We have received an Award of Excellence from the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, CTBUH Awards 2024. Awarded for Furtado Sulliavn’s competition scheme for the Hunter & Pitt site in Sydney for Milligan Group.
Worlds Tallest Hybrid Timber Tower Competition
Furtado Sullivan was invited to compete in a design excellence competition for the worlds tallest timber hybrid tower. The site at the corner of Hunter and Pitt is adjacent to the future Hunter St Metro station, in the heart of Sydney. We wanted this project to hold a sense of humanity, to elevate the physical experience and bring an indigenous soul to this significant part of the city. We believe tall buildings can offer all of this, and we welcomed the opportunity to design with a deep sense of belonging, of place and, in this process meet the aspirations Milligan Group has for this site.
Our tower proposal is a place inspired by Sydney’s rich history and local environment; a place for gathering, dialogue, recreation, and enjoyment, a place that leads the way for how we all want to work and live in the future. Creating an identifiable silhouette that is imbued with character and is experienced from within the building, within the city and in the skyline. The tower facilitates social exchange, by creating a diversity of communal break out areas and spaces that can ‘breathe’ at different stratum of the tower. An active public domain is achieved by maximising visual and physical connectivity to the metro, and elevating the commercial lobby to maximise ground floor retail. The journey of arrival is bathed in natural light, landscape and the enveloping scent of timber.
FURTADO SULLIVAN SUPPORTS INDIGENOUS VOICE
Furtado Sullivan supports the Uluru Statement from the Heart, and its call for Voice, Truth and Treaty. We acknowledge the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation, the traditional custodians of the land on which we work, we pay respect to Elders past, present emerging. We work in collaboration with First Nations Community, Elders and Artist on a journey of meaningful Connection with Country.
DAVID CHIPPERFIELD ARCHITECTS X FURTADO SULLIVAN
Coming together over lunch with some of the team in office of DCA London, where sharing a meal is tradition.
We have had the pleasure of working with David Chipperfield Architects on a Sydney project. Our collaboration always felt like a gathering of like-minded individuals with shared aspirations, imbued into the project.
We loved hearing about the values of the practice, and how this informs their work methodology, and has shaped the design of their future London office. We are looking forward to returning when the new office opens.
While the project has come to an end, the hope for future collaborations remain, and the friends we have made and the learnings we have gained will hopefully last a lifetime.
Furtado Sullivan in MILAN 2023
Every year the team at Furtado Sullivan takes 5 days out of its busy schedule to dedicate itself to exploring a different city.
We visit buildings, meet architects, roam galleries and experience the qualities of the cities streets. We want to invest in our people and we want to learn and grow as a collective, to see great work and have that learning inform our architectural approach and our design sensibility.
In 2023, we visited Milan. We began at the Salone di Mobile, and then went on to explore the Fondazione Prada by OMA, Bosco Verticale by Boeri Studio, Feltrinelli Porto Volta by Herzog & De Meuron, Apple Piazza Liberty by Foster + Partners, Biblioteca deli Alberi Milano by Inside Out, and some notable modern classics Pirelli Tower by Gil Point & Pier Luigi Nervi, Torre Velasca by BBPR, just to name a few.
The team returned with ideas we wish to explore in our future work.
WINNER OF DESIGN EXCELLENCE COMPETITION
Furtado Sullivan has won a design competition for two commercial office towers for Mirvac, located at Sydney’s Green Square.
A contemporary warehouse, to house the workplace of the future. The form and materiality of the towers draws inspiration from the precincts' rich industrial past. The typical office floor has a simple geometry featuring a side core and large clear floorplate to accommodate a variety of commercial opportunities. This arrangement offers structural stability, good circulation and servicing, and optimises the amount of floorplate with outlook and natural light.
A diversity of spaces within the tower have been created beyond the typical floorplate. A generous northern atrium opens up to Green Square, and extends the life of the plaza into the building. This light-filled space is a meeting place, a social space, and a productive third work space. The sawtooth roof creates a unique silhouette within the local skyline.
Project by Furtado Sullivan for Mirvac
WINNER OF DESIGN EXCELLENCE . Gosford 'Central Coast Quarter'
Furtado Sullivan in collaboration with DKO won a design excellence competition for St. Hilliers new mixed-use precinct in the centre of Gosford.
The proposal envisaged a collection of buildings that spoke to context and culture – modern Artefacts, each unique to its place and function, forming a strong urban composition placed on a vibrant ground plane. Three distinct buildings, each with its individual identity - an urban ensemble rooted in place.
A building entry with a unique identity knitted into the precinct fabric. Generous in scale, the lobby is immersed in the ‘hanging swamp’, offering outdoor seating and offer views across to the water. Internally, it is designed to be flexible as well as a vibrant and active place, connected to the tower, accessible to all.
Host of Design & Place SEPP Industry Forum
Peter Sullivan was the host of the Design and Place SEPP Industry Forum, an event organised by the AIA in collaboration with AILA.
Well-designed environments impact the way we live, work and connect. The SEPP presents a unique opportunity to positively influence new development and in doing so, enable the design of healthy and prosperous places that support the wellbeing of people, community and Country.
To assist architects and landscape architects to reflect on the Design and Place SEPP ‘Explanation of Intended Effect’ and the impacts on our industry,
the NSW AIA Chapter, and AILA organised a Panel Discussion with the Government Architect of NSW.
The panel included Abbie Galvin, Government Architect NSW; Paulo Macchia, Director Design Governance GANSW; Jan McCredie, Urban Design Manager, City of Parramatta and Crosbