city
Events
What does a city made with care actually look like?
At Living Cities Forum 2026, Finn Williams, Ludwig Engel and Anupama Kundoo approached the future of cities through governance, adaptive reuse and material practice.
QLD
Living outside the box
At Northshore Hamilton, Plus Studio’s Danny Juric is looking beyond the apartment tower as an isolated object, drawing on mature trees, Brisbane’s subtropical climate and the rituals of outdoor living to shape Duet.
Workplace
Per atria ad astra
In the very heart of Sydney’s CBD, 1 Elizabeth is a vast civic-scale project that integrates workplace design, transport infrastructure, event spaces, and hospitality around some dramatic void spaces.
Workplace
Seidler, Nervi and fjcstudio walk into an office tower
Set within hallowed architectural surroundings amidst the ghosts of Harry Seidler and Pier Luigi Nervi, fjcstudio’s new Sydney home brings geometric clarity and a spirit of creative exchange to a challenging workplace fit-out.
Workplace
Softness balanced with boldness in Technē’s lobby fitness fit-out
The very first SFIDI fitness and wellness centre is a cutting-edge interior architecture fit-out designed to add impactful new life to the lobby of Melbourne’s Rialto Towers.
Events
Indesign Social Club kicks on in Melbourne with Reece
Born out of Saturday Indesign research, our new Social Club is a space for younger, junior designers to meet and discuss the issues of the day — and it just hit Melbourne for the first time.
Events
We talk to Anupama Kundoo ahead of Living Cities Forum 2026
As the Living Cities Forum returns to Sydney and Melbourne this August, Kundoo — appearing alongside international speakers such as Finn Williams and Ludwig Engel — tells us about time, abundance and care in her work.
News
“A moment of global significance”: Atlassian tops out in Sydney
Atlassian Central by SHoP Architects and BVN has reached its full structural height, marking a construction milestone for the 39-storey commercial tower in Sydney.
Project
A new mixed-use precinct for West London
TURNER’s first major UK project brings together more than 400 apartments, retail and communal spaces in a Brentford precinct shaped by view corridors and infrastructure.
Events
Reporting back from a Scandinavian design odyssey
Following a design pilgrimage through Copenhagen, Stockholm and Finland, FK’s Nicky Drobis reflects on 3daysofdesign, the work of Aino and Alvar Aalto, and why great design begins and ends with people.
Events
Copenhagen special: 3daysofdesign roundtable podcast is here!
Claire Delmar, Eva-Marie Prineas, Jason Gibney and Anton Assaad join STORIESINDESIGN to discuss the charm of Denmark’s capital city and their takes on 3daysofdesign 2026.
Events
3daysofdesign diaries with Jason Gibney
The Sydney-based director of Jason Gibney Design Workshop travelled to Copenhagen for this year’s Scandinavian festival of design, reflecting on what makes the event — and the city — so special.
Project
“Density can be done well”: JPW project increases social housing offering by 300%
As a significant renewal of an established social housing project, JPW’s recently completed Cowper Street Housing in Glebe, Sydney aims to bring sustainable and community-focused density to an inner city suburb.
Events
Led by designers: Casting a curatorial eye across Melbourne Design Week
Curator, writer and educator Kate Goodwin was in town for Melbourne Design Week. Here, she reflects on how light-touch organising and designer-led spaces created some of the most impactful, distinctive exhibitions.
Ideas
SyLon Report: Housing as infrastructure, housing in crisis
AFK Studios’ Earle Arney joined STORIESINDESIGN podcast last year to speak about SyLon. Here, we reproduce a summary on a recent report with NLA that builds on research into housing as infrastructure amidst a landscape of housing crisis.
Events
Designing density with character in our inner suburbs
Kerstin Thompson of KTA and Neometro Director Lochlan Sinclair discuss density, character and the inner city during a recent gathering in St Kilda East.
