 | RADARINTERIOR The big end of town. The RAIA South Australian Chapter has moved to new premises, with a fitout by Phillips/Pilkington. Sam Ridgway reviews the project and speculates on what this change in public profile might mean for the Institute and the profession.
Photos by Trevor Fox
| Review |
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Looking towards the entrance
from the upper level. The existing glazed barrel
vault is above, with the chequered wall enclosing
Archicentre to the left.
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The street face of the new RAIA premises.
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The main stair with the Simpson Desert red wall, which structures the fitout, beyond.
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The flexible spaces of the meeting rooms, with the red wall beyond.
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Archicentre reception.
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RAIA reception.
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The RAIA’s South Australian Chapter office
and Archicentre have relocated from the
suburbs to the inner city. They now occupy a
building refurbished by Phillips/Pilkington at
100 Flinders Street, previously the Fishcaf
restaurant. This represents two giant leaps
for the profession’s public presence in
Adelaide. Firstly the refurbishment itself is
very impressive, and secondly the new
location represents a physical and symbolic
move from the periphery of town to its
centre. Previously located on the suburb
side of the parklands in less than suitable
accommodation, the RAIA is now in the
midst of an emerging design precinct. This
contains many prominent architectural and
interior design practices along with several
excellent furniture and interior design
businesses, all within easy walking distance.
The Archicentre shopfront now has a steady
stream of people actually walking past it
instead of fronting a deserted stretch of
suburban footpath. Hopefully the central
location will also work well as a point of
contact for prospective corporate and
commercial clients, as well as those who
want an architect to design their new house.
The refurbishment and interior fitout itself
is striking and show cases contemporary
building materials, elements and systems,
many of which were supplied and installed
gratis as part of complicated sponsorship
arrangements with industry. The existing
building fabric has been largely retained
and upgraded, including part of a huge,
once-openable, glazed, barrel vaulted roof,
part of an earlier refurbishment under which
piscatorial delights were served. This vault
has been covered with perforated
corrugated sheet and polycarbonate to
reduce heat load and glare.
To create a separate shopfront tenancy,
now occupied by a swish lighting shop, a
skewed bisecting wall has been built to
divide the original volume, a bold and, from
a detailing point of view, tricky thing to do.
This wall, painted in Simpson Desert red,
becomes an organising device for the
spaces and activities on both sides. At
ground floor it creates a visual and
circulatory axis between back and front,
similar to an inner city laneway. In fact a
snippet of laneway elevations, including
graffiti, are visible from the entrance,
allowing a touch of grit to penetrate the
interior. Downstairs, the rear of the building
contains toilets, storeroom, a kitchen and a
meeting space that can be reconfigured with
a system of moveable folding room dividers.
The chapter offices are situated upstairs at
the rear of the building under a raised roof
with a curved perforated ceiling.
One of the most striking things about this
design is its use of intense colour,
something that many architects are wary of.
Here it is handled with confidence and
creates a vibrant ambience. This is not a
“tone on tone” colour scheme. Intense,
contrasting and complimentary may be
better adjectives to describe the extensive
use of both laminate and paint colours
throughout the building. In contrast, the
lighting shop next door uses a white interior
(with the exception of the dividing wall) with
splashes of colour created with light fittings.
While I am sure that most architects
and interior designers will understand and
enjoy the integrity and boldness of the
colour scheme, it is difficult to predict what
those seeking advice on residential
architecture will make of it. There is
certainly no attempt to create a “residential” ambience in Archicentre. This must be a
relief for those architects who end up with
referred clients as, by following this path,
these clients have already taken the first
bold step towards an architectural outcome
for their project. Only time will tell if the
hitherto architecturally unwashed, now more
likely to come into contact with Archicentre,
will also take the plunge.
Clearly one of the aims of this move to
the big end of town is to raise the profile of
architects and what they do. This will
inevitably raise issues with members and
non-members alike as to what image of
architecture the Institute is presenting to the
public. It will be interesting to see if there is
a shift in the ratio of members to nonmembers
among the architectural
community in South Australia as a result of
the move to a more commercial and
corporate setting. Industry sponsors of the
project can only be extremely happy with the
result and on balance it must be highly
commended. As an academic, it will also be
worth watching to see if the Institute now
capitalises on its proximity to both Adelaide
schools of architecture to offer students
more opportunities for involvement in its
activities and enticements to become
student members. In case any of them have
difficulty climbing the elaborate steel and
concrete stair to the chapter offices on the
first floor, as I did while researching this
piece (being on crutches with an injured
foot), I suggest that it might be a priority to
install a lift into the waiting lift shaft.
Sam Ridgeway is a lecturer in architecture at the University of Adelaide
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| Project Credits |
RAIA SA Chapter Offices
Architect Phillips/Pilkington—project team Michael
Pilkington, Susan Phillips, Nigel Miller, Suzanne
Hall, Amy Hallett, Darren Kaye, Matt O’Brien
Structural Engineer John Bowley Consulting
Engineer. Services Engineer Bassett Consulting
Engineers with Ashley Hallandal & Associates. Cost
Consultant Davis Langdon Australia. Construction
Manager Built Environs.
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