Swanbury Penglase

open house day

Emma — Tue, 15 May 2012 00:06:41 +0000

Swanbury Penglase is taking part in Adelaide’s ‘Open House Day’ event, on the 19^th and 20^th of May as part of South Australia’s History Festival ‘About Time’. Open House Day will showcase Adelaide’s best in heritage, working and cutting edge design. On Saturday the 19^th we would love to see you at Flinders University, 182 Victoria Square, where SPA designers will be conducting tours of the educational facility and discussing the challenges of working within a heritage listed building. Click here for more information about the event.

Adelaide Gaol

Emma — Mon, 14 May 2012 00:29:52 +0000

SPA were engaged by DPTI to document and oversee conservation works to one of Adelaide’s oldest institutions and most significant heritage sites, the Adelaide Gaol. The scope included seismic bracing to a series of brick chimneys, the cleaning, rebuilding, stabilisation, consolidation and repointing of the Yard 3 & 4 Cell Block south wall, the South East Tower & the famous Hanging Tower. The lantern over the Remand Cell Block has been restored and repainted. The internal walls of the towers have been repainted and sections of deteriorated stone window sills and reveals have been replaced. A few previously bricked-up windows on the South East Tower have been reinstated, dramatically enhancing the internal space of what used to be a residence for the overnight guards. The project recently reached practical completion.

As part of South Australia’s History Festival, Adelaide Gaol will be open to the public for self guided tours throughout May, Sunday to Friday, 10am to 5pm. Click here for details.

zero carbon house challenge

Emma — Mon, 14 May 2012 00:27:06 +0000

Zero Carbon House Challenge

Andrew — Wed, 09 May 2012 02:32:43 +0000

Team Swanbury Penglase was shortlisted as one of the four finalists in the ‘Zero Carbon Challenge’, a competition run by the Land Management Corporation (LMC) in partnership with the Integrated Design Commission (IDC) to design a family home for a small site in Lochiel Park. The main criteria for the design was that it achieved ‘carbon neutrality’, meaning that any carbon emissions associated with the materials, transport and operation of the house (for 50 years), be offset by on-site power generation and the purchase of carbon credits.

To this end, the Team Swanbury Penglase design successfully achieves a balance between a low embodied energy, lightweight insulated envelope and a restrained use of mass materials to achieve a 9.1 star Accurate rating. Of particular importance to this rating are the internal water tanks which take advantage of the thermal capacity of water to stabilise temperatures while having virtually no embodied energy.

To achieve the $300,000.00 construction budget, the design relies upon current construction techniques which are typical in the domestic housing industry and hence cost effective. Minor variations to these ‘industry standards’ have been made such as the use of 120mm wide timber studs in lieu of 90mm wide, a small but important variation which enables a significantly high insulation level to be achieved in the external walls.

The design also exhibits a high level of flexibility, both within the current building envelope, and as a design which is easily adapted to other sites and conditions.

CBC Junior Campus

Andrew — Tue, 08 May 2012 05:40:56 +0000

From early extensive brief development and thorough master planning the opportunity presented by the government BER process allowed Christian Brothers College to help replace their dilapidated Junior Campus with a new, state of the art facility, which takes on numerous 21st century pedagogies and is designed around the interplay of shape, colour, texture and light.

The new school has been designed over three levels based around two wings to help create individual grouping of students and locates the administration between for better connection. Large breakout spaces up the entire building and to all external areas, including a roof play area allow informal student groups to expand to.

The campus also includes a new flexible and playful resource centre, a multi-functional performance area, ‘Da Vinci’ & kitchen studios and a small prayer chapel on the top level.

The use of innovative, sustainable and recycle materials with an array of active and passive features help to achieve a healthy, comfortable low energy environment to allow the students to interact with their new sustainable environment.
Across the entire school, the specifically designed, comfortable and colourful furniture contributes significantly to the 21st century function and creates an inviting, comfortable and stimulated learning environment.

CBC Junior Campus

Andrew — Fri, 04 May 2012 00:28:40 +0000

The campus also includes a new flexible and playful resource centre, a multi-functional performance area, ‘Da Vinci’ & kitchen studios and a small prayer chapel on the top level.

