public engagement, a sustainable and enduring public asset.

Paul Schulte, the director of Machine Hall, explains….

In a landscape plagued by alarming vacancy rates, it is a pleasure to see the space today operating as a vibrant cultural hub, hosting a variety of events such as fashion runways, dance performances, yoga classes, weddings, and more. The venue is set to host a series of Vivid Sydney events, further establishing its role in the city’s cultural scene.

Image courtesy of Jake Scevola

To see more about the Machine Hall click here.

Jindabyne Library receives AILA’s Small Public Library Award.

The new carbon-neutral Library for Jindabyne in the Snowy Mountains combines two materials and assembly systems that connect the building with its mountain lakeside location. Sustainable timber from local forests which were damaged by fire formed the CLT panels.

The most notable element of this unique library is its ability to be disassembled and relocated. Here is a library which can be reused, relocated and repurposed. With thanks to our client Snowy Monaro Regional Council, our Design Team partnership with Built, TTW and JHA, and the support given to the project by State Library NSW and NSW State Government.

To see more on Jindabyne Community Library & Innovation Hub click here.

fjcstudio has worked with Coronation for a number of years honing the offer of this emerging typology.

“It’s my favourite looking building in Parramatta…All new buildings should look like this”

To see more on Charlie Parker click here.

Advocacy by current and former indigenous students and alumni, support from Medley Hall Advisory Group, University leaders, donors and friends, and an 18-month consultation process strengthened the case for change.

Wilam means ‘home’ in the Woi Wurrung language and reflects the College’s ethos — community, inclusivity, diversity, and connection to the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung lands. The name was gifted by a Senior Elder of the Wurundjeri and Wandoon People.

Moving to the new name involves truth-telling — it is not about erasing history, but making a more accurate account. The college was named after Sir John Medley, former Vice-Chancellor of the university of Melbourne (from 1938-1951). In addition to his progressive work in education, Sir John Medley was a member of the Eugenics Society in Victory at a time when some academics within the University endorsed and promoted eugenicist policies that targeted and marginalised groups, including First Nations people. The association with eugenics deeply impacted and caused pain to many students.

Now Wilam Hall can create a new history — one that respects First Nations voices, recognises historical truths, and creates an inclusive culture for all.

To see more on Wilam Hall click here.

The first session in the Culture of Australian Architecture Series will explore the remarkable parallel life and work of Harry Seidler and Romaldo Giurgola.

Penelope Seidler and Richard Thorp in a discussion chaired by Richard Francis-Jones will share their personal insights and experiences of working closely with these two great architects who developed contrasting and overlapping visions for Australian Architecture.

Penelope Seidler became an architect after she married Harry Seidler in 1958; she worked closely with him until his death in 2006, and she still heads the practice today.

Richard Thorp worked with Girugola in both Philadelphia and then New York where he led the Mitchell/Giurgola team for the New Australian Parliament House Competition. On winning the competition in 1980, Ric returned to Australia and led the project as a partner in the practice.

Richard Francis-Jones is the Design Director of Francis-Jones Carpenter and the author of ‘Truth and Lies in Architecture’

11 April 2024

5.30pm – 9.00pm

The Mint, 10 Macquarie Street, Sydney NSW 2000

Register Here.

fjcstudio is celebrating the online launch of Tomorrow’s Women in Construction

As proud founding partners, we are excited to announce the launch of Tomorrow’s Women in Construction online platform which is calling all tomorrow’s women in construction to explore the world of construction.

Born from women in construction who love their jobs and a wanting for more women to discover their calling in the industry. TWIC aims to support and inspire the next generation of women. The platform also tackles misconceptions that have held women back from pursuing their career dreams within the industry as well as includes a guide for both parents and schools.

Our very own Claudia Andrade, Interior Designer features in the Career Stories Page showcasing what’s possible and is where women can hear more about what inspired today’s women in construction to get into their careers, what they do day to day and what they love about their work.

