Set on top of a small hill, the house overlooks a 32 hectare vineyard on a 60 hectare property with views across the entire Yarra Valley.
The simple proposition of two long metal tubes presents as a striking piece of sculpture. A corten tube rests on the ground; another, in matt black aluminium, sits somewhat precariously on top at right angles, cantilevering six metres and nine metres at the front and back. The tubes are precisely aligned north / south and east / west. Viewed from above, the house – sited next to a trigonometric point – is an asymmetrical cross marking the cardinal points of a compass.
The inside is formed by the minimalist aesthetic that shapes the exterior. A second skin of grey-green stained strand board lines the interiors. White boxes break the internal volume into bedrooms and offices on the ends, and living space in the middle. Double glazed windows in the sides and ends of the long metal tube are concealed behind perforated panels. A large, north-facing, side of the corten box lifts up in three sections to create a sunshade across the 10 metre wide glazing to the central living area.
The Olympic Development Authority in association with Lend Lease selected Denton Corker Marshall from a panel of eight to design this signature project: Plot No. 1 of 12 athletes’ residential plots for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Located on a high profile site in Stratford with prime views over Regent’s Canal to Canary Wharf and the City of London, the project contains eight blocks of 288 two and three bedroom apartments of market and premium standard.
The apartments have been designed for temporary accommodation purposes, but after initial use were able to be re-fitted for private sale as high quality residential properties close to central London.
Denton Corker Marshall prepared the design in accordance with the guidelines set for all 12 Plots, and worked through the Olympic Delivery Authority’s continuous review panel process.
Plot No. 1 achieved the highest overall sustainability score across the entire Athletes’ Village.
A new urban centre on the Yangtze River facing the Chongqing central business district designed to service the growing inner urban population.
The development comprises 1,200,000m² living, office, retail and leisure space with around 12,800 apartments.
By 2010 around 690,000m² gross floor area was completed in various stages to Denton Corker Marshall’s design.
A multi-unit residential development of 4,600 apartments along the Hun River in Shenyang International New Town.
The development which also includes retail and recreational facilities, was constructed in multiple stages. Stage one included nine towers and 17 slab blocks on a development area of 240,000m². Stage two included five towers and four slab blocks on an area of 200,000m² while further stages envisage a 200 metre high tower.
Strong colour on simple clean forms imparts identity to individual blocks. Vibrant staggered grids screen the exterior solidity of the taller towers. The towers are distinguished by randomly stacked frames producing a three dimensional reading to the façades.
A sophisticated house blending art, high design and one family’s dignified living aspirations.
Ingeniously integrated with factory remnants and level constraints on the site, the new building is a strong yet respectful neighbour in its inner urban precinct. The simple austere grey cement façade hints at the first use of zinc deployed in the blade screen that stretches across a large horizontal aperture.
From the front door onwards it is the dextrous use of zinc which permeates throughout, softening the other palette of concrete floors and plaster. A section of thick zinc-clad wall pivots to allow access through an art gallery and living space, to the more private spaces of the house. Art and family living merge and flow throughout.
In the absence of traditional domesticity, Zinc House expresses a coolly ordered calm. It is architecture of unpretentious substance, restraint and refinement.
Medhurst House comprises a simple steel framed glass box cantilevering over the landscape to maximise views of the vineyard.
Two thin rectangular plates – roof and floor – lay into a gentle rise above the vineyard stretching down to the road. Each plate is 50 metres long and 11 metres wide. Their singularity and clarity are reinforced by deep setbacks – two metres on the front and rear, and five metres on the cantilevered projection to the external wall.
Defined by black concrete walls, the lower level contains entry, car-parking, wine cellar, tasting room, study and guest bedrooms. The upper level – conceptually a single space – contains master bedroom, living, dining, kitchen and second bedroom.
A floor-to-ceiling double-glazed wall with sliding external doors extends the full length of the house, and opens onto an upper level terrace stepping down to an outdoor swimming pool.
A contemporary landmark residential development on the Cairns waterfront including 200 apartments, managed apartments, swimming pools, restaurant, retail and café facilities.
The 12-storey apartment building reflects a far north Queensland imagery, without resorting to cliched stereotypes. The building consists of a three level podium with nine levels set back above it. The tower is arranged in a triangular configuration, with open corners surrounding a large central open-air atrium.
The unique design responds to the climate by integrating the ESD principles fundamental in the tropics. These include outdoor living terraces, deeply shaded windows, adjustable sun screens and natural cross ventilation to all apartments.
Glass and slatted panels express a lightweight, almost delicate appearance which belies the building’s scale and volume. With its shaded façade, it forms an impressive yet subtle background to the white yachts and powerboats of the harbour. It sits as a recessive calm form on the waterfront.
Tube House comprises three tubes stacked on top of one another, each containing different spatial uses. Ground floor for living and eating, first for sleeping and washing and top for working and thinking.