Emma — Thu, 03 May 2012 07:14:09 +0000

SPA are the proud winners of the South Australian 2012 Red Cross ‘Battle of the Suits Challenge’! The challenge was to have the highest percentage of staff donate blood against other organisations of a similar size between February 14^th and March 13^th. 14% of SPA’s staff are registered blood donors. Together, South Australian organisations made 109 donations during this challenge – saving over 300 lives. Click here for information about how and where to donate blood.

In July/August this year the South Australian Blood Service will move to a new state of the art donor centre in the Regent Arcade. The centre, designed by SPA’s interior team, will be the largest in the country and will provide a convenient location, longer opening hours and an improved experience for South Australian blood donors. Watch this space for more details about the upcoming opening of the Regent Donor Centre.

UniSA Mawson Lakes

Andrew — Thu, 03 May 2012 02:04:45 +0000

Working in association with Melbourne based John Wardle Architects, the M2 project provides state of the art facilities for postgraduates and local and overseas researchers in the fields of Materials and Minerals sciences. Occupied in part by staff from The Wark and Mawson Institute, the project provides an approximate equal amount of laboratories (including a Class 10,000 Cell Therapy Suite), teaching spaces and administrative areas.

With a high level of audio visual and IT infrastructure included in the brief requirements, opportunities have been explored to greatly improve and enhance methodologies of teaching and learning, with all areas capable of visual interconnection. At the heart of the floor plan, a ‘Theatre in the Round’ provides an innovative and immersive teaching and learning experience, enabling researchers to effectively exchange ideas and impart them to student and others.

Acting as a new ‘iconic’ entry building to the campus, the building facades are expressive of the materials and minerals disciplines and will ensure a striking contribution to the built form of the Mawson Lakes Campus.

flinders university victoria square

Andrew — Thu, 03 May 2012 00:33:38 +0000

In 2009, Flinders University became the first local university to join the other international institutions in Victoria Square by establishing a CBD presence. Their new home is situtated in a modernist landmark, the former home of the Reserve Bank. The fitout incorporates a retail style ‘shopfront’ on the ground floor, housing the International Office staff and providing a point of contact for the first floor facilities.

The first floor accommodates 4 lecture and tutorial spaces, a student hub, staff work area and an executive boardroom and office suite.

As a new venture for the University, long term flexibility was a key requirement, with the ability to open the spaces out into a larger, multipurpose area. A high level of technology is integrated into the space with multiple screens, speakers, cameras and projection equipment ensuring all types of teaching styles can be catered for. The executive boardroom has full video conference capabilities with the site linked back to Flinders home at Bedford Park via optic cable.

The fitout has three distinct areas – the ‘shopfront’, which reflects the heritage character of this new location, the teaching spaces that are warm and bright to encourage and enliven students and the staff and executive facilities which utilise and elgant and sophisticated pallette distinguishing them from the other areas.

regent blood donor centre

Andrew — Wed, 02 May 2012 06:32:22 +0000

When the Red Cross Blood Service commissioned Swanbury Penglase to design a new donor centre, it was in the context of a drive to attract new donors and make the process of donating blood convenient and as much as possible a pleasurable experience.

The new centre was to be the biggest in Australia and located in the heart of the CBD accessed from the busy Regent Arcade running between Rundle Mall and Grenfell Street.

Blood Donor Centres are required to be licensed by the Therapeutic Goods Administration who have established a range of strict compliance requirements related particularly to atmospheric temperature and infection control. The centres are subject to stringent audits and commissioning processes which occur over a period of up to 3 months before donors can use the centre.

A range of stakeholders within the Australian Red Cross Blood Services were engaged to provide detailed input to and audit of the concept design and detailed documentation before work on site commenced.
An abstract representation of blood circulation provided the basis for planning and conceptual design ideas while a recurring theme of positive and negative components, influenced by positive and negative blood types, is evident throughout the fitout.

Colour and finishes were selected to create a warm and inviting environment and challenge aesthetic expectations for clinical environments.