Project
Sydney Fish Market: Roundtable podcast with 3XN, BVN and ASPECT Studios
Fred Holt, Catherine Skinner and Louise Pearson join Timothy Alouani-Roby at The Commons to discuss Sydney’s new fish market just weeks after its grand opening.
Project
Melbourne Metro and the design heft of transport infrastructure
Ingrid Bakker, Principal and Joint Project Director at Hassell, discusses the wider importance of the “city-shaping” Metro Tunnel completed alongside WW+P Architects and RSHP.
Workplace
A lick of blue to welcome you – 440 Collins St designed by Studio Tate
A lobby upgrade of 440 Collins St demonstrates how a building’s street-level spaces can be activated to serve many purposes.
Ideas
Architecture, democracy and feeling at home in our cities
The built environment is all around us; would the average citizen feel less alienated if the education system engaged more explicitly with it?
Events
Ed Lippmann celebrates four decades of architecture
The eponymous practice founder reflects on four decades of work in a new book launched by Lord Mayor Clover Moore, tracing lessons from New York to Sydney and revisiting seminal works including 8 Chifley Square and the Andrew “Boy” Charlton Pool.
Ideas
Reimagining urban life through nature
In Naturalizing Architecture, Takada moves beyond biomimicry to propose a regenerative vision for the urban environment.
Project
“I don’t think we ever imagined it would be as successful as it is”: Ivan Harbour returns to Barangaroo
The Senior Design Director at RSHP reflects on Barangaroo South Masterplan during a visit to Sydney marking ten years since the completion of the first phase.
Project
Oyster terrazzo by the harbour
Pier Pavilion by Besley & Spresser provides a refreshing, architecturally thoughtful and versatile public space by the water at Barangaroo.
Workplace
Foster + Partners completes major commercial and transport projects in Sydney
Foster + Partners has recently delivered two significant projects in Sydney, working across both commercial and public transport infrastructure.
Events
A fresh take: Inside Adelaide Design Week
The inaugural Adelaide Design Week *everywhere unfolded across five days and nights, bringing together the creative community in a way that hadn’t happened before. Organiser and regular contributor Bronwyn Marshall gives us the inside story.
Events
Between Sydney and London: Earle Arney on Stories Indesign
The London-based architect was recently in Australia for SyLon, an event broadcast simultaneously in Sydney and London to explore housing solutions across both cities.
Workplace
Sydney’s multipurpose urban courtyard
Tzannes has completed work at The Brewery in Sydney’s Central Park, marking the culmination of an internationally significant adaptive reuse project.
Workplace
A workspace with many views: Mim Design’s in King’s Counsel
Mim Design and Konstance Zaharias collaborate to design an interior for a unique context: the chambers of a King’s Counsel in Melbourne.
Workplace
Civic activation at 55 Collins Street
Grimshaw has completed a revitalisation of Collins Place, adding new layers to an already historically and architecturally rich site in Melbourne’s CBD.
Events
Four architects discuss the NSW Housing Pattern Book
In this episode of Stories Indesign, architects from Studio Johnston, Sam Crawford Architects, SAHA and Carter Williamson discuss their involvement in the recently launched NSW Pattern Book.
Project
CLT cabin-hopping across Japan
Designed by PAN- PROJECTS, Earthboat is a series of mobile cabins set across the mountainous regions of Japan and built entirely with Japanese cedar CLT.
Project
BVN and OCULUS’s Pyrmont Place plans
A major urban renewal project has been proposed for Sydney’s inner harbour, with developer Landream revealing plans for Pyrmont Place precinct designed by BVN.
Events
Tadao Ando’s MPavilion to remain open until 2030
The Naomi Milgrom Foundation has announced that the MPavilion, designed by Tadao Ando, will stay in Queen Victoria Gardens for five more years.
Events
Open House Melbourne 2025: The packed program is upon us!
This year’s Open House Melbourne Weekend program has been unveiled, with almost 200 buildings, places and experiences set to open to the public in July.
