Public Housing and Pattern Books – two shortlists to note for November

This second Bluefields* bulletin contains updates on the F. Gordon Wilson Fellowship for Public Housing and the Pattern Book Design competition that the NSW State Government is running in 2024 – as well as a few news clips and a pointer to some free resources of interest to urbanists.

The F. Gordon Wilson Fellowship for Public Housing

Chosen from 27 entries, three proposals have been shortlisted for the 2024 F. Gordon Wilson Fellowship for Public Housing. Summaries for each proposal read as follows:

LEASE THE LAND | Created by Kamelia Haydon, a development manager at Kāinga Ora, Lease the Land proposes a leasehold solution to deliver more affordable social housing. By looking at local developments, as well as overseas social housing developments that are a combination of public private partnership with the land leased to a developer, Haydon proposes investigating a guide for government agencies and private partners on how to create new, successful lease-based social housing.

WRECKING BALL OR REFUGE? | Princess Margaret Hospital in Ōtautahi Christchurch is the focus of Shaw & Shaw Architects’ proposal. The four-strong group proposes transforming the earthquake-damaged building into a multi-generational, mixed-tenure living environment. The research will also investigate how this adaptive reuse could be used as a blueprint for other sites across Aotearoa New Zealand. Team members include architects Geordie Shaw, Emma Shaw, Mikayla Exton and Johanna Smith.

PAINT THE TOWN BLUE | Inspired by Bluefield development, an urban infill housing model developed in Australia, architect Patrick Kelly’s proposal looks at how it could be applied to unlock Aotearoa New Zealand’s public housing potential. Employed by Breathe Architecture in Melbourne, Kelly is keen to apply his architectural experience to the Bluefield model to ascertain how Aotearoa New Zealand could densify and improve existing public housing developments.

The shortlisted candidates will present their ideas related to unmet housing needs to the jury composed of Huia Reriti, Dr Kay Saville-Smith, Marko den Breems, Peter McPherson and Julia Mandell (granddaughter of F. Gordon Wilson) in October. The recipient/s of this year’s Fellowship will be announced at the New Zealand Architecture Awards on November 22.


The NSW Pattern Book Housing Design comp

An international Pattern Book Housing Design Competition to design terrace houses and mid-rise apartments for 21st century NSW opened in July and has now proceeded to shortlisting.

The competition is led by Government Architect NSW* (GANSW) and aims to “engage the best architectural minds to develop housing ideas to support more diverse housing choice and help fill the gap between detached homes and high-rise apartment buildings” – sometimes called the ‘missing middle’. (See its design objectives here: Better Place: an integrated design policy and also Good design for housing).

Out of 212 submissions, the competition jury shortlisted 15 professional and 6 student finalists, who now have a very tight timeframe of mid-October to prepare detailed housing designs that are “liveable, buildable, cost effective, sustainable and meet the needs of the industry and local communities”.

InternationallySpacecraft Architects (Caroline Robertson and Tim Gittos) of New Zealand have been selected for Stage 2, along with Site Office – in collaboration with Schlaich Bergermann Partner and Christos Diplas Studio – Germany, Italy, India, and Australia; and Mae Architects – United Kingdom.

Finalists in the Professional category from within Australia are:

  • Aileen Sage Architects in collaboration with TeoLam and Garigarra – New South Wales
  • Andrew Burges Architects – New South Wales
  • Angelo Candalepas and Associates – New South Wales
  • Archier – Victoria
  • Housing is a Verb – a collaborative team including Other Architects, NMBW Architecture Studio and TARN – New South Wales and Victoria
  • Includesign and Six Degrees – New South Wales and Victoria
  • Neeson Murcutt Neille, Finding Infinity and Monash Urban Lab – New South Wales and Victoria
  • Officer Woods Architects – Western Australia
  • Partners Hill – Victoria and Tasmania
  • Retallack Thompson Architects – New South Wales
  • Scale Architecture – New South Wales
  • Studio Workshop and Clare Design – Queensland and New South Wales

Student team finalists are:

  • Amanda Eessa – Western Sydney University
  • Chris Stelzer and Illiana Jones – University of Sydney
  • Cicely Brown, Angus Gregg and Finn Holle – University of Sydney
  • Georgia Reader, Angela Xu and William Badaoui – University of Sydney
  • Madeleine Gallagher, Poppy Brown, Kangyun Kim, Paris Perry, John Suh and Catherine Taylor – University of Sydney
  • Stephanie Wills, Lachlan Balia, Maya Welsch, Nathan Arceri – University of Melbourne

Winners will be announced in November 2024, accompanied by a public exhibition of their designs.


Urban news in passing: September clips
  • The housing crisis is global. What are other countries doing about it? – Guardian Australia 28/9/24
  • What is an inclusive city, who is it for and why do we need it? – LinkedIn | Ida Bigum, Gehl 17/9/24
  • The Hague becomes world’s first city to pass law banning fossil fuel-related ads – Guardian 13/9/24

Free Resources for the urban design community


PUBLIC LONDON – Activating the City
(99 pages – NLA, 2024)

This publication from NLA – New London Architecture – celebrates the 20th anniversary of the London Festival of Architecture by looking back over the period 2004-2024. It intersperses nine essays with five ‘viewpoint’ pieces titled: Inclusive public spaces; Rewilding the city; Art to activate public spaces; The role of meanwhile projects in placemaking; and Powerful partnerships: the key to London’s success. All rounded off with case studies and a project showcase, as well as a glossary, notes and further reading. You can download a copy if you create a NLA account here.

MEANWHILE CITY – How temporary interventions create welcoming places with a strong identity (160 pages – Milk, 2022)

Published by Milk, an international collective of designers, visual artists and visual storytellers, Meanwhile City was researched and written by Petra Marko and Radim Lisa. Its intention is to offer “actionable lessons, best practices and inspiration for city leaders, urban practitioners and private developers, who aim to effectively use temporary interventions to communicate with the public, shape the identity of places and build active communities around them”. PDF available to download

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* Source: https://substack.com/@bluefields

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