Studio Premise

The program for the proposed Macquarie Street Justice Centre is based on a high rise building which provides accommodation for multiply justice and ritual settings in a civic setting. Our project brings focus to the architectural design of the following settings: • Coroners Court (4 courts@160-220sqm area) and associated Forensic Pathology Facilities • Land and Environment Court • Drug Court • Dust Diseases Tribunal • Medical Tribunal • Mental Health Tribunal • Industrial Relations Commission • Settings for ICAC and Royal Commission hearings.

This project is located in the Circular Quay / northern Macquarie Street precinct (bounded by Albert and Philip Streets), an urban context stepped in early Sydney Town waterfront history, character, legacy and topography. Buildings located on the site include the heritage listed Justice and Police Museum (originally the 1856 Water Police Court) on the corner of Albert and Philip Street and the 1896-1898 NSW Department of Health Building (previously the Venereal Diseases Clinic) on the corner of Albert and Macquarie Streets The latter building was incorporated into the Ritz Carlton/Stamford Hotel development in 1988-1990. More recently, in advancing its 2030 vision for Sydney the precinct was identified by Sydney City Council for attention. The former NSW Health Building and the Police and Justice Museum buildings maybe incorporated into student’s graduation project proposals.

The Graduation year consists of two studio courses, one in each session. This session it is called Research Studio, concerned with the continuously evolving process of architectural design as a complex, interdisciplinary, discursive enterprise of interaction between research led design and its practice as an architectural design proposition. The emphasis in Research Studio is on in depth evidence based investigation, creative ‘designerly’ architectural design conceptualisation, strategy, synthesis and its representation, with students presenting their Project Propositions in Week 12.