Ideas
‘City Living: Neometro residents and works’
This new book tells resident stories about how good design creates liveable, high-density homes with socially led developer Neometro.
Project
A new precedent for ZARA’s future international projects
AIM Architecture’s new ZARA Asia flagship store located in the heart of Xinjiekou, Nanjing’s commercial district, raises the bar on the experiential for customers and takes the fashion brand to new heights.
Ideas
Ross Harding: What about the work-life balance of our cities?
The Finding Infinity Principal comments here on the question of balance in city life, with architecture and design highlighted as the key levers for making change.
Events
Ballarat’s UNESCO Creative City status drives craft renaissance and economic growth
With events such as Craft Lab and The Great Takeaway, the city of Ballarat is centring design and craft for an economic reawakening.
Events
Grimshaw in Venice
The 19th International Architecture Biennale has been on in Venice and Grimshaw’s latest installation explores the civic role of digital infrastructure in our cities.
Events
A history of Saturday Indesign: More than two decades of bringing designers and showrooms together
Saturday Indesign is one of the standout fixtures on the Asia-Pacific design calendar – but how exactly did it start, and when did it become so big?
Events
UNSW housing analytics lab launches in Sydney
A new analytics lab led by UNSW researchers will draw on generative AI in an attempt to tackle Australia’s housing crisis, and has opened with an event attended by the NSW Premier in Eveleigh.
Project
Hints of New York in Hammond Studio’s Sydney office renewal
Global e-commerce tech company ROKT has a revitalised, art-filled workplace in Sydney thanks to Hammond Studio’s reuse-focused design.
Project
Touring One Sydney Harbour with the Renzo Piano Building Workshop team
With the trio of buildings at One Sydney Harbour in full operation, our editor joined the visiting Renzo Piano Building Workshop team for a site visit.
Workplace
More than just a transitional space: Perth’s Palace Tower receives the Woods Bagot treatment
Woods Bagot has completed a lobby refurbishment inspired by the historic architecture of the Palace Hotel.
Project
How can architecture be a good neighbour?
As an entry to The Multi-Residential Building category at the 2024 INDE.Awards, NH Architecture and Bird de la Coeur Architects have achieved an exemplary outcome with a project that addresses the challenges of social and affordable housing.
Events
It’s all about CONTEXT
The Regional Architecture Association (RAA) is putting on an experience in Canberra in March 2025.
Events
From Expo 88 to AI: Buchan celebrates forty years in Brisbane
The Brisbane studio of global architecture and design practice Buchan is launching into 2025 by celebrating its forty-year anniversary and moving to a new studio.
Project
Built to rent, led by design
Fitzroy & Co is a case study in how thoughtful design can reinvigorate urban rental housing, with an authenticity that defies the ephemeral trends of the market.
Workplace
Hassell’s vision for Australia’s newest city in over a century starts with workplace design
In Western Sydney, Hassell’s First Building for Bradfield City Centre aims to be regenerative, adaptable and connected to First Nations culture.
Project
Floating roof marks Sydney Fish Market milestone
The new Sydney Fish Market, designed by 3XN Architects in association with BVN Architecture and landscape architects ASPECT Studios, has reached a major milestone with the final roof panel installed.
Project
The Joy of Books
In his seminal essay, Stéphane Mallarmé famously wrote: “Everything in the world exists to end up as a book.” Wutopia Lab embraced this ideal, conceiving Shanghai Book City as, quite literally, a vertical city made of books.
Project
“A turning point for Thai hospitality”
Dusit Thani Bangkok has reopened with a contemporary interpretation of its heritage by André Fu Studio, blending Thai cultural influences with modern design.
Events
Where Melbourne goes next
Looking to the future, NH Architecture has collaborated with RMIT Architecture and embarked on years of research to understand and anticipate the urban landscape of Melbourne.
Events
SANAA in Sydney: Interview with Art Gallery of NSW director
Michael Brand talks us through a new book on the architecture of Naala Badu, the culmination of Sydney Modern Project.