Leichhardt Women’s Community Health Centre (LWCHC) has been providing essential community based healthcare and support as part of NSW heathcare system for 50 years.

To ensure women have access to key health services and remain sustainable into the future we are proposing a number of carefully considered and cost effective design interventions, assisting LWCHC to continue to fulfil community healthcare needs for the next 50 years and beyond.

Today, LWCHC officially launch their archival art exhibition depicting fifty years of serving the community. The exhibition is a visual history that threads through decades of advocacy, compassion, and empowerment- uniting generations in a celebration of women’s health and women’s lives, and runs from 1 March – 26 March 2024 at Leichhardt Library. Free entry at any time during library hours.

Come along and see our vision.

The eastern underpinning marks an important milestone in the redevelopment of the heritage-listed City Tattersalls Club in Sydney’s CBD. This mixed-use structure includes a 6-storey podium and a 50-storey hotel and residential tower.

Built in 1891 and designed by Sheerin and Hennessy, the City Tattersalls Club is state heritage listed as one of the few surviving clubs of the late nineteenth century.

We are working collaboratively with BVN (winners of the City of Sydney Design Excellence Competition for the tower) to integrate the project’s podium and tower components, and address the heritage design aspects of the redevelopment. 

Our approach preserves the beautiful heritage interiors whilst bringing a new and exciting layer of contemporary design that organically integrates and complements the building’s existing features. Weaving together old and new, heritage and future vision.

The project, will create a new cultural facility over three levels and a new facade adjacent to Nawi Cove.

Our concept developed through a deep and authentic design collaboration with First Nations Knowledge Keepers and Creatives, led by Bangawarra and Jake Nash. This partnership began at the very inception of the design, to envisage natural forms which soften the cut’s straight edges.

The result embodies references to Salt Water Country – to the shelter of Sandstone Caves (Gibbagunya) and to knowledge trees, the Port Jackson Fig (Damun) with protective tree branch canopies (Gunya). We aspire for this project to be a welcoming and safe gathering space for all people.

We would like to thank all of our incredible clients, consultants, contractors, suppliers and dedicated staff for collaborating together with us this past year. Our studio will be taking a brief pause to recharge. Please note fjcstudio Australia will be closed from Friday 22 December 2023 and will re-open on Monday 08 January 2024. Our UK studio will be closed from the 23rd December, returning on the 03 January 2024. We wish you all an enjoyable festive season.

We are thrilled to invite you to the Grand Opening of the brand new Liverpool City Library this Sunday 3 December!
Come along and explore the new library and join in the celebrations with lots of exciting activities for everyone including; live music, face painting, technology showcase, green screen photobooth, food trucks, free giveaways and more.

3rd December 2023

10am—4pm

Civic Place, 52 Scott Street, Liverpool

The library is now named ‘Yellamundie’ meaning storyteller in Dharug language.
The inspiration for the project is the confluence of the fresh water and salt water of the George’s River, an eddy bringing the waters of the river together.

As we try to come to terms with the ethical and environmental issues of our time there is an urgency in our struggle to understand the nature and limits of consciousness. Is consciousness restricted to human life, or does it extend into the life and world around us?

Could architecture be a form of extended consciousness or is it merely the consequence of the architect’s will?

Join our eminent panel of architects and academics;

Anthony Burke

Richard Francis-Jones

Shannon Foster

William Smart

Elizabeth Farrelly

as they explore and debate;

In the middle of 2019—now over 4 years ago—we met the school principal, Michelle, and her team on-site to discuss the opportunities to create a new primary school for Darlington, as commissioned by Schools Infrastructure New South Wales.

The existing school was a true community school. We came in through the “red gate”, kids were everywhere, and there was great energy. The original buildings, designed by the government architects’ offices as a demonstration school in the 1970s, were at the end of their life; however, it was important to capture the spirit of the original campus in the new design.

We would all like to acknowledge the Darlington School Community, who put their trust in us as architects, interior designers, and landscape architects. We would like to say thank you for involving us in this great project.

We especially wish to acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the lands on which the school is sited—their influence and the presence of generations of First Nations students on this site are some of Darlington’s most special aspects.

It is so rewarding to see the students coming into the school, starting to discover their new world.

Engage in a dynamic and enlightening exchange of insights throughout this edition of Zak World of Façades. Moderated by John Perry and showcasing panelists Luis Betancor and Chris Bridge, the team will take part in a Discussion: “Evolving the Liverpool Civic Centre Library Façade.”

This panel will delve into the early investigations, evolutionary strides, and prototypical advancements of the adopted glazing. Their exceptional perspectives and wealth of expertise promise to elevate the discussions on worldwide façade design and engineering within the esteemed confines of this conference.

This edition is the 131st global edition, the 7th edition in Australia and the 3rd edition in Sydney which will showcase sustainable innovations and challenges in the construction industry pertaining to the building envelope and will also display the latest technological solutions from leading solution providers.

21st September 2023, Sydney Masonic Centre

Collaborators, Built, Sharvain Projects and E-LAB Consulting.

We are delighted to announce that fjcstudio received three out of the four awards given to Australian practices at the International Architectural Awards. Nunawading Community Hub, The Foundry and Substation No.164 all received awards in their categories. 

Now in its 20th year, The International Architectural Awards are the oldest and most prestigious distinguished global building awards program that honors new and cutting-edge design worldwide. This year, the Museum received a record number of projects for new buildings, landscape architecture, and urban planning from the most important international firms practicing globally. An international jury composed of several distinguished designers worked remotely and selected almost 150 submissions from a shortlist of over 850 projects. 

On Friday, September 8th, 2023, a special exhibition The City and the World will be opened at the inauguration of the newly expanded Contemporary Space Athens and on Friday September 15th there will be the official presentation of the awarded projects and a reception and gala dinner in Athens. 

We thank our Project teams for the incredible commitment to achieve a globally recognised design excellence.

Perhaps the two most destructive architectural typologies we have developed are the fence and the villa.

They have (dis)figured land settlement in a way that has partitioned and controlled the landscape for exploitation, driving human alienation, inequality and environmental degradation on a now breathtaking scale.

Yet the villa, the private house, defined within its fence and boundaries has also been the primary focus for the architect’s work and practice, it has been the architectural laboratory for conceptual exploration, innovation, and a primary measure of architecture.

What is the responsibility of the architect within this complex environmental creative and ethical dilemma…

Join our eminent panel of architects and academics;

Anthony Burke

Angelo Candalepas

Alison Page

Hannah Tribe

Richard Francis-Jones

as they explore and debate;

Parliament Square Hobart took home a swag of accolades, including the Colin Philp Award for Commercial Architecture, the Roy Sharrington Smith Award for Heritage Architecture (with Design 5 – Architects, JPDC and Years Months Days) and the Urban Design Award at the Tasmanian Chapter of the Australian Institute of Architecture (AIA) Awards.

Three fjcstudio projects have been honoured with prestigious awards at the New South Wales Chapter of the Australian Institute of Architecture (AIA) Awards.

UTS Central (with DJRD Lacoste + Stevenson (original Broadway Podium Design) received the Educational Architecture Award, with Sub Station No. 164 receiving both the Award for Commercial Architecture and the Award for Heritage — Creative Adaptation.

The success of these projects – is the direct participation and enormous efforts between Client/Developer/Builder, Project Teams, Collaborators and Consultants.

Country, climate and community underpin the design aspirations of our studio. In June last year, we hosted a studio conference at the University of Technology Sydney to extend our knowledge of and reinforce our commitment to these values but, also, to reunite our studio camaraderie after the isolation enforced by the Covid 19 virus.

A panel discussion with significant academic and professional speakers was devoted to each of these three themes. We also closed the studio for an additional day so that each of our current projects could be critically reviewed in relation to these fundamental measures of our design. The conference and project reviews were occasions to listen and learn, to ask questions of ourselves and to deepen our commitment to addressing these great challenges, in our design work and our professional conduct.

But perhaps these three central challenges and aspirations of the work of our studio can be compressed into a single overarching objective: The project of design for decolonisation.

Colonisation is a conflict of opposing cultural relationships with the life of our world: a conflict between colonial cultures of ownership, use and exploitation, with First Nations, Māori and Pasifika cultures of custodianship, meaning and symbiosis. Decolonisation, then, must seek repair of and reconciliation with both our damaged community and the damaged natural world.

Architecture is a cultural and social instrument. It provides not only the quantitative, functional and spatial support but also the ideological representation of any social, political or cultural project of change and transformation, be it oppression or emancipation, status quo or reconciliation. Architecture will generally serve the dominant and the powerful: institutional, corporate or individual.

Within Euclidean, rationalised grids laid over the landscape, endless classical architectural frames of proportional perfection were constructed; we now hold these in heritage reverence. But they are not neutral constructions; they are instruments of power, authority and control, both representations and facilitators of colonial power. To First Nations, Māori and Pasifika cultures, surely these classical colonial buildings were and remain institutional instruments and symbols of oppression.

Architecture is not innocent and must bear responsibility and consequence. Inevitably, this means architecture must change, be changed, adapt and adjust lies to truths.

Architecture NZ profiled our practice in their May-June Issue.

This project marks a significant milestone in a project in which we have been involved for over seven years. On completion, it will deliver a new civic and community heart for Liverpool for an incredibly diverse and dynamic community of Liverpool, that was reflected in the celebrations.

Located at the end of Macquarie Street, a terminating vista to the new 5000sqm library will draw people to the precinct offering generous civic space, council functions and workplace, hotel and gallery. The inspiration for the project is the confluence of the fresh water and salt water of the George’s River, an eddy bringing the waters of the river together.

The library’s oval shape reflects this eddy with multiple pathways winding around and into its form. An extraordinary library facade is taking shape which will create picture window vistas, and continually changing patterns of use. The basement of the library springs from a sunken courtyard showcasing the original riparian landscapes of the Cumberland Plain.

Through a grand brick arch, the council building celebrates the civic buildings developed by Francis Greenway.

A special shout out to the hardworking collaborative team of fjcarchitecture, fjcinteriors, fjclandscape and fjcplace.

Featured in Architecture Australia

Jindabyne was the largest regional town in NSW without a library facility, beyond the travelling mobile library.

After much campaigning from the local community and made possible with the financial support of the NSW Government through Create NSW’s Regional Cultural Fund and the 2021/22 Public Library Infrastructure Grant Program the Jindabyne Library opened.

The new library, the first of the Small Library Projects, a collaboration with fjcstudio (formerly fjmtstudio) and the State Library of NSW, was opened by Minister for Tourism, Aboriginal Affairs, the Arts and Regional Youth, Ben Franklin.

Council would also like to thank fjmstudio and Built for their design and execution of this project in a very tight timeframe. Thanks to their work, Jindabyne Library is not only a community asset, but a beautiful addition to the built environment.

The modular library will remain on site for at least five years. After this time, it may be moved and repurposed dependent on the newly designed civic area for Jindabyne under the Snowy Mountains Special Activation Precinct (SAP).

Join UNSW School of the Built Environment, fjcstudio and the Australian Institute of Architects for an evening celebrating the renaming of the Red Centre as the Anita B. Lawrence Centre.

The event includes an exhibition of original drawings and models of the building, and a panel discussion exploring its pioneering architecture, and Anita’s trailblazing contribution to UNSW and our broader society.

Thursday, April 20 · 5:30 – 8pm AEST

Tickets

We are delighted to announce our new name, Francis-Jones Carpenter Studio, which embodies our progress and evolution under the dynamic leadership of our Studio Principals, Managing Principal, Elizabeth Carpenter and Design Director, Richard Francis-Jones.

