Maitland Riverlink has taken out the 2018 Blueprint Award for Best Public Project with Public Funding in a tight field of exceptional international projects. The jury was similarly heavy-hitting, featuring David Adjaye, Amanda Levete, Ben van Berkel and Daniel Libeskind among others. Our colleague Susanne was on hand in London to receive the award. A deserving win for a great project with a great team.

A collaborative effort between GANSW, CHROFI, Tyrrell Studio and Hill PDA. Congratulations team!

Fantastic to hear that the new Harbord Diggers has taken out Development of the Year in the mixed use category at this years Urban Developer Awards. Just rewards to a great team Architectus,  JMD Design, Cerno, Ganellen and our wonderful clients Mounties Group!

We are very excited to see Stage 1 of the Harbord Diggers Redevelopment so close to completion now, with residents moving in in the coming weeks before the club's grand unveiling on June 30th.

It’s been a big week for the Maitland Riverlink which was opened officially on Thursday night by minister Scott McDonald and currently features on #architectureau

CHROFI are proud to see our urban strategy work on Gosford announced yesterday by the Minister for Planning and Housing Anthony Roberts and Lee Shearer the Co-ordinator General for the Central Coast. This collaboration with GANSW, TYRRELLSTUDIO and HillPDA is an exciting implementation framework to catalyse renewal for this regional city. 

The final structure in the Lune de Sang suite is now complete, a unique combination of communal space for the forestry workers and private dwelling for our incredible clients.

CHROFI is proud to announce that our very own John Choi has been selected as an independent expert member for the New South Wales (NSW) State Design Review Panel (SDRP) pilot program. John was appointed by the NSW Government Architect (GANSW), Peter Poulet, to the panel of 40 leading urbanists, landscape architects and architects to provide independent and impartial advice on design quality, recommendations and evaluation. The announcement, made today by the NSW Minister for Planning, Minister for Housing, and Special Minister of State, The Hon. Anthony Roberts, is one of the highest honours the GANSW can bestow.

“Having a diverse group of expert and experienced voices guiding the decisions of the Department will not only ensure that we continue to have a strong assessment process, but also ensure the community has an even greater say on the future direction of planning and design.” Mr Roberts said.

CHROFI, together with McGregor Coxall, has been successful in winning an invited competition to design a tourist interchange at Birubi Point, Port Stephens, within the Worimi Conservation Lands.

The Worimi Conservation Lands contain the largest mobile coastal sand dune system in the Southern Hemisphere. Beyond its physical attractions and adventure tourism offerings, it is also the native land of the Worimi people - a site rich in the living cultural history of its original inhabitants and custodians.

We are proud as punch to take home both the Nicholas Murcutt Award for Small Project Architecture for Lizard Log Amenities and a National Urban Design Award for The Goods Line. Go team!

We have just lodged a DA for an exciting new mixed use development in an area of Newcastle ripe for urban renewal. The idea is the project will act as a catalyst to boost street life and community identity in the neighbourhood. Watch this space.

We have compiled a series of images into a gif illustrating the rapid progress of the Harbord Diggers project over the past few months.

If you missed last week's episode of Australia By Design you can click here to watch CHROFI Director John Choi present Lune de Sang, an intergenerational venture that will see the transformation of a former dairy property into a sustainably harvested forest with trees that take up to 300 years to mature.

John's segment begins at 6min 55sec

We're delighted to receive 3 awards at this year's NSW Architecture Awards:

NSW Architecture Awards, Public Architecture
Lizard Log Amenities and Events Pavilion 

NSW Architecture Awards, Steel Architecture
Lizard Log Amenities and Events Pavilion

NSW Architecture Awards, Urban Design
The Goods Line

We now have the first glimpses of Mezzo in Glebe which is currently under construction. CHROFI along with Kann Finch were selected through a City of Sydney Design Excellence Competition for this site in Glebe, Sydney. The project includes 213 new homes including adaptable units, town houses and affordable housing units.