Project
Finding Brisbane’s 2032 sweet spot
With experience in the 2012 London and 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games, WilkinsonEyre is proposing a bold new vision to kickstart Brisbane 2032.
Events
Sydney-based architect is joint winner in Norman Foster Foundation competition
In a prestigious design competition for a site in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Jansen Che has been announced as one of three winners at the competition stage.
Ideas
“Density used to sound like a betrayal of the Australian dream”: Matthews Architects Q&A
Gerald Matthews of Matthews Architects provides insight on South Australia’s 2024 Future Living code amendment, focusing on co-located living.
Project
CONTEXT’s community park features First Nations art
A vacant plot in the heart of Wolli Creek in Bayside in South Sydney has been transformed by CONTEXT into a vibrant community park.
Ideas
Don’t demolish Flemington Estate, says OFFICE – ‘Retain, Repair, Reinvest’
Australia’s only not-for-profit architectural practice, OFFICE, is supporting the residents of Victoria’s housing estates in their fight to save their homes and communities.
Project
A win for high-quality housing with EM BE CE
EM BE CE’s competition-winning design for an inner-city affordable housing development achieves efficiency and durability without sacrificing elegant design.
Ideas
Troy Uleman comment: Sydney Metro and why we need more great stations
The John McAslan + Partners Sydney studio lead and director writes on the importance of transport infrastructure.
Ideas
Stories Indesign: MP Max Chandler-Mather on housing crises and the politics of architecture
In this episode of Stories Indesign podcast, Timothy Alouani-Roby speaks to Greens MP and spokesperson for housing and homelessness, Max Chandler-Mather.
Project
Story-telling in one of Australia’s largest public libraries
Yellamundie Library by fjcstudio in Liverpool, Western Sydney features an extensive array of options for community use, as well as a striking façade design.
News
A river-inspired tribute reshaping Melbourne’s skyline
Seafarers’ intricate façade, designed by FK, is set to leave a lasting legacy on Melbourne’s urban fabric.
News
Sydney Metro Central and Crows Nest Stations open to public
Part of Australia’s largest public transport project, the Sydney Metro Chatswood to Sydenham line officially welcomed passengers on Monday 19th August.
Ideas
Richard Francis-Jones: Whose city is it anyway?
Richard Francis-Jones, Design Director at fjcstudio, writes about the search for public space between the consumerism of commercial self-interest and the bureaucratic authoritarianism of the state.
Events
New crises, normal solutions: Innovative design prototypes on show at Powerhouse
Building on its beginnings in Melbourne Design Week, A New Normal is a new exhibition presented by Vivid Ideas Sydney at Powerhouse Ultimo.
Ideas
Bradfield City Centre, the climate-responsive masterplan aiming to green Western Sydney
Designed by TURNER, Hatch Roberts Day and Turf Design Studio, the Bradfield City Centre masterplan is the blueprint for a new CBD taking shape in Sydney’s west.
News
Te Kaha: From reuse to mixed-use at One Queen Street by Warren and Mahoney
Warren and Mahoney’s mixed-use project in Auckland is approaching full occupancy, with big plans across hospitality, workplace, retail and more.
Ideas
The dialectic of colonialism: Rethinking maps, remaking our cities
Dallas Rogers, Head of Urban Discipline at the School of Architecture, Design and Planning, University of Sydney, comments on the history of map-making in our cities.
Events
Parliament unites to champion urban design excellence in Australia
Designed to drive positive change, promote sustainable practices and cultivate inclusive communities, the recent launch of the Parliamentary Friends of Australian Design will champion the role of urban design in shaping the nation’s identity.
News
Hub by Hassell, the cutting-edge flexible workplace in Sydney’s CBD
The listed heritage building at 44 Martin Place has been transformed by Hassell for a flexible workplace offering defined by variety and high-end amenities.