With Francis-Jones Carpenter Studio, our commitment to design excellence and innovation, sustainability, reconciliation, and the enhancement of the public domain remains stronger than ever. We look forward to sharing our renewed vision and ongoing mission with you as we embark on this exciting new chapter in our journey.

The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions hosted an international, one-day seminar at the University of Sydney, Australia, on 24 March 2023: Building Excellence – Global and Indigenous Trends in Library Design

Annie Hensley, Head of fjcplace presented the morning keynote, challenging the audience to contemplate the concept of commodification, particularly as applied to some larger library buildings and including the rise of ‘starchitects’ and signature projects. This was contrasted with the concept of hyper-local, exemplified in a range of projects, where strong grounding and connections to local community and Indigenous cultures has ensured the success of the library building as a community space.

This seminar was important for building on our expertise in community and place driven buildings particularly library and learning spaces.

fjmtstudio Australia will be closed from Thursday 23 December 2022 and will re-open on Monday 09 January 2023. The UK studio will be closed from Friday 23 December 2022 and will re-open on Tuesday 03 January 2023.

We would like to thank all of our incredible clients, consultants, contractors and dedicated staff for collaborating together with us this past year.

Auckland War Memorial Museum was established in Auckland Domain in 1929 with a significant neo-classical building of generous volumes, proportions, rich materiality, detailing and powerful stained-glass roof lighting. Future additions in 1960 extended south albeit with simpler details and materiality. The 2006 works internalised the South Atrium, with a new public entry and inserted the “tanoa” (a pacific bowl form).

Sited on Pukekawa, in Auckland Domain, the European architecture was at odds with the cultural heritage of Tamaki Makarau. Inside, the visitor experience required transforming to acknowledge mana whenua, and evolve to be relevant to Auckland’s diverse population. The iterative additions blocked natural connections between the north and south leading to a poor visitor orientation experience.

These issues were addressed in the Future Museum Masterplan, unlocking the potential of the nationally significant building to create transformational bicultural architecture, enabling dialogue between New Zealand’s colonial history and today.

The temporary pavilion fronting George Street was a carefully and beautifully crafted timber extension to the external stone staircase at ‘Crane Place’, 200 George Street.

Sadly it is soon to be demolished…

Oxford is experiencing a period of change and transformation. Its historic city centre is juxtaposed with under-used urban areas that belie the unique character of the city.  Student Castle Oxford is the landmark first project to be completed as part of the wider regeneration of Oxpens  in the Oxford West End. 

Student Castle Oxford provides 515 rooms of high-quality student accommodation – a mixture of single and double bedroom studio flats, and shared ‘cluster’ flats – arranged in three distinct but connected urban blocks.  Drawing reference from Oxford’s traditional collegiate architecture, the buildings are modulated by covered walkways and green spaces, with a varied roofscape that responds appropriately to the scale of the city. The communal spaces are primarily gathered at street level with an active street frontage.  The ‘common room’ acts as the hub of community life, while other amenities – including cafe, gym, laundry, and more – are connected by an ‘internal street’ that extends through the buildings and green spaces to the vertical circulation cores. 

The St Barnabas community recently celebrated 10 years in its new building. In 2007, still mourning the previous church which was engulfed in flames, the parish turned to the task of reimagining their ministries in a contemporary space in the heart of the city – a modern city church.

Avoiding the evangelist black box space in preference for a place of connection and transcendence, Barneys has exceeded all expectations. At the Church’s anniversary, the main ministries described the vibrancy of youth programs, diversity of children’s programs and play groups in safe spaces, exceptional outreach to Sydney’s diverse inner-city community, welcome to the homeless and isolated, agility during the challenging restriction of COVID distancing.  Most touching were the stories of how the building has become embedded in people’s lives – meeting of soulmates, births, marriages, funerals. All people feel truly welcome in this highly accessible and accommodating space – particularly for those with special needs, places of respite and for parents with crying children, a place to stay connected while not disturbing the service.