CHROFI's key design moves included the creation of a colonnade that follows the curvature of Wentworth Park Road to strongly reinforce the park edge with four hovering tower forms above. The podium and colonnade of recycled brickwork gives the street level façades a fine material texture, patterning and relationship to surrounding buildings. We are excited to see the completion of Stage 1 within a few months and Stage 2 having now started construction on site.

To see more of the project click here

Work has started on construction of the Maitland Riverlink, a civic project that aims to re-establish a positive relationship between the city and the river. For many years, Maitland’s town centre had turned its back on the Hunter River, disconnecting the main commercial and community activities from the amenity and outlook of the river. CHROFI, working with McGregor Coxall, identified an opportunity to reframe the relationship by attracting tourists and drawing locals back to the river through a dynamic architectural intervention.

The design comprises a brick arch with amenities and a restaurant tucked into its edges. Through the centre, a covered public space connects the High Street to the Hunter River and acts as a sort of ‘public living room’ for the community.

see more of the project here

We are delighted to announce the following new CHROFI appointments; Andrew Lamond (Senior Associate) , Fraser Mudge, Martin Tarnawski, Georgina Blix, Felix Rasch, Joshua Zoeller and Albert Quizon (Associates) who join Associate Jerome Cateaux. These new appointments represent the practice's growing capacity to deliver a diverse range of projects across different scales, complexities and typologies. 

There's a lot happening on site! Check out the latest timelapse of the Harbord Diggers Project!

CHROFI worked with the Government Architect's Office, NSW Public Works and Parramatta Park Trust on the alterations and additions to the Queen's Road Gatehouse at Parramatta Park. 

The original Queens Road gatehouse was erected in 1873. In response to the form of the existing cottage a simple gabled form extruded to accommodate the required floor space was developed. Physically separated by an entry path, the simplicity of the new form acknowledges and reflects the simplicity and humility of the existing gatehouse.

The new form’s gabled silhouette and lack of expressive detailing is intended to create a comfortable dialogue with the old structure whilst clearly and unambiguously defining itself as a contemporary layer to the site. The existing gatehouse is retained as the larger of the two dwelling-like structures and is anchored as the primary focal point of the composition. The new form and integrated landscape strategy knits together the diverse layers of the site, resulting in a pair of small, cottage-like buildings nestled within a garden, surveying the parklands beyond.

Work has begun on site on the Balmoral House. The house hugs the landscape, its form following the natural contours of the site and wrapping around to establish a secluded courtyard. Generous expanses of glass create light filled living while bringing the garden experience inside. The design was strategic in minimising privacy and view impacts on neigbours while maximising use of a constrained site and capturing glimpse views towards Balmoral Beach. 

The tender has been awarded and work has begun preparing a detailed BIM model for the complex steelwork to the vaulted roof canopy to the community pavilion. 

CHROFI have been working with the Laurelbank Masonic Centre to deliver a new form of community-oriented seniors housing that would be sensitively knitted into the local context and be closely integrated with the heritage-listed Laurelbank Cottage, a new Masonic Hall and the rich garden setting which characterises much of the site.

Following a successful community information session we are working towards an imminent DA submission 

See the project here.

The finishing touches are being applied to the Lune de Sang Pavilion. We are looking forward to testing out the pool! 

See the project here.

Jury Citation
"The Jury was impressed by the crafted relationship between the architectural form, identity and choreographed displays. From the outside the building presents as a translucent box of varying transparency that entices the visitor toward it in the manner of a landmark object sculpting out space. On arrival a glint of green slices through the form providing a tantalising hint of the verdant splendour of plants within. Entering at ground level the visitor is transported into a secret and fertile tropical world of exhibits that ultimately winds upwards through the internal void towards the sky-lit roof. At night the container glows softly as a mesmerising reminder of the rich story of all of Australia’s diverse species exhibited throughout the gardens." 

See the competition entry here.