Project
Decluttering Central Station for space, light and circulation
The Northern Concourse at Sydney’s Central Station, a significant infrastructure project in the context of the city’s evolving transport system, has recently been completed by Woods Bagot in collaboration with John McAslan + Partners.
News
Architectural rhythm builds with Carr’s plans for 623 Collins Street
Urban renewal which opens a dialogue from the past to the present; Melbourne’s Western CBD is on track for complete revitalisation.
Ideas
Comment: Susanne Pini on build-to-rent, the new place activator
In this comment piece, Rothelowman principal, Susanne Pini, argues that the build-to-rent model makes for a much richer mix of spaces in our cities.
Ideas
HDR comment: A decade of data-driven transformation
In this comment piece by Lin (Leo) Meng, computational design lead at HDR, we hear about the interface of data and design.
Events
Welcome to the Collective City: Open House Melbourne 2023 is here
The 2023 Open House Melbourne (OHM) has a new theme – Collective City. This year’s programme promises a unique range of activities that makes it stand out from earlier iterations.
Workplace
Executive style like you’ve never seen it – Sydney Place’s new exclusive workplace by GroupGSA
GroupGSA ups the ante on premium, flexible working with the launch of the Executive Centre Sydney Place, located within the landmark Salesforce Tower.
Project
From birdsong to crashing waves: The sound and vision of Vivid Sydney 2023
As Vivid Sydney wraps for another sensational year, Gillian Serisier spoke with Mandylights lighting designer Tom Wightwick, one of the incredible minds behind recent light events including Sydney World Pride (Opening Ceremony, Domain Dance Party, Rainbow Republic), Poem of the Eternal City (a major theatrical production in Uzbekistan) and this year’s Vivid.
Events
Three essential changes: NSW AIA criticises the state’s Affordable Housing Strategy
The NSW Chapter of the Australian Institute of Architects, led by president Adam Haddow, voices concerns about the NSW Affordable Housing Strategy, citing a risk of abuse for financial gain. The Institute advocates for permanent affordable housing, management by registered non-profits and a restriction on development approval times to deter land banking.
VIC
“Discovery and surprise”: Technē reinvents iconic Melbourne restaurant
In a project defined by bold juxtapositions in terms of lighting, finishes and materials, Technē has created new layers of experience for Lucy Liu restaurant in central Melbourne. Building on the original restaurant fit-out by March Studio, the redesign involved reconfiguring office spaces in order to provide a new private dining room area.
News
“The missing middle”: Contemporary terraces and the future of urban density
SJB is well versed in designing residential architecture and, while Ashbury Terraces might be a relatively small project in relation to Sydney as a whole, it provokes some fundamental questions about the future of Australian cities.
News
Inside the agency crafting Sydney’s third CBD
In our own backyard, the Western Parkland City Authority is tasked with creating Sydney’s third city, the parklands city. We speak with its CEO, Sarah Hill, about what it takes to shape a city.
Ideas
HDR’s seven megatrends that will define city-shaping in 2023
In this comment piece, HDR uses its considerable expertise across engineering, architecture, environmental and construction services to forecast the major trends this year. If you haven’t already read up, now would be the time to hear the global take on big-picture industry trends.
Ideas
Wellness-driven cities can be an antidote to loneliness
What makes a healthy town centre in 2022? HDR director, Alex Wessling, comments on how important it is for architects to place wellness at the very centre of neighbourhood and town centre design.
Ideas
The collision of new technology and energy-efficient skyscrapers
Now more than ever, it seems our skyscrapers are being designed to be as energy-efficient as possible.
Ideas
Why a Smart City? Let’s Talk About Energy Efficiency
What can smart technology can do to make cities more sustainable? Kim Tremblay reports from Schneider Electric on why we must change the way we manage energy in cities.
Events
Lamitak Opens a City Studio
TAK Products & Services has ventured out of Sungei Kadut and into the city with Lamitak Studio at CT Hub 2 in Lavender.