The inspiration for the Kurintar Resort stems from the site itself. The undulating landscape informed us of the bigger design strategies and masterplan. On our initial site visit we noticed a dried up stream that ran across the entire site. We decided to revive the stream and placed all the villas along the stream. The stream also acts as a natural cooling system for the entire resort.

There were plenty of bamboo groves around the site so naturally we decided we make bamboo a central aspect of the construction material.

The main idea for this property was for the building to blend in with the surrounding landscape. The entire exterior is clad in stone from a nearby quarry. Over time the stone will paine and take the same character as the landscape. All the timber for the interiors is locally sourced pine wood.

The architectural tectonics takes reference from the traditional homes of the Manang Valley. The push and pull of the forms create various degrees of visual interaction and relationship between various parts of the building as well as with the surrounding landscape.

Perched on the northwest hills of Pokhara overlooking the city each villa is designed and situated to have an uninterrupted view over the city. All eleven villas have ample outdoor spaces with a view of the city while still maintaining privacy from each other.

Landscaping was another crucial design element in creating a community that felt like a world of its own but still part of a wider community outside. The lush landscape creates an inviting gesture making residents feel like they are on a vacation in a tropical jungle.

The interiors are warm, clean lines and minimal with hints of traditional elements infused into the design.

Raya is a unique small bakery cafe tucked in the laneway of Little Collins Street serving handmade cakes and snacks with a twist.

Raya celebrates South East Asian heritage through traditional nyonya kuehs, cakes, pastries and made to order sandwiches, as well as some other creative new additions all made in house, run by a family and friends team led by “unqualified baker and shaker” accounting graduate turned Insta-baker Raymond Tan. Some of the motifs, patterns and colour pallette take reference from the South East Asian background.

The 24-seat cafe is warmly lit, with birch plywood finishes, a banquette along one wall, a communal table that can be used for workshops, and an open kitchen with stainless-steel pots, pans, and baking trays piled high.

“The brief was just to create a space that is like an extension of my apartment kitchen,” Tan says. “My home is pretty much full Ikea, but in the shop, it’s a bit more lifted. I just wanted it to feel really comfortable like you’re walking into someone’s kitchen.”

Photography: Kate Shanasy

Nomad Hotel is designed as a ‘haven, respite and a gathering place for urban explorers’. It is designed to be a living room away from home, workshop away from the office where guests can interact with the staff and with each other in an array different spaces, each with its own character. The ground floor is designed as an open plan with the freedom to move between spaces without having to open any doors. This gives the impression of the space being a large open living room or an open workspace. The interiors were an attempt to combine the clean minimal aesthetics of the mid-century modern era together with the traditional characteristics of local materials, artifacts and craftsmanship. The fusion of these two seemingly different yet similar styles allowed us to create a warm, inviting and simple space with attention to texture, tactility and mood of the spaces. Architectural hardware such as the wardrobe handles, door handles, room signages and pendant lights were all handcrafted by local artisans. Local natural black slate is used at the entry walkway, the reception counter and the fireplace in the lounge room. The old marble flooring in the common areas are maintained giving us a neutral palette to work with. This neutral palette gave us the opportunity to add colour and texture through the rugs we selected. All the rugs are locally sourced and hand-made in Nepal.

Piano Piano is an Italian tapas bar and restaurant on the ground floor of Nomad Hotel. The bar counter is placed in the center of the space, being the main focal point. The design intent here is to create a stage where there is constant interaction between the bar staff and the customers; be it about, the ever-changing menu & drinks offered or a casual conversation. Being adjacent to the main street it was important to create an atmosphere that would entice the passer-by to drop in, even if it's just for a drink. To achieve this we were very mindful while designing the lighting for the space. We wanted to create an atmosphere that acted as a transition point, an in-between space, between work and home. Hence, the lighting is soft & subtle, in the warmer tones, using brass pendant lights in the bar area and large custom paper lamps placed at the center of the curved openings.

This small cultural museum is part of a hotel in the mountain region of Manang in Nepal. The owner of the hotel has an extensive collection of old artifacts from the region that he wanted to showcase to tourists trekking in the area. Having only a small area of 100 sqm in between two accommodation blocks the main design intention was to maximize space to display the large collection of artifacts. Hence, the layout is designed like a maze with vertical plywood panels allowing for ample vertical surface to display all the items. The plan is designed to allow the patron to have the opportunity to curate their own journey through the museum as opposed to having a singular experience of the space. The simple large interior volume is broken into a mezzanine level on the north end to create more floor space. Most of the building material is locally sourced, stone for the walls from the local stone quarry only 500m from the site, mud for the plaster render from the surrounding fields and timber from the nearby pine forest south of the village.

The cafe and art gallery is designed around an existing mango tree. The courtyard in between the two programs creates a spill out space for both the cafe and the art gallery when events are held at either spaces. Being part of a mixed-use development the aim of the design was to create an open, transparent, fun and inviting space. The large bi-fold windows that run across the perimeter of the cafe allows ample natural light to flood the space and also facilitates natural ventilation. This design move also blurs the boundaries between inside and outside. Hanging indoor plants in colourful pots fill the ceiling forming a green blanket over the dining space. This further adds to softening the threshold between indoor and outdoor space.

