52 Goulburn Street
Similarly, 380 St Kilda Road in Melbourne has just been revitalised, transforming the ground floor lobby, retail tenancies, collaborative spaces and public and tenant amenities. The asset renewal improves the overall experience for people using 380 St Kilda Road, while extending the life and ongoing viability of the building.
Architectus Principal Marko Damic also recently completed a case study on converting an outdated Sydney office building into a contemporary mixed-use tower, that incorporates a range of Build-to-Rent apartments. Completed with contributions from Arup, a life cycle analysis and carbon assessment of this conversion conveys a powerful message about urban renewal.
In the tertiary sector, we’ve recently revitalised the University of Melbourne’s brutalist style Block D building on its Parkville Campus to support the growing Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology. Architectus has brought new life to this older building, transforming tired office space into contemporary laboratories and digital learning spaces, allowing the faculty to thrive while awaiting more extensive planned redevelopment.
University of Melbourne Block D Adaptive Reuse
2/ Lowering upfront carbon
We’re looking at how we can reduce carbon in fitouts, focusing on strategies that minimise both embodied and operational emissions across our projects.
Our recently completed Sydney studio provided the perfect case study. Evaluated by external carbon planner Slattery, it’s an industry-leading example of a low carbon fitout.
Slattery’s findings indicate it has saved 119,402 kgCO2-e or 119.4 tonnes of carbon, compared to a business-as-usual fitout.This figure is equivalent to the emissions produced by approximately 14 return flights from Melbourne to London, or emissions sequestered by 1,974,322 tree seedlings grown for 10 years.
In broader terms, our Sydney studio fitout reduced upfront embodied carbon by more than 60% versus an average CBD fitout.
We achieved this result by employing a range of sustainable initiatives including the reuse of furniture and workstations, and low carbon materials such as timber and linoleum.
We’re also working with tools such as one-click LCA, which we use to estimate the upfront carbon of a building. This tool is a great way to help us understand the embodied carbon content of our schematic design proposals before and after interventions are introduced and ensure sustainable outcomes are optimised.
Architectus Sydney Studio
3/ Electrification of buildings
As Australia moves towards a net-zero carbon future, all-electric buildings will become commonplace.
We’re seeing an increase in property owners converting buildings from gas to zero emissions and are looking at precinct-scale sustainable interventions.
Gas equipment contributes significantly to greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution, both during combustion and throughout its supply chain, leading to a mass shift towards electrification.
We’re pleased to see this movement taking shape in new and existing buildings, including the new Melton Hospital – set to become Victoria’s first all-electric hospital, enabling carbon neutral power use from day one.
We also recently completed a project to de-carbonise an entire university campus to help achieve their net zero target by 2035. Our team was tasked with finding exact points where major energy hub interventions could service the surrounding buildings, allowing the whole campus to be electrified.
Melton Hospital
4/ A spotlight on social sustainability
Human health and wellbeing are at the heart of everything that we do. Social sustainability continues to remain a top priority in all projects, with a particular focus on diversity and inclusion.
We’ve added neurodiversity to our sustainability framework, recognising the importance of catering to the varied sensory and cognitive needs of neurodivergent individuals.
We’re already making strides in this space and are keen to step it up in 2025.
In recently completed fitouts for Allianz, we designed with neurodiversity in mind, offering a range of spaces for both socialisation and respite, along with adjustable lighting, giving individuals a choice of settings to suit their needs.
Allianz Brisbane Workplace
The Roma Street Station upgrade, part of Brisbane’s Cross River Rail project, enhances accessibility and inclusivity by transforming Platform 2 and the subway connecting to the Roma Street Parklands. Guided by insights from the Cross River Rail Accessibility Reference Group, the design prioritises intuitive wayfinding, tactile paving, accessible furniture, and systems that benefit all passengers, including those with disabilities.
Our Aviation and Digital teams developed a groundbreaking A-UX inclusive design tool to help people with a disability or neurodiversity build confidence to move through complex environments. It’s already being trialed at Australian and international airports.
Architectus is also contributing to valuable research on inclusive school design through a University of Melbourne LEaRN initiative. The work will generate more evidence-based guidance for architects, educators and policy makers involved in designing or modifying mainstream schools to make it easier and more fulfilling for students with disabilities to participate.
Thomas Dixon Centre
On top of this work, we’re proud to have two projects receive International WELL accreditation over the past year – Thomas Dixon Centre and Array at 1 Eden Park Drive. The WELL Building Standard recognises spaces that advance human health and wellbeing with a people-first approach to buildings, organisations, and communities which includes diversity and inclusion.
The Thomas Dixon Centre was the world’s first performing arts institution to receive Platinum WELL Certification and Array received WELL Core Platinum Certification – the highest level possible under the WELL Building Standard for health and wellbeing.
5/ Materials matter
We’re placing greater emphasis on the products that we specify. Sustainable materials play a crucial role in reducing embodied carbon, supporting circular economy principles, and minimising environmental impact.
As signatories to Australian Architects Declare, we are assisting with the development of Product Aware, an online questionnaire and database tool being developed by a collective of Australian design firms. It offers a platform for suppliers to declare the credentials of their products so that we are better informed when specifying materials.
In-house we’ve started to implement a traffic light system – green if the product has been assessed by Product Aware, orange if it is in progress, and red if it has not been assessed. In addition, we are looking to specify products that have Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs).
We’re also looking at circular economy principles and shifting the thinking away from demolishing fitouts. Our interiors team is trialing an approach on a couple of projects where a specialist company assesses every element of an existing fitout to determine what can be reused.
Internally, a simple but important step we’re looking to introduce is renaming Demolition Drawings to Existing Conditions Management Plans – shifting the mindset from waste to reuse.
And when it comes to waste, we’re proud to be involved in the Green Ceramics project. This partnership with the UNSW Centre for Sustainable Materials Research and Technology (UNSW SMaRT Centre) is converting demolition waste into beautiful, commercially-viable ceramic tiles.
We look forward to sharing more exciting sustainable design initiatives and ideas as the year unfolds!
