Think Tank |
Much More to Good Books Than Their Covers
There are numerous examples of building design where clever approaches to the building façade create a striking aesthetic result.
Susan Playford
6th Oct 2015
What elements make the world's coolest offices?
Given that we spend so much time at work, it’s little wonder that stories and images of the “world’s coolest offices” grab our attention.
Susan Playford
17th Aug 2015
Why aren't 'mixed use' developments more common?
Decades after we began talking about mixed use development, there is still only limited evidence of it being delivered. Australia is falling behind world trends, and with space in established urban centres at an increasing premium, it’s worth asking why we aren’t seeing more examples of genuine, high quality mixed use projects.
Susan Playford
13th Jul 2015
How landscapes can transform suburban business district appeal and add real estate value
The context and surrounding environment now has either a highly positive or highly detrimental impact on the value of the building - or an entire precinct – and it is landscape that plays a critical role in determining which it will be.
Nathan Clausen
13th Jul 2015
How documentation can make or break projects
The architecture profession is better known for its “glamour” side – caricatured as flamboyant artists wielding scale rules over drawing boards much as a painter might wield a paintbrush over a canvas.
Susan Playford
2015-06-15
Local flavours lost in the pursuit of international design 101
Excellence in design doesn’t mean reaching for the latest international design celebrity and superimposing their designs into an Australian context.
Susan Playford
11th May 2015
Aging retail ripe for renewal
Across Australia, there are hundreds of small to medium size shopping centres that have relied on the fact that tough planning restrictions have prevented completion of a newer facility opening down the street, or around the corner.
Susan Playford
16th Apr 2015
Architects must start valuing their own work
Architects, like doctors and lawyers invest many years gaining their tertiary qualifications, and spend long hours devoted to their craft.
Susan Playford
24th Mar 2015
Why economics will drive better green design
When the idea of sustainable or ‘green’ design first began gain industry attention in the mid-1990s, the imperative was almost entirely environmental.
Susan Playford
17th Mar 2015
Today's schools and shopping centres may be tomorrows aged care
The ageing of Australia is becoming a more frequently discussed topic, and so it should. In 1970, Australians aged 65 or more accounted for just eight per cent of the population. This rose to 13 per cent in 2001 and will rise to one in every four Australians by 2042.
Tony Farmer
17th Mar 2015
Queensland’s first private hybrid theatre
Queensland’s first private hybrid operating theatre at St Andrew’s War Memorial Hospital became operational on April 7th 2014. Designed by pdt architects, the $3 million hybrid theatre forms part of a $5 million redevelopment and upgrade of the hospital’s operating theatre facilities.
Mike Musil
17th Mar 2015
Retail’s renaissance proves clicks haven’t won over bricks
It was only a few short years ago when consensus seemed to be that traditional ‘bricks and mortar’ retailing was under permanent threat from ‘click based’ online retail. Like predictions of the paperless office, this bit of fortune telling proved to be a little wide of the mark.
David Evans
12th Mar 2015
Why rising urban density will demand more from landscape design
Our urban environments are becoming increasingly densified in two respects: there are more and more people living per square kilometre than before; and the private space these people are living in is shrinking.
Nathan Clausen
12th Mar 2015
Masterplanning the great suburban re design
The ageing of Australia is becoming a more frequently discussed topic, and so it should. In 1970, Australians aged 65 or more accounted for just eight per cent of the population. This rose to 13 per cent in 2001 and will rise to one in every four Australians by 2042
Susan Playford
11th Mar 2015
Why BIM has only just begun.
PDT’s BIM strategist John Coglan explains how initiatives associated with BIM are changing the industry and he predicts some monumental benefits that wider integration of BIM into urban environment modelling could bring in the near future.
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