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

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.

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.