The tubes are stepped on one side in response to planning requirements and stagger in length in response to set backs and shade and shelter provision.
The uppermost tube is 13 metres long. It encompasses a single 2.4 × 2.4 × 11 metre space. The 4.4 metre wide central tube cantilevers to protect the carport and front and rear entry and courtyard. Open at the ends, the tubes accept maximum light and direct views. Largely closed sides deal with fire rating and overlook.
Both tubes maintain a consistent integrity, having their own uniform materials and colour – one pre-coloured metal; the other post-coloured compressed / natural timber. A series of skylights, subtle interplays of light and space maximise the internal spatial experience within the constraints of the 125m² site.
A large urban renewal initiative located on the principal boulevard of Nanning. The development comprises 210,000m² of residential, retail, commercial, hotel and recreational facilities.
The basic structure of the site is formed by three main axes, which break the development into three clusters:
Stage one: low scale slab blocks arranged around an elevated concourse to the north;
Stage two: retail and SOHO podium enclosing a central plaza with four towers to the west; and
Stage three: retail and SOHO podium with four towers in a linear arrangement with a landscaped plinth to the east.
Distillery Hill at Jacksons Landing is a residential development of two towers with adjacent terrace housing in Pyrmont, looking out towards the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
The 19-storey Distillery Tower comprises 95 apartments, the 18-storey Quarry Tower a further 89, and a low-rise set of 17 apartments and 12 terraced townhouses which activate the street frontages. With three levels of basement carparks, the development is set in landscaped gardens with a podium level pool / gymnasium located so as to capture harbour views.
The built form of each tower is a simple, clear geometric composition – important for the reading of the tower from a distance. While reducing the built form to enhance overall clarity, the individuality of the apartments is reflected in the random pattern of fixed and movable louvre screen panels. Coloured wall plates extend to street level, anchoring the tower firmly to the ground in a distinctive sculptural gesture.
The Sunshine 100 development in Beijing comprises five towers ranging from 20 to 34-storeys, joined by linking blocks of eight to eleven- storeys.
The blocks provide enclosure to a central garden along with protection from the harsh north west winds. Both the towers and blocks are planned with individual units positioned to maximise exposure to the highly desirable southern sun during the long winter months.
Within the central garden a covered walkway laid out in a square pattern defines an inner and outer garden. The outer garden is contained by the northern blocks and is used for passive recreation. The inner garden contains two all year round swimming pools in a glazed conservatory with a roofed summer pool in between. Tennis courts and a health club are also provided.
The site of the Victoria Gardens development is particularly constrained, irregular in shape with a high plot ratio, and governed by stringent solar access requirements for both the apartment towers and the kindergarten bordering the northern edge.
With a reputation for solving complex design problems on every scale, Denton Corker Marshall was invited by the client to rework layouts by a local architect to produce a new architectural concept and expression within the development approval parameters.
The sculptural response is inspired directly by the site’s constraints and retains the high yield necessary for commerciality. A sinuous form in the figurative wave-like building, the building’s shifting height follows the solar access controls meticulously, with the wave form wrapped in perforated metal balcony ribbons.
Ranging in height from six to 12 levels, the complex incorporates 246 apartments, two levels of underground car parking, recreation club and retail space at ground level.
Poised high on a steep windswept site in the middle of a golf course, the house comprises two boxes, one sitting delicately atop the other, pushing the second level above the dense cover of native tea trees
Its sleek orthogonal form is very clear and simple, but there is something odd about it. The box tube is twisted in section, the cladding raked to accentuate the cantilever; the lower windows are cranked and the chimney emerges from the wall on the diagonal. Sculptural qualities disengage it from conventional ideas of domestic scale and materiality.
Entry is beneath the belly of the upper box via a glass-encased concrete stair. Steel cruciform columns are set into its volume against white walls and concrete floor. Freestanding maple timber veneer cubes installed within contain discrete living, eating and sleeping zones, and break the length of the rectangular body.
Across the north-facing courtyard, the studio is separated from the main house by a long concrete bench set at an oblique angle.
An isolated farm homestead with a guest wing to one side, and machinery and shearing sheds to the other is conflated into a single object set in the open landscape.
A heroic concrete wall, 200 metres in length, protects and orders the ensemble of buildings and accomplishes the iconic task of locating the complex in the wide panorama. On one hand, its mass and weight give substance to the buildings and provide a buffer against the climate; on the other, it operates almost literally as a ruler, giving scale to the buildings in the horizontal limitlessness of the landscape.
Entry is through a skewed slit in a monumental tilted concrete slab. Behind it, the house is oriented north towards the sun and east to the views. Between the house and tilted wall, a breezeway provides a covered pathway to the sheds and guest wing.