It is a great privilege to have been selected for the design of the Cutaway, a place which will become a welcoming destination and vibrant venue for so many.

Our concept developed through a deep and authentic design collaboration with First Nations Knowledge Keepers and Creatives, led by Bangawarra and Jake Nash. This partnership began at the very inception of the design, to envisage natural forms which soften the cut’s straight edges.

The result embodies references to Salt Water Country – to the shelter of Sandstone Caves (Gibbagunya) and to knowledge trees, the Port Jackson Fig (Damun). We aspire for this project to be a welcoming and safe space for all people and a benchmark of Connecting with Country Principles. Further design collaboration will broaden the opportunities for fine detail story telling and references to Country. Equally its maritime past will be interpreted and celebrated, woven into the original location of the Sydney Port Tower.

A great and well deserved article on the meteoric rise of Bangawarra in Indesign Live.

We have been privileged to work with Shannon Foster, Jo Kinniburgh and the team over a number years, honing our skills and collaborative design approach through both successful and unsuccessful competitions, masterplans and a number of significant ongoing projects. Their work has immeasurably influenced us, contributing greatly to our ambition to deliver authentic, place driven and human centred design. We are so fortunate that they have continued to support us and given us courage to develop our genuine approach to Connecting with Country and Reconcilliation.

North Head Lookout Barragula with CHROFI, photography courtesy of Bangawarra.

Online @ Architecture Australia

Locating Giurgola marks the launch of a new Australian Research Council-funded project examining the life and work of Italo-American architect, Romaldo Giurgola, principal designer of Australian Parliament House. The project will be the first comprehensive investigation of Giurgola’s internationally significant architectural career, which spanned Rome, Philadelphia, New York, Canberra and Sydney and included, not only Parliament House and a significant body of work in the United States, but a series of projects around the world, from Latin America to Singapore and Sweden.

At the launch we will hear from those closest to Giurgola personally and professionally during his time in Australia and get a glimpse into the substantial Mitchell/Giurgola archives at the University of Pennsylvania. Special guests include Paola Giurgola, Richard Francis-Jones and Richard Thorp.

This lecture is a co-presentation of the Sydney School of Architecture, Design and Planning and the Chau Chak Wing MuseumResearch project. partners are the University of Melbourne, Penn State University, University of Pennsylvania, and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne.

For more information and event details: Locating Giurgola

Unfrozen: A podcast on architecture and urbanism, by Daniel Safarik
Episode: 30 True Lies
Listen: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google, OnPodium

We want to ask these questions of ourselves, listen and learn and deepen our commitment to addressing these great challenges in our design work and our professional conduct.

Our Sydney and Melbourne studio’s will be closed on

Thursday 23 from 9:00 — 5:00pm and
Friday 24 from 12:00pm — 5:00pm
for our 2022 conference; Country Climate Community.

In planning the future of NSW’s Blackwattle Bay, fjmtstudio and Bangawarra have collaborated on a Connecting with Country Framework that reaches beyond the physical to acknowledge the stories and cultural significance of the site.

Read more at indesignlive.com or in Indesign magazine issue 86.

Image: Mark Gerada.

Written by Design Director of fjmtstudio Richard Francis-Jones, this is a collection of provocative essays that journey into the vexed circumstance of contemporary architectural practice.

The nature of the great cultural, social, political, environmental, and consumerist challenges facing the contemporary architect are explored, interpreted, and questioned, while drawing connections from architecture theory, philosophy, science, literature, and film sources in an attempt to negotiate the territory between the truth and lies in architecture.

‘These essays written by a leading Australian architect represent a level of comprehensive critical awareness rarely found within the architectural profession and one would be hard pressed to find another comparable figure in contemporary architectural practice. The entire argumentation is impressive, challenging, intellectually at the highest level and beautifully written.’

