ACA - Qld/NT Roundup
It’s been busy at ACA – Qld / NT lately! We present a roundup of activity and introduce two committee members.
ACA QLD/NT welcomes new members:
- ArchitectureXchange Pty Ltd, Doonan
- The Architecture Office Pty Ltd, West End
- Biscoe Wilson Architects, Albion
- Jim Fitzpatrick Architect, Cairns
Meet the ACA – Qld/NT Committee
We are pleased to introduce members to two of ACA – Qld/NT’s committee members – Charmaine Kai and Don Marshall.
Charmaine Kai
Charmaine co-founded 8i Architects with Hieu Nguyen in 2005, where she is responsible for a diverse range of government, commercial and medical projects.
In the 9 years prior to establishing 8i Architects, Charmaine worked at Colin Trapp and Associates and Husband Leith Architects. These small offices enabled her to develop a strong background in architectural documentation, consultant co-ordination and contract administration.
Charmaine specialises in client liaison, project briefing, concept design and construction phase administration by leading project teams from concept design through to Practical Completion.
Recently, Charmaine’s experience has focused on Health IVF facilities including North Lakes Day Hospital, Monash IVF, North Shore Medical Centre in Townsville, as well as Courthouse refurbishment projects for the Department of Justice and Attorney General.
Outside of 8i Architects, Charmaine has a strong interest in architectural education and research and its relevance to architectural practice. She was a published research assistant and guest lecturer at the Centre for Subtropical Design and tutored architectural design, architectural history, interior design and Thesis supervision at UQ and QUT. Charmaine is currently an APE examiner for the Board of Architects Queensland.
Don Marshall
Don is a partner at ThomsonAdsett. He has worked on a wide variety of architectural and urban design projects, including large-scale projects in health and aged care, tourism, commercial, and aucation. Throughout his career he has been involved in all areas of architectural practice from schematic design to on-site contract administration.
As a result of his extensive experience in the healthcare industry, Don has played a key role in building and maintaining ThomsonAdsett’s health projects portfolio, working on major metropolitan and regional health projects in Australia and overseas.
From 1994 to 2000, Don managed ThomsonAdsett’s Central Queensland office. After relocating to Brisbane in 2004, he was appointed national Design Director and later Managing Director of Studio 39, a subsidiary boutique design studio specialising in urban design, mixed use and community based projects. Don was instrumental in a number of projects delivering sustainable design outcomes, including Port Central 1 at the Port of Brisbane, which obtained a 5-star Green Star rating from the Green Building Council of Australia and received the Beatrice Hutton Award from the AIA Queensland Chapter.
Don has a keen interest in urban design, and has been involved in master planning and mixed use projects offshore and in Australia. He is an Urban Design Alliance (UDAL) QLD committee member, and is also actively involved in masters rowing and recreational sailing.
QUT’s Creative Industries Precinct and Site Tour
Bruce Forrester, Director, Bickerton Masters Architecture
Last month members of the ACA were invited to a guided tour of the QUT Creative Industries Precinct 2 development, a project undertaken by a joint venture between Richard Kirk Architects and Hassell.
The brief for the project was to create a new home for the different creative faculties (Music, Dance, Drama and visual Arts). This was achieved by the architects through a new build along with the adaptive reuse of the adjacent heritage listed buildings. The entire development, known as Creative Industries 2, works in conjunction with the first stage (Creative Industries) to define the creative precinct.
One of the key ideas behind the project was for the building to be transparent and for the works and activities of the different creative faculties to be on display. These ideas are quite evident in the design; from the large expanses of glazing that provide views back to the city to the viewing windows that offer the public a small glimpse into the life and activity of the facility. Class 2 off-form concrete is used throughout the building along with large amounts of glazing. Timber elements are used where people engage or interact with the building which not only contributes warmth to the building, but also assists with wayfinding. We finished the visit with a walk through the heritage buildings which had been repurposed as a workshop and series of gallery spaces. The tour was a rewarding experience for all who attended.
2016 Deep Knowledge Award Winners
Congratulations to Cottee Parker Architects, winners of the 2016 Deep Knowledge Award on 4 November. This highly-contested event saw nearly 60 attendees vying for the top score. Special thanks to Robert Wesener, Quiz Master and ACA Qld/NT Vice-President, for putting together the rounds of questions that were challenging, thought provoking and entertaining.
Thank you also to the practices who hosted tables and to our Corporate Partner representatives for your continuing support. Start preparing your staff for next year’s challenge which will be on Saturday 21 October 2017!