Sheets of full height double glass are set in frames of galvanised T-section steel. In front of the windows a row of slanting stick-like veranda posts holds down the double knife-edged roof.
Buried into the dunes, the house is visible from the beach as a low black line – the colour of the rocks with ragged tufts of dune grass above it.
It is completely hidden from the landward side. The objective was to maintain a low profile and to have an internal focus to the house.
The house is a long thin concrete box, black inside and outside, set along one edge of a large square courtyard contained by three metre high black concrete walls with dune berms ramped up to roof level on three sides.
The flat, lawned courtyard offers protection from the Bass Strait winds and traps the Australian winter sun. A small sunroom with a galvanised steel plate roof projects into the courtyard on the northern face; it is the only non-earth covered element in the building.
On the southern ocean elevation, windows are positioned within each room to act as picture frames to the views. Their proportions and locations are determined by internal considerations, relying on the scale of the wall to carry their ‘haphazard’ disposition.
Designed and built in the 1980s, the Embassy comprises a three level Chancery building, a separate Head of Mission Residence on two levels with formal reception rooms and 35 apartments for Embassy staff.
The demands of identity and context are well served by the typical Beijing courtyard house which was adopted as the model for the Embassy.
Without resorting to pastiche, the Embassy incorporates many characteristics of the Beijing courtyard house: the axial planning and hierarchical disposition of elements, and local construction techniques and materials.
The walled compound gathers together the different programmatic elements of the modern diplomatic enclave into a single complex, and answers climatic imperatives as well as, knitting into the existing city.
The courtyard type is also subjected to reinterpretation, notably with the large openings in the perimeter wall that enable views into the compound, an expression of Australian openness.
Located in a prestigious district of central Tokyo, the Embassy complex comprises Chancery, Head of Mission Residence, 42 apartments for Embassy staff and recreation facilities with basement carpark.
The design integrates each of the complex’s elements to create a unified composition in an elegant, established garden setting.
The Chancery building is at the core of the complex and encloses a central courtyard. It is flanked on either side by L-shaped blocks of apartments.
The use of apartments to reinforce the scale of the Chancery creates an overall image of Australia that is bold and confident, and in scale with the other adjacent buildings. The Head of Mission Residence is located at one end, while staff recreation facilities including pool, tennis court, bar and library are found at the other.
The use of component fabricated claddings of stainless steel, aluminium and bolted steel sitting on a granite and black concrete base, results in an assertively contemporary image for Australia’s diplomatic mission in Tokyo.
Denton Corker Marshall was engaged by Lendlease to lead a masterplan concept for extending Holland Village, a much loved local destination in Singapore. An innovative approach to placemaking created an enriching and diverse village character, through a collaboration with a diverse group of local design partners – a ‘Village of Architects’.
A residential haven incorporating 490 apartments was designed across two towers of varying height, each more than 30 levels, and a low-rise block defining the key street edge. Warm and friendly, authentic materials including timber and concrete were used extensively throughout the design. The proposal responded strongly to the Singapore image of a ‘City in a Garden’. The ground plane was designed collaboratively with a leading local landscape practice to be a ‘fenceless’ e-deck / recreation deck solution, utilising terracing and lush landscape to provide privacy and a friendly public interface. Communal rooftops and terraces contributed to garden spaces, and vertical greening was provided through extensive use of planted green walls. The project was designed to meet Singapore Green Mark Platinum standards.
Scape South Bank, South Brisbane, is a student accommodation development located in close proximity to the vibrant South Bank precinct.
With three street frontages on Vulture, Merivale and Tribune Streets, the building contains 783 student apartments over 12 to 15 levels.
The building provides students with superior accommodation and amenities including a gymnasium, laundry, high-tech IT facilities and bicycle racks for 392 bicycles.
Additional amenities include social / breakout spaces, quiet study areas, outdoor terraces and a shared kitchen / dining area, creating a community environment for students.
The visually expressive architectural solution responds to Queensland’s sub-tropical climate with expressed shading fins. The form consists of two buildings sitting on street edge bases, with setback taller blocks connected by a unique green bridge link.
Located in Manchester on a central city site, the scheme comprises premium quality office accommodation over a single level of retail outlets.
The design creates a dynamic impact at cityscape level. Its architectural form consists of two-storey glass and metal elements which give the illusion of sliding in and out of the main building envelope. These ‘sliding’ boxes build up the massing of the building and give it a physical impression of turning the corner, thus creating a greater perceived link between the streets.
The two-storey over-scaling of horizontal elements emphasises the simplicity of the building block aesthetic. It also provides a powerful focus when looking from Piccadilly Gardens down Mosley Street, while creating a new anchor to the street.
22 Newport Road is a 464 bedroom student residential development, located on a city centre site adjacent to many of Cardiff University’s academic buildings.