Re-purposed from a run-down residential building, The Museum Kathmandu attempts to preserve the heritage of Nepali traditions by moving them forward in an artistic and contemporary way. Made up of six rooms, each room features a long held Nepali tradition or heritage, from khukuri Knife crafting to ancient craft of wood carving. Being an old brick load bearing building, we were limited to the amount of demolition and had to work with the existing walls as much as possible. However, we were able to carve out 6 rooms, all with attached baths within the existing skeleton of the building. Careful attention is given to the material palette; using local, natural, organic materials and recycling or up-cycling old material when possible. The old clay tiles from the roof are reused for the flooring of the rooms and new ones bought where needed. The beds are made using old wooden pallets. All the furnitures and rugs are made locally using cane, bamboo and straw. The lights are made from handmade Nepali paper that compliment the natural material palette used throughout the building. The large yellow signage and row of bamboo that run across the perimeter of the building was a response to the site context and adjacent programmes. Being part of a larger masterplan that houses a cafe, art gallery, restaurant, retail outlets and parking, the signage and bamboo act as a screen to create a secondary layer of privacy for the guests on the ground floor rooms.

A first of its kind, Bagels Kathmandu is the first Bagel pop-up shop in Nepal with the simple aim of serving New York style bagel.

Being part of an outdoor foodcourt the front facade was the only design element we could play with. The design strategy was to keep the facade clean and simple to allow the products on display to be the focal point.

The facade is divided into two half, one is rendered in black where the products are displayed and the other in timber where the door and ordering counter is.

The scheme for this proposal takes the new typology of cannabis architecture and marries it with traditional religious architecture of Nepal; a stupa in this case. Acknowledging the historical importance of stupas and temples in the rituals and traditions that take place in Nepal.

Placing the cannabis bank in the centre of a public park presents a playful contrast of the medical and recreational notions of cannabis.

The form takes reference from the stupa and is placed on raised platform to signify the importance of the building and what it stands for. The interiors are divided into two levels. The upper level functioning as a dispensary, flexible hall and visitor centre and the lower level where consultancy and other administrative work takes place.

Nepal, over the last two decades has gone through immense change and transformation. The Nepalese people have had a ringside seat to a massacre of royals, a decade long civil war, a people power uprising, return to absolute monarchy, they have witnessed deadly floods, avalanches, landslides and recently an earthquake.

This project takes into account these events and histories, not merely re-living it by remembering but transforming the memory into something entirely new and affirmative, introducing a sense of hope, something that has new possibility, the project aims at rediscovering Nepal’s past at the same time opening a door to a brand new architecture and a new sense of national identity that is deeply rooted in its values and tradition that connects the past and present. It is also an exploration of how an experience of a particular place and culture can be conceived as an important architectural instrument that starts to question how the reconstructed buildings and spaces incorporate daily life.

The formal strategy for the masterplan as well as the architecture is derived from the gestural notions of draping, cutting and stitching. These constructive metaphors are used as tools to generate new forms of living, moving and resting in space, a start to new ways of thinking, shaping and using space. On a macro level different parts of the urban fabric and infrastructure are stitched together by creating thoroughfares and walkways through and across the site.

In the same way that the country is reincarnated with a new constitution and a new political system these monuments and temples that were destroyed during the earthquake are reborn as a new form in a new context through the process of draping. These new forms generated became the starting point for the architecture. Programmatically, the site accommodates the parliament house and ministry offices at the centre, a place where the citizens continue their debate and discuss on what Nepal is and what it should be. The Parliament house from a distance seems to be emerging out of the earth, symbolising the birth of a new consciousness. A National Library, education and learning centre, a place where knowledge is gained and where future leaders are nurtured, an arboretum, a lake and a large un-programmed undefined public park, these two become places for people to reconnect with nature and remember their relationship with the land, it also becomes a place for citizens from all walks of life to experience and use and if not exactly encounter each other in conversation, at least be seen and acknowledged as fellow citizens. Museum to preserve our rich traditional culture and history and a cricket oval that serves cricket as well as other sports.

The political exists everywhere as long as there is a difference, a conflict, or an opposition to something. So the recognition of the enemy (understood not as inimicus but as hostis) becomes critical for the political to exist. Hence, to host the hostis the public realm becomes the foundation for the establishment of political thought and action.

My proposition for Bentleigh emerges from this idea of difference. This division of value works on various levels. It brings to light the local communities’ reaction to the new housing policy and demographics change that is currently occurring in Bentleigh. Additionally and more importantly, my own attitude towards this change is manifested in the proposition. I certainly encourage change but a change that is not blind to local culture and history, a change that still speaks of its time, place and values. The current developments that are taking place in Bentleigh and the surrounding suburbs in Glen Eira are hideous. Like plain, lifeless stacked boxes or a blank book they lack character and personality, they are void of any stories about the place and its people. The proposal seeks to bring back these often-ignored stories and memories.

