MONOCHROMAT

Flamingo Lane was the Professional Winner of the 2011/2012 Boral Design Awards.

The design of Flamingo Lane sought to realise the creation of a dynamic urban realm at street level and a socially sustainable residential community above.

The intervention is designed to breathe new life into an area devoid of activity. The focus is shifted from the street, down the new laneway where a small retail and cafe/bar tenancy provide activation morning till night. It is proposed that in time neighbouring owners will convert the lower floors of their buildings to also address the lane, contributing to a dynamic urban realm.

There is equitable access to open space and to encourage the diversity of inhabitants there are varying apartment types/sizes. Apartments are planned as interlocking objects, with communal outdoor spaces facilitating chance encounters and interaction between residents.

In total there are 5 x 50sqm tenancies, 9 Studio apartments, 5 Two bedroom apartments and 5 Three bedroom apartments.

In anticipation of the Museum of Brisbane’s return to Brisbane City Hall, a suite of joinery items were commissioned which included;

_Merchandise display,
_Waiting lounge seating,
_Mobile signage totem / lecterns,
_Rostra, and
_Sideboards.

In order to provide flexibility for the Museum of Brisbane, the display surface has been tilted down towards approaching customers.  This ensures that as visitors exit the gallery, they will be presented with a collection of objects orientated towards their line of sight.  Objects, such as exhibition catalogs, can lay on this surface providing easier viewing from afar and up close, and when a horizontal surface is required, modular units can sit on top.

This developed from an understanding that standard horizontal displays limit the merchandise to being seen from the side or a discreet distance where the participants need to stand above the objects to peruse them. Having an angled surface increases the visibility of the products from afar, enticing the customer to have a closer look.

*This project was undertaken whilst employed by HASSELL

The design is for a one bedroom 'living pavilion' on a cattle property outside Ravenswood, Queensland.

Following discussions of how the client currently lives on site it became apparent their only real requirement was for a shelter with some added amenities (the toilet is currently a shovel). Together we conceptualized a platform, with a large roof over, that could always be left open, something like living on a veranda.

The site is close to a nearby creek that is lined with pink granite with thick faults of charcoal granite (pictured). This has been the inspiration for the colour of grounding elements in the scheme.

This scheme was submitted for an international competition to design 20 apartments and a street scape design for Plaza Pedro Moreno.

Design Approach

Apartment block
The design proposed a generic concrete and glass block that is veiled in a dynamic facade which includes the vertical circulation. Privacy for the apartments is achieved by using one way mirrored glass, allowing inhabitants to look out, but not be seen. The arches are a modern interpretation of the vernacular architectural style of Guadalajara and when reflected in the mirrored facade blur the perception of what is built and what is sky. The building mass in effect disappears into the sky. The roof top garden or ‘Belvedere’ is capped by a parapet that appears to float, framing the sky but also grounding the building to its site.

I was interested in how the building facade could engage directly with the street, with the idea of the facade being a theatre set, where passersby could watch the movement of residents up and down the building.

Streetscape design
Similar to the apartment block, the design for Plaza Pedro Moreno has been to propose a collection of simple, small projects that when scattered along the street can create a unique but cohesive precinct. These street items could be delivered over time, such as the street lights, then shelters, seating, planting etc. The street would evolve over time, rather than be complete in one construction period which allows the residents and businesses to grow with their new precinct.

In 2012 Phillip Nielsen formed a collaborative called the 'Group of Like-minded Designers' (G.O.L.D) with design friends Regina Kaluzny, Tersius Maass, Rebecca Caldwell, Katie O'Brien and Ash Every. We were selected by by Parramatta City Council as one of 16 multi-disciplinary teams to develop concepts for Parramatta's Public spaces, streets and lanes.

G.O.L.D was challenged with developing a concept for Barrack Lane which is a busy pedestrian route located between the Parramatta Transport Interchange and George Street’s commercial zone. It is Parramatta’s oldest existing lane and is a key route in the city centre’s lanes network.

The brief asked G.O.L.D to recognise Barrack Lane’s historic significance and realise its potential as a popular city centre destination, rather than a pedestrian through route.

Our approach was to identify the opportunity for a youth-focused public space offered by the location of Arthur Phillip High School within the lane. Introducing an element of fun into the laneway -  through the concept of urban play - builds off this opportunity and is a key feature of the design.

Activation by the school is currently limited due to their back-of-house utilisation of lane. G.O.L.D focused on a methodology for drawing out this potential through a long-term plan for engagement with the school. This relationship would be the basis for the lane’s youth focus and would assist in activating the lanes’ existing elements. The project recognised the potential of Barrack Lane to become more than just a lane and vehicular servicing point, and developed strategies for the site to transform into an interesting public space within the city centre. The team presented a long-term view of the lane’s development and included options for five, 10 and 20 year scenarios. The long term scenarios involved expensive land acquisition and major redevelopment of nearby sites.

The three key themes of the design strategy were:

_Creating a destination rather than a thoroughfare by strengthening the Northern and Southern end points of the laneway, and providing art installations and cafes to act as anchors of activity.

_Acknowledging the lane’s rich history by revealing existing heritage items – including the underground convict drain, cottages and convict barrack’s wall to new audiences.

_Developing the site’s potential as a place for children and teenagers within the city through community engagement with Arthur Philip School. This included a strategy for blurring the boundary between the school and the laneway to encourage interaction between the two.

Key outcomes sought by Wesley Mission Brisbane included;

_The re-instatement of a visual link between Gympie Road and the 1930’s built ‘Sanctuary’ and ‘Village Green’.

_A development that contributes to the notion of a community nestled amongst pleasant gardens.

_Protect the development from the harsh vehicular environment that surround the site.

_A scale of development that compliments the existing small communities and pleasant gardens of Wheller Gardens.

CONCEPT

There are two concept principles explored in the design of the St Mark’s development. These being;

_The ‘Hortus Conclusus’ - which translates to the “enclosed garden”, and

_Stereotomics + Techtonics - Sterotomics being the use of compressive mass (stone, block and concrete) to build an enclosure, and Techtonics, the use of elements to create a framework.

A GARDEN COMMUNITY

Based on the clients aspirations for a development nestled amongst pleasant gardens, three spaces were identified as locations for enclosed gardens, each unique in relation to the other.             

_The Transitional Court is the primary access point to the development. It establishes the first transition from the harsh, traffic heavy environment of Gympie Road to a protective green space. This is also where the reinstatement of the visual link between Gympie Road and the Sanctuary can be experienced.

_The expanded Village Green reaches down into the core of the development, bordered to the North by small retail, a Creche to the South, Wesley Mission Brisbane’s Foyer to the East and the Sanctuary to the West.  A colonnaded edge to the North and South provides primary circulation with ample shaded space for lingering. It is the intent that the Village Green is densely planted with large shade trees to encourage local residents and employees of the tower to occupy the  Village Green throughout the day.

_The Poinciana Court is a secluded private court which features an existing Poinciana tree in the centre. The garden is accessed through the Wesley Mission Brisbane foyer, retail to it’s Northern edge and a conference facility to the South.

A PROTECTED DEVELOPMENT

The site is bounded by a concrete wall that grounds the project, whilst sheltering it from Gympie Road. Where access to the development is required, the density of the panels reduces to create colonnaded edges, or entry portals.

TECTONIC FRAME

Public and private program is located within the ‘stereotomic’ frame, enclosing the gardens. The ground floor comprises primarily public uses, including a creche, small retail opportunities and a conference facility for Wesley Mission Brisbane.

COMMERCIAL TOWER TO SOUTH

The requirement for a light filled development that takes advantage of views South to the CBD and unimpeaded views of a northern ‘green belt’ has resulted in the commercial tower being situated along the southern boundary of the site.  This arrangement also limits the amount of facade area that faces the Chermside shopping complex roofscape on the opposite side of Gympie Road.

*This project was undertaken whilst employed with HASSELL. Phillip Nielsen worked on the scheme from concept inception through to development application as well as created the majority of project visualisation.

With this design proposal, we were interested in the blurring of boundaries between inside and outside, new and old, natural and constructed, rough and refined.

As a building type, it is common for towers to have very distinct edges. In physical, cultural and economic terms, the boundaries between what the tower is and what it is not are usually very precisely delineated. However, the history of buildings in our region is a history of indistinct edges and broad transitions. The point at which a building ends and the landscape starts has traditionally been uncertain, and it is this undefined space that people have instinctively sought to occupy.

We sought to create a tower that could merge with the sky through translucency and ephemerality, and dissolve into the urban landscape by overlaying spaces that are public and private, cultural and commercial.

The proposal was for an office tower that, when viewed from afar, is intended to appear as a fine-skinned lantern, using treated glass to windows and external sunshades to give a consistent materiality, and generate depth and interest in the transmission of light and shade. We were preoccupied with the desire to create a tower that is elegant and restrained, with design effort to be invested in the subtleties of materiality and detailing.

The building is capped by a screen wall of translucent glass extrusions to create a memorable, ephemeral skyline silhouette, glowing from within with refracted sunlight by day and with LED lighting by night.

At street level, the same translucent glass extrusions trigger memories of the tower as first experienced from afar and offer a finely articulated streetfront screen to the podium levels. Lush planting is incorporated into these screens, giving a sense of verdant shade and coolness whilst also reinforcing the sustainability credentials of the 6-Star GBC building.

The podium strategy envisaged a generous, triple-height space to the ground floor foyer. This foyer is enlivened by a cafe that also fronts onto Herschel Street and the cross-block laneway, as well as the art installation, display and production spaces that occupy the upper balcony spaces overlooking the foyer. A grand public stair rises from the Herschel Street footpath toward a great public room incorporating bar and restaurant on the corner of North Quay, with superb views across and down the two reaches of the Brisbane River.

Above all else, this tower proposition offers large, ideally proportioned floorplates that are focused around access to sweeping views across the river and hinterland. Access to natural daylight and planning flexibility are also key considerations, and a range of test-fit designs were developed that demonstrate the suitability of the base building design to a range of likely tenant uses.

*This project was undertaken whilst employed with HASSELL. Illustrations by Sam Weiler.

This design was undertaken in collaboration with Miranda Boyle. The competition provided each team with a Sean Dix 'Copine' chair to translate their personal design 'Journeys' onto it's surface. Miranda has an affinity for painting whilst I draw, so we decided to layer these two techniques on top of each other representing our personal expression in collaborative practice

Phillip Nielsen was invited by T-MC Designs to create a pattern to be used in their design label. Subsequently two designs, the back and hands, were developed.

The project was completed for my final design studio at Deakin University - The proposal was for a residential community in Radical Bay, Magnetic Island, that would fall into ruin over time. Research included the time it takes for materials to become weathered and structurally corrupted as well and imagining the new possibility for the architecture to evolve with new spaces and uses. The entire scheme was hand drawn on large format A1 paper.

This project was undertaken during my final year of design at Deakin University. A competition was released challenging students the complete the Victorian Parliament building which remains largely unfinished. The scheme looked at breaking the building into smaller sections, with onsite accommodation for parliamentarians, their staff and reinstating public access to the entire site.

The project was undertake during forth year studies at Deakin University. The project was an addition to the back corner of a heritage listed bluestone building. The new addition included a foyer and circulation to the gallery spaces within the existing building.

These blind contour portraits capture the many speakers at the Australian Institute of Architects 2012 Conference, 'Experience'.