The brief required high quality student accommodation with a combination of cluster flats and studio style rooms, and an exceptional level of study and amenity space, to create one of the most desirable student residences in the city.
The massing of the building is visually broken down into a collection or mini-cluster of four distinct blocks. The blocks step in height across the length of the site, from the lowest at 10-storeys to a central core block at 32-storeys, giving the overall development a slender and elegant profile. This architectural approach is enhanced through the use of different cladding colours on individual blocks, with deep reveals or re-entrants between them.
The ground floor has two retail / commercial units and the main student entrance activates the surrounding streetscape. The first and second floors incorporate extensive communal study and amenity areas including a media room, gym, quiet room and laundry.
Nickel + Dime twin tower residential development, forms part of the wider St John’s masterplan, a major regeneration site in Manchester, located adjacent to the acclaimed commercial and residential quarters of Spinningfields and Castlefield.
The new development will create a unique city centre neighbourhood which will become a place to live, work and play as well as, a location for enterprise and innovation, culture, entertainment and leisure.
Each residential tower contains 305 apartments over 33 floors. Extensive amenity facilities for the residents include main lobby areas with concierge service; co-working lounges incorporating meeting rooms; private dining rooms; gym; media rooms and roof terraces. Retail and food and beverage outlets with outdoor seating are integrated into the ground floor, further activating the development and surrounding public realm.
Both towers have been designed as simple, distinctive sculptural forms that sit perpendicular to each other and visually form a pair. The overall appearance is of smooth glass blocks enclosed on three sides with perforated metallic wraps.
Located at the edge of the Montague Urban Village, 181 Ferrars Street sits between the new Fisherman’s Bend Precinct and the old character filled residential areas of South Melbourne.
The 20-storey apartment building in a podium / tower arrangement, comprises 106 apartments, café, retail and small business support centre, including provision for 42 cars and 39 bicycle spaces. A pedestrian link offers an important public amenity providing connection between Ferrars Street and Railway Place, together with access to the light rail station.
The building is conceived as a simple, elegant form composed of a well-proportioned concrete frame, in-filled with glazing. Balcony spaces are set into the building, behind the face of the infill glass, allowing a clean building form for the podium and the tower.
Each of the six apartments per floor is designed to ensure that every bedroom has direct access to natural light. Approximately two thirds of the apartments are afforded dual aspect, increasing access to natural light and allowing cross ventilation.
A Sydney Design Excellence competition scheme, 142 – 154 Macquarie Street is a mixed use development comprising 938 apartments and a 243 guest room hotel in towers ranging from 25 to 57-storeys. From surrounding streets and the riverfront, the towers appear to disappear into the sky, and at a close distance they reveal a complex yet subtle attention to detail.
The site is designed to maximise amenity for residents by creating a complete urban neighbourhood, including laneways, retail, recreational facilities, a public square and an open-air museum.
A large variety of apartment types is included, with the majority arranged to capture distant views that can never be built out.
The architecture is pragmatic and efficient, yet recognisable and distinct. It supports the concept of creating an enduring urban neighbourhood that will not quickly date or be inflexible for future occupancy.
85 Spring Street sits at the heart of Melbourne’s top end, overlooking the Treasury Gardens and Parliament House – midway between the traditional business end of Collins Street and the historic Hotel Windsor.
A tall, slender glass shaft defines the eastern Spring Street façade, articulated with balconies, winter gardens and panoramic windows. This clear glass treatment opens up the face of the building to embrace and ‘breathe in’ the spectacular green visual experience of the Gardens and distant views of the Dandenong Ranges.
The building address is defined by a fritted white glass cube hovering above the pavement, providing subtle yet dramatic presence and a light-filled entry.
Beyond the glass shaft, the building shifts to the quieter language of horizontal zinc-faced plates defining each floor level, in-filled with panels of glazing and a series of metal-faced panels in a composition of mid to dark zinc tones.
A limited design competition for 820 student housing units on the University of Queensland’s St Lucia campus.
The complex comprises linear hillside terraces and efficient central core apartments. A range of 16 housing types provides affordable, economical housing choices. Simple rectilinear and orthogonal forms accommodate the modular unit types, enabling long term flexibility and adaptability.
A central urban village is created providing a strong sense of community and encouraging social mix in a neighbourhood and campus hub.
Unique sky gardens create landscaped indoor / outdoor environments that capitalise on natural ventilation and solar access. Each contains multiple social interaction spaces encouraging student collaboration and wellbeing.
An invited international design competition for a prestigious residential towers project in Barangaroo South, set between the Casino and the commercial precinct.
The development comprises 750 units in three towers of 250, 210 and 107 metres in height.
A rectilinear design concept proposed the façade as a ‘clear glass’, crystal-like surface for visual transparency (both externally and from within), lightness and clarity.