The notion of an architectural sublime and other notions of architecture’s ability to evoke emotions through memory can be linked to its ability to tap hidden or repressed memory of the unconscious mind, often creating uncanny experiences where the archaic is reinvented, giving new meaning to the old; making the unfamiliar all too familiar or vice versa. This proposal seeks to draw an architectural language and approach that is deeply rooted in the history, lived experiences, the shifts in culture, demographics and the current nature of Bentleigh and its people.

The design for the research laboratory uses the painting, Minotaur with dead mare in front of a cave as a source for the design. Rather than it’s meaning or symbolism, here the composition and posture of each of the figures are taken into account as the starting point. 

The strong stance of the Minotaur in contrast to the frail posture of the mare is used to guide the nature of the structural elements; strong heavy concrete at the bottom and light steelwork supporting the accommodation pods above the main laboratory. The space in between the pods and the main building is seen as the gaps in between the figures as well as the veil of the lady on the right who has an overall filtered view of the event taking place. Similarly anyone staying in these pods would have a thorough view of the dolphin pools and the surrounding environment. 

“We stop projecting our ourselves and desires onto the bush. Instead, Australians should try to understand it as it is, and as it can be, while also owning upto the damage they have done to it, as well as to the people their ancestors found there.” The Bush, Don Watson

In the same way Don Watson describes The Bush and the Australian people’s relationship with it, this masterplan for a Dolphin Park explores the stories we like to tell ourselves about the Dol- phins and those we prefer to forget. There is a lot about the beauty of the Dolphin, the loss of it, and what we can do to get it back. It is about us acknowledging our wrongdoing to the Dolphins.

The journey across the land is carefully curated to remind visitors of the stories of the past, both with their relationship with the land, the people, the animals (dolphins in this case) and life itself. It is about rediscovering all of these with new light, with hope and with optimism to make clear what our identity is as a race as well as a nation. 

Visitors experience with the Dolphin change as they move though the park tapping into the various senses. Within the park are other amenities such as an amphitheatre, water treatment plant, an educational centre, a sanatorium and a research laboratory. The last two programs explores the idea of Dolphin Therapy and how we as a species can benefit from the Dolphins in an ethical and just manner.

The aim of this proposal was to design a pavilion that would be bold and dynamic, reflective of art and it’s impact in culture and society while mak- ing a statement of Basel’s flourishing art scene.

The main circular structure, through the use of partitions, allows for the pavilion to be a versatile space that can house functions ranging from exhibitions, to talks and receptions with open floor plan. Niches on the wall are oriented towards Basel’s various points of interest and provide a passive means of information which visitors can access internally and externally. The roof replaces the green space that the pavilion rests on. It’s connections to the street and to the Tinguely Fountain Plaza allows for activities to be spilled over in both directions. The mounds and valleys on the landscape provide incidental spaces where people can interact and the colours of the turf only further enhances the vibrancy and boldness of the Pavilion.

The masterplan for the Gasworks site aspires to be a landmark in Launceston, providing the public with various opportunitues for social interaction and activities. The plan respects the historical context of the site and certain parts are reintepreted to enhance the site planning and circulation.

Most of the old building is kept intact and juxtaposed with the new elements that give visitors a sense of the old and the new. The Agora is the main public area with all the activities surrouding it. The cafe and the skate bowl are placed at the edge facing Cimitiere St. to engage with the public.

The centre will comprise of high quality, functional spaces enlivened by dynamic relationships between the various aspects of the program, including: the external civic spaces; design and production studios; exhibition, teaching spaces, retail spaces; and spatial provisions for the public for social interaction and participation.

“The house has not only physical but also psychological sanctuary. It has been a guardian of identity”
Juhani Pallasmaa

The Boyd’s home aims to provide not only a physical shelter but a shelter for the mind and soul. The house is planned according to a hypothetical family of four who enjoy outdoor living but also want the capacity to close down an indoor living space to keep warm in the winter that maximises solar gain.

The house is designed taking into consideration the orientation of the sun during the summer and winter months, the prevailing winds and the view out to West Launceston. It is also arranged to allow the family to discover their own pattern in using the house and eventually call it a home.

The act of worship has almost always been synonymos with the use of natural light. The essence of natural light in itself is somewhat sacred and has an uplifting, jubulant message of hope, healing and restoration. The design for St. Paul’s Church was derived taking into consideration various aspects such as context, functionality and the community.

The main aim of building a completely new house of worship was to reach out to a wider horizon and serve the community. Natural light is extensively used to maintain the sacredness of the space, and to elevate the presence of God within the spaces.

The Glass House is a sustainable, organic restaurant and retail outlet that strives to bestow diners with a diverse array of dining experiences. The main aim is to find a right balance between a commercial restaurant and an environmentally friendly one. It is also set to alter the image of the restaurant industry as well as transform the way in which people dine out.

Various antonyms were used as the driver for this project, such as insertion and extraction, stacking and interlocking. Using these the spaces are explored and exaggerated to give customers a unique dining experience.