Kenneth Frampton

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fjmtstudio Australia will be closed from Thursday 23 December 2021 and will re-open on Monday 17 January 2022. The UK studio will be closed from Friday 17 December 2021 and will reopen on Tuesday 4 January 2022. We would like to thank all of our incredible clients, consultants, contractors and dedicated staff for making it a wonderful year despite the challenges. We wish you all a safe, happy and restful holiday break.

Auckland War Memorial Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira, Te Ao Mārama and Cenotaph Galleries by fjmtstudio, Jasmax and designTRIBE architects has won both the Public and Heritage Awards at the Auckland Architecture Awards.

Te Ao Mārama marks the arrival of an inclusive and collaborative approach to the storytelling of Tāmaki Herenga Waka. The new South Atrium renovation brings balance to the original European architecture, and embeds mana whenua and Pacific narratives into the museum’s civic spaces. Tikanga now guides welcome, arrival, orientation and kai. New boulevards connect Te Ao Mārama to the Māori Court, and the tanoa bowl form is fully realised with exquisite detailing. External works enhance the pedestrian experience of arrival and provides views to significant landforms. Te Ao Mārama sets a new precedent and lays down a challenge to all who visit it to see their museum, and their heritage, afresh.

This collaborative team has successfully unlocked the bicultural potential in a nationally significant heritage building. By engaging in meaningful consultation with diverse governance to meet public expectations, the collaborators have enhanced both the He Korahi Māori and Teu Le Va experiences. This thoughtful design responds to the proportions of the existing building with a heritage fabric that has been adaptively reused and refurbished, and successfully pieces together old and new. The new work enables a dialogue between New Zealand’s colonial past and the present, and offers a path towards decolonisation.

Bunjil Place is a stunning example of genuinely impactful design. The scale of the impact is significant and meaningful. Bunjil Place reaches a large community by providing a sense of place and amenity that was previously absent. This project has created a true civic heart that brings together various functions that benefit the community and staff. It provides a platform for community programming, social interaction and cultural inclusion – it brings the people of Casey together and brings people to the City of Casey.

The success of Bunjil Place is due to a confluence of intelligent and ambitious undertakings by the designers and client that have resulted in a coherent, well-resolved and joyful design.

Co-development and expansion of the brief raised initial expectations and enabled the project to realise its full potential. A generosity of spirit is evident in fjmtinterior’s determination to provide authentic world-class facilities for the City of Casey, including an international-standard art gallery and an 850-seat state-of-the-art theatre. The highly functional design caters equally to the needs of international artists and primary school groups.

Genuine engagement with the Indigenous community, from the competition stage and throughout the design process, has strengthened and informed the symbolic design, which integrates the form of Bunjil through the timber ceiling grid.

Planning is intuitive and human-centred. All amenities, including the library, art gallery, theatre, council chambers and offices radiate from the central lobby, maximising cross-interaction and cross-engagement. The flexible use of spaces – in particular, the Council Chamber’s adaptability to a function venue – has provided increased revenue and is a demonstrably effective use of rate payers’ money.

Bunjil Place has proven transformative to a community through increased local patronage to the arts and literature, new job creation, education and access to the arts, and local access to world-class performances and exhibitions. This project has changed lives positively and will continue to do so for future generations.

Jury Citation.

The twin crises of climate breakdown and biodiversity loss are the most serious issue of our time. Globally, buildings and construction play a major part, accounting for nearly 40% of energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions whilst also having a significant impact on our natural habitats. Meeting the needs of our communities and staying within our ecological limits will require a shift in our behaviour as well as the design, delivery and performance of our buildings. Together with our clients, we will need to commission and design buildings, cities and infrastructures as indivisible components of a larger, constantly regenerating and self-sustaining system.

The research and technology exist for us to begin that transformation now, but what has been lacking is collective will. Recognising this, we are committing to strengthen our working practices to create architecture and urbanism that has a more positive impact on the world around us.