It expresses the volume as three ‘impossibly’ slender vertical glass billets, concealing the bulk within. The towers are expressed as clear, simple but powerful forms which highlight a singular idea, ensuring they stand apart as iconic and memorable structures within the complexity of forms of adjacent buildings and within the city as a whole.
Located north of Beijing near the Great Wall of China, this exclusive vineyard resort is a premium development in all respects.
The 100 hectare site sits in rural land sheltered by a mountain range. A gradual approach along an 800 metre avenue heightens the sense of arrival.
The expressive gesture is of long walls with sticks on top, and a skewed metal tube resting jauntily on the sticks. The buildings are configured to follow the land contours. Submerged into the landscape, they come into view as a succession of stack stone walls.
The resort comprises a state-of-the-art winery, cellars, wine tasting facilities and related tourism facilities: art gallery, premium quality restaurants, day spa and conference venue.
Stage one includes 33 luxury clubhouse villas, each with a generous floor plan of some 1,500m², and a 6 Star, 60 suite boutique hotel.
Located in Yantai city centre, Yantai City Plaza creates a new urban neighbourhood with high density residential and a mix of retail, entertainment, commercial and recreation facilities.
Built over two stages, the redevelopment is focused on a series of highly activated laneways and a central pedestrian atrium street.
Stage two, currently in design, comprises 60,000m² of retail space over four levels above ground and 21,000m² in a retail basement. The design comprises eleven blocks accessed via a network of pedestrian lanes. At the centre of these blocks, a major north south spine or pedestrianised main street links the development. Above, 200,000m² gross floor area is accommodated in four residential towers, the tallest being 200 metres high.
Adelaide, Australia
Project 2002 – 2009
The Kuningan Place is a three tower development consisting of two apartment buildings, one named Infinia and the other Ultima, and an office tower named Lumina.
The development also consists of a 1,200 seat auditorium.
The Nanning Gateway is a strong statement for visitors travelling into the city from the airport. Viewed while pulling away from toll gates, the design presents a pair of monumental sculptural flowers flanking the freeway.
However, driving along the route, one of the flowers deconstructs into a series of petals projecting from the embankment to the right. It is revealed to be an optical illusion, an assembly formed from the precise visual alignment of separate elements spread over several hundred metres.
This transformation of static sculptures changes the gateway into a dynamic space/time experience, exploiting the unique opportunities available to the moving observer. This approach is quite different to a static installation.
Each petal becomes an individual sculpture in its own right, constructed from coloured, perforated metal panels to be partially transparent, creating a sense of movement from the moire patterns formed by the perforations.
A central aspect of Denton Corker Marshall’s South Bank masterplan, the Arbour is a kilometre long architectural / sculptural installation, providing a physical and visual link between the many facilities of the South Bank precinct.
Sinuous steel posts, up to ten metres high, support a bank of purple bougainvillea, either above, to the side, or entirely enveloping the curved path. The juxtaposition of the various post configurations creates a diversity of spaces from tight and enclosed to wide and expansive. Overlapping steel panels form a plated yellow ribbon canopy along half the Arbour’s length.
A total of 406 galvanized steel posts are spaced at four metre nominal centres. Composed of three parts, each with three variants, there are a possible 108 different permutations to the post profiles. Advanced CAD modelling and a modular system of components were utilised to aid design and construction.
A limited area masterplan study for the main campus of Monash University in Melbourne.
Inflated in scale, abstract in form and brightly coloured, the composition of modern urban installations along the CityLink freeway from Melbourne’s international airport makes for a memorable entry into the city.
The composition is a huge urban sculpture; a powerful and dynamic salute welcoming visitors. Its gesture is dramatic, elegant and designed to be read at the speed of a moving car.
From the northern approach, what appears as a closed-off red wall quickly reveals itself as a giant ‘picket fence’ of 39 red sticks, a permeable screen of sculptural elements in the landscape.
A raked yellow beam cantilevered 70 metres over the roadway, is a symbolic archway – the modern urban equivalent of the universal boom gate in the up position.
A sinuous orange sound wall tilts over at 12 degrees and becomes vertical before tilting backwards. At around 10 metres high and half a kilometre long, it is the symbolic city wall.
The Bolte Bridge was constructed as part of the CityLink project; a ‘Gateway’ to Melbourne and a series of tollroads and tunnels completing an inner ring road.
The bridge is 490 metres long and consists of twin in-situ pre-stressed concrete box girders with two main spans of 173 metres and side spans of 72 metres.
The visual composition consists of two simple gestures: a blade leaping across the river, and two slender silver sticks, 120 metre high, marking the centre point and proclaiming the presence of the bridge across the city.
These huge sticks are not joined to the main body of the bridge, they are symbolic portals and city scale companions to the Gateway.
Bridge cantilevers are expressed as red wedges and, with the metallic silver aerofoil edge and closely spaced blue-white lights, draw an elegant and distinctive line across the Yarra River.
