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.

Work on the Queen's Road Gatehouse has been progressing on site. The project is due for completion at the end of 2016

Following on from our winning design competition entry we have been working with Lend Lease and Fleetwood Urban on the realisation of 'The Beacon'. 

As an object The Beacon seeks to create a sense of urban significance through scale and materiality. The Beacon sits at a highly visible juncture between major desire lines at Barangaroo's Transport Place, calling for a civic marker that is memorable and sits comfortably within its high intensity urban context.

The fifth architectural structure on the Lune De Sang site, a multi-generational family pavilion, is nearing completion on site 

Jury Citation:
"The Goods Line has proven to be a critical piece of social infrastructure in our city through the provision of high quality open space, active transport and recreation all from the adaptive reuse of a defunct rail line. Its true excellence lies in the demonstration of the role the of the landscape in delivering a new generation of urban connectivity. The repurposed rail line completes a missing link in a piece of green infrastructure connecting Central Park, Darling Harbour and Circular Quay. It is also an enjoyable and very popular destination in its own right with shaded performance spaces, fun play areas and spots for quiet reflection." 

The first two shelters for the revitalised Parramatta Parklands has been completed and opened to the public. These structures are part of a larger suite of pavilions that are currently under construction.

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.

CHROFI has converted a nondescript 1980’s commercial building into a mixed use development, comprising of five, three bedroom, loft apartments with ground floor commercial.

The design addresses the existing building’s overly wide street address by inserting a juxtaposed architecture into one side of the building’s frontage. The profile of the existing structure has been extruded to the prominent street alignment to accommodate a protected outdoor dining area on street level.     

See the project here. 

The 12,300sqm Ray Street Precinct makes up roughly one fourth of the combined Turramurra Local Centre. The triangular site is the result of an orthogonally organised village centre that was at one point divided on a 45 degree angle by the North Shore rail line corridor. The site, however, abounds in assets. A train station, bus interchange, parking, library and supermarket have already resulted in an active village centre despite lack of quality public domain. The brief consists of a new library and community centre building, European scale public piazza, full-line supermarket, parklands, commuter parking and connections to existing rail network. The purpose of the feasibility study has been to determine how to self-fund the development by the provision of mixed use housing and retail tenancies.

See the project here.

Work on site has begun for the Harbord Diggers redevelopment 

Click here to see the project

CHROFI have recieved DA approval for a new 4 bedroom house in Mosman

Under UTS School of Architecture's 'Embedded Practice Model', CHROFI will be teaching 16 Masters students through an experimental tutorial model that engages multiple people within the practice to participate as tutors and mentors with a studio brief that seeks to that explore the possibilities of proactive architectural interventions on the built environment. 

Citation from Competition Jury Member, Michael Oliver, JBA Planning:
“The outcome of the design competition conducted by LEPC9 was the unanimous selection of a new master plan proposed by CHROFI the winner of the competition. The competition jury agreed that the CHROFI scheme offered a substantial improvement to the approved scheme in terms of the design, planning, development and community outcomes delivered”

Citation from Competition Jury Member, Andrew Andersons AO:
"This hilltop site has been hidden from public view for decades as a secure TV studio compound . The inspired Chrofi master plan unlocks its potential to create a neighbourhood of streets and small parks to create a distinctive " sense of place ". Working with the slope of the land , as in a Renaissance garden , Chrofi have created a sequence of outdoor green rooms , pathways and lookouts that connect with under - appreciated green networks and focus upon distant landmarks to create a public realm of diverse character . This ranges from the playful and active to the serene and contemplative, accessible to all. This imaginative "space positive" scheme creates a robust framework for the proposed high quality housing as well as enhancing the appeal of the surrounding environment for all to enjoy"

We were delighted to watch 'The Goods Line' bustling with life over the weekend as the fences came down and Sydney's newest public space was revealed to the community. The Goods Line is a collaboration between ASPECT Studios and CHROFI for the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority. 

Sacha Coles and John Choi, directors of respective offices had the opportunity to share the thinking behind the design with the public. Sydney Morning Herald, The Guardian & ABC Radio with host Linda Mottram.  

See the project here