The Hoppers Crossing Station works are part of the Old Geelong Road Level Crossings Removal project incorporating a new passenger station interface, public pedestrian bridge and road-over-rail structures over the rail corridor and Princes Highway.
The station bridge and interface design resolves technical, maintenance, and construction considerations while responding efficiently to stakeholder initiatives from UDAP, LXRP, MTM, DoT and the Wyndham City Council. The design maximises safety and connectivity while delivering a distinctive transport network threshold and fitting community asset.
Key design outcomes include:
Slender blade structures help to visually thin the structure over the rail, as a floating element, extending out north and south. Similarly, blades frame the lift shafts as vertical elements that extend up into the sky.
Building on the expansive screening requirements for the rail corridor, the ribbon is a tool to help wrap and unify the screening around the structure. This is most evident along the eastern edge as the screens wrap up the sides of the stair and link across the bridge.
Components that do not feed into the above functions are treated as recessive forms. Dark, horizontal linear bands are set into areas like the plant room, between the lift shaft and under stairs to play down these areas and help emphasis the primary elements.
Integrated art within the floor of the bridge, are supersized graphics inspired by historic rail tickets and locomotives. The bold colours complement the restrained monochromatic architectural expression.
Situated on the Werribee rail line, approximately 18 kilometres west of central Melbourne, the Aviation Road level crossing is located in the suburb of Laverton and municipality of Hobsons Bay City Council. Laverton is primarily residential in nature, with a smaller commercial zone and industrial uses south of Aircraft Station. Aviation Road Neighbourhood Activity Centre is one of three main shopping areas for the local community with direct connection to public transport and the Princes Freeway.
Following an extensive community consultation and multi-criteria assessment process, LXRP recommended a Road-Over-Rail solution to remove the Aviation Road level crossing.
The architectural design addressed the specific characteristics of the site, resolved technical engineering and constructability considerations and responded to stakeholder inputs, including UDAP and the local community. This included maximising safe and efficient connectivity into and through the underpass and delivering a distinctive architectural solution within the considerable pragmatic constraints.
Embracing the location’s unique character, with its strong past and present associations with aviation, the urban design concept suggests aeronautical references. This was achieved through abstracted form and materiality, while reimagining the precinct with a contemporary design language for the future.
Denton Corker Marshall is currently acting as Architectural Lead for the Western Project Alliance series of level crossing removals in the western suburbs of Melbourne.
The first in the suite of projects, the Kororoit Creek Road Level Crossing Removal Project (LXRP) references the industrial nature of the site. The cladding is envisaged as a robust series of tubular battens, directly referencing the tubular forms of pipework and chimneys of the nearby Mobil refinery.
This bold device delivers an elegant and distinctive sculptural expression, noted by the State’s UDAP as an exemplary solution to the rail-over road conditions.
The Cherry Street Level Crossing removal project is one of a series of grade separation projects undertaken as part of the Western Program Alliance for the Level Crossing Removal Authority.
Located in the centre of Werribee, Victoria, 28 kilometres West of Melbourne at the end of the metropolitan rail line, the existing level crossing was particularly complex with a mirid of urban, utility and rail constraints.
Denton Corker Marshall was involved from the onset of the project, providing key material and feedback on Urban Design considerations for each strategic option.
Following extensive community consultation and multi-criteria assessments the recommended outcome for the site was a two-part project.
The grade separation and realignment of the road as a new road bridge to the east and a new urban renewal site at the existing crossing with grade separate pedestrian access under the rail.
With Werribee experiencing rapid growth and densification of the last 20 years, the design draws on the value of the wide green wedge that the rail corridor provides.
Materiality comes from a natural palette to reinforce this and provide relief for residents from the surrounding densification.
A key challenge for the project was developing an underpass design that would feel safe for users. The design addressed this through catering for multiple desire lines, delineating users with materiality, providing generous width spaces, opening up the excavation walls to maximise access to natural light and enabling clear sightlines for users throughout.
The Werribee Street Level Crossing Removal Project is one of a series of grade separation projects undertaken as part of the Western Program Alliance for the Level Crossing Removal Authority. Located in Werribee, approximately 29 kilometres South-West of the Melbourne, the Werribee Street Level Crossing is currently used by significant number of vehicles daily, connecting the large residential growth area north of the Werribee rail line with the City Centre and the Princes Freeway to the south. Denton Corker Marshall were engaged to address key Urban Design details, from project conception through to delivery.
Following an extensive community consultation and multi-criteria assessment process the LXRP recommended a Rail-Over-Road solution. The urban design solution focuses on integrating the natural and built language of Werribee into the architectural response. The delivery scope included an architectural screen along the viaducts and treatment of the approach structures, whilst also being heavily involved in strategic and engineering interfaces.
Owing to the site’s prominent location between key arterial roads – Ballan Road, Geelong Road (Princes Freeway) and Werribee Street – the design response assists wayfinding by creating a gateway threshold over the road, reinforcing a sense of arrival into Werribee. The colour schemes and geometric forms were derived from and aim to complement the Wyndham Park redevelopment and natural elements within the parkland as the elevated rail removes a barrier between the park and the northern community.
Denton Corker Marshall led the infrastructure architecture and urban design on the winning proposal for the $5.4 billion East West Link (EWL) in inner Melbourne.
With extensive infrastructure experience, including the adjacent Melbourne Gateway, the practice was uniquely placed to deliver innovative solutions for this visually and socially sensitive project. The team embraced the physical characteristics of the engineering structures while striving to address visual and physical impact upon adjacent spaces.
The concept of ribbons was developed as the motif for the project, as abstract strokes rising and falling, appearing and disappearing, revealing and concealing. It unified both the project’s individual components and the broader road network, when combined with a ‘Route Tagging’ concept. Coloured ribbons appear at strategic locations to provide visual cues with the EWL green tagged to the eastbound routes, orange signalling CityLink and yellow marking routes to the city.
In association with Hassell.
Denton Corker Marshall led the urban design and landscape consultants as part of a multidisciplinary team on this two year study for Adelaide’s most significant inner-urban corridor.
Described by the SA Integrated Design Commissioner as ‘exemplary’, Denton Corker Marshall developed an urban design evaluation matrix based upon world’s best-practice and Infrastructure Australia’s Urban Design Protocol.
The preferred design option incorporating sections of lowered road, cut-cover tunnels and elevated structures was taken to 30 per cent level of detail – sufficient for business case submission, stakeholder engagement and reference design for subsequent stages.
The study achieved government endorsement and Federal financing shortly after completion in early 2013.
Denton Corker Marshall provided architectural and urban design services for the major upgrade of this critical electrical facility within a sensitive inner-Melbourne precinct. Our design responds to the two distinct character areas neighbouring the site and embraces their differing demands.
The character of the design to the north and west of the site is modest, unassuming and visually recessive. The concept design uses a digital print cladding of abstracted foliage that is applied to the elevations of the 66kV and 22kV buildings. A parapet extends beyond the base height of the building and uses perforations to feather the outline of the building form into the skyline. The objective is to minimise the visibility of the new additions by producing a camouflage effect.
The character of the concept design to the south and east sides of the site is distinctive, engaging, visually attractive, and creates a positive interface between the private and public domains. The 220kV is only visible to a distant and fleeting audience, with key views from the freeway and southern bank of the Yarra River. The concept involves an outer skin of perforated metal that produces a graphic pattern according to the varying size of the holes. Colour-change LED lighting within the ‘Lantern’ delivers further visual interest and flexibility at night.
The south elevation is split into two cubes to break up the visual mass and diminish visual bulk. The metal outer skin creates an attractive and active interface with the public domain, and is accentuated by the moving observer of the freeway with play of light and depth.
The CSIRO commissioned a masterplan for the rejuvenation of an existing developed site and consolidation of its facilities in Canberra onto the Black Mountain Campus.
Denton Corker Marshall led the urban design input into consecutive projects integrating light rail, bus, cycling, intermodal stations and transit oriented developments along this key route in the nation’s capital.
Following completion of an initial study in 2011 focussing on bus transport, the design team was recommissioned to undertake the Northbourne Avenue Transport Corridor Study, investigating integrated land use development and modal options.
The studies produced a detailed business case for consideration by ACT Government, and material to support a future submission to Infrastructure Australia.
A seven storey building to house the Syme Business School and the Peninsula College of School of Management comprising lecture theatre, two study theatres, seminar rooms and accommodation for administration functions.
The Lower Hatea River Crossing design proposal consisted of an opening bridge across the river approach to Whangarei. Denton Corker Marshall designed it as a physical and visual gateway to the city, reflecting the strong local tradition.
We therefore proposed that cultural references be an integral part of the built form, influencing the massing, structure and skin in equal measure. The design incorporates a ‘through-structure’ spanning between the riverbank and the opening section. The truss is rolled inwards over the road at the highest point to provide enclosure and form a rigid arch at the mid-span. Perforated panels are formed around the truss to create a smooth skin and allow graphics to be permanently displayed on the surface.
Our initial concept adopted a traditional Maori motif based on the curvilinear form of Manaia, in the expectation of consulting with stakeholders during the design process to arrive at the most appropriate expression. This stakeholder-driven solution maximises community ownership in the design.
A limited international design competition, since abandoned, for a landmark pedestrian bridge in the expansion zone of the historic city of Hangzhou – Jinsha New Town. Also shortlisted were Zaha Hadid Architects and Grimshaw Architects.
A 44-storey prime office building accommodating a leading commercial bank.
Having inherited four basements and a four-storey skeleton from a previous, abandoned design, Denton Corker Marshall re-designed the building to create a prestigious commercial landmark.
The design concept is robust yet highly flexible, consisting of horizontal glass boxes that increase and decrease in height and length. When a decision was made to change the initial use of the building from hotel and serviced apartments to offices, the floor to floor heights were extended in the upper half of the boxes without having to radically alter the composition of the original design.
Environmentally sustainable design features include east west orientation of the building to minimise exposure to eastern and western sun, a sophisticated double glazing system and a sewage treatment plant to recycle waste water.
A 16-storey office building for the Government of Indonesia.
Located near Merdeka Place in Jakarta, the project takes the shape of a series of interesting solid and transparent boxes. The longitudinal office accommodation of the building was orientated to minimize exposure to the eastern and western sun.
A large auditorium, exhibition hall and library are open to public access. This complex project required tight security and the relocation of numerous trade agencies from other buildings.
Denton Corker Marshall was commissioned to design this central urban space for the City of Melbourne as the result of an architectural competition.
Set on the city’s ceremonial axis, the urban square reinforces the relationship between the Town Hall and St Paul’s cathedral. The square has a dominant civic image, with a small service and retail component in its precinct.
Extensive water features and fountains form an integral part of the design.
A 19-storey office development near the Beijing Zoo, on a 0.8 hectare site, adjacent to the Nanchang (formerly Jade) River.
The 70,000m² building is the most significant part of a 14 – 15 hectare redevelopment comprising a total of 360,000m² of residential, commercial, retail and recreational space.
The sculptural form of the office tower creates a notable landmark in its urban setting. The building’s visual bulk is reduced by breaking the form into finger elements stepping up within the height limit.
The distinctive striped appearance of the façade is created with horizontal window panels of dark and silver glass interspersed with strips of titanium-coated aluminium composite panels. Large clear glass ‘urban windows’ further disguise the apparent scale.
Brisbane Square is a landmark building located in a key urban position fronting the Brisbane River and North Quay, with direct links to Queen Street pedestrian mall.
The 37-storey office tower and podium of 65,000m² accommodates Brisbane City Council offices and public library, with retail facilities and a public plaza, as well as commercial office space for the building owner.
Designed as an important social and cultural hub for the city, the ground plane is dedicated to the public domain. Shops, café and food outlets at street level open onto a public space in front of the neighbouring old Treasury building. Floating over the plaza and providing slashes of colour are four low-rise linear stick buildings housing the council library, customer service centre and other office space.
The tower sits six-storeys above ground and has two distinct sections. Yellow sticks set the top ten levels apart for use by the owner, while a perforated sunscreen over the glass façade demarcates the Council offices.
A five-storey, 25,000m² commercial office building sitting over the Queen Victoria (QV) retail complex in central Melbourne.
The building, located over a four level retail complex, was required to exhibit its separate identity, together with its own ground level address. To this end, it was designed as simple, elegantly detailed rectilinear forms, floating in strong contrast to the somewhat chaotic forms of the retail building below.
Where the ground level identity and address is needed, the foyer is visually connected to the floors above by distinctive inclined columns supporting a complementary transparent box form.
As a building that resides in an urban roof-scape, it is widely visible from surrounding city buildings at a distance. Its presence in this environment is emphasised by configuring the plantrooms as large colourful stick forms placed, seemingly casually, on the roof.
The tight streets and high land prices in Hong Kong’s Wanchai district result in correspondingly small sites.
To maximise the plot ratio on the 16 x 20 metre site, two 30-storey needle towers – sticks – lean against a blade containing fire escape stairs and services. Despite being only 8 x 8 metres when combined, the two towers provide usable floor plates of 160m².
Formally, the objective is to make the tower look thinner and taller by making it read as two stick towers, and to heighten its eccentricity, providing presence and identity in a context of buildings clamouring for attention.
The towers are clad in glass and metal, producing a tight, crisp skin. The metal plates are apparently riveted and the frameless glazing is set on the same plane. The shafts of the towers start directly out of the ground. The effect is of machine-like extrusions.
Entry is designated minimally by a hole punched through the skin and the addition of a simple projecting canopy.
A link bridge and lift core between two existing teaching buildings.
Denton Corker Marshall was commissioned via an international competition to design the redevelopment of an entire city block on the site of Australia’s First Government House, in the heart of the financial and legal precinct of Sydney’s central business district.
The design includes two commercial buildings: Governor Macquarie Tower and Governor Phillip Tower; the new Museum of Sydney; the restoration of two groups of heritage terraces and two public plazas.
Governor Macquarie Tower, is a 46 level commercial office building providing 60,000m² of space. The building sits as a companion to its neighbour, Governor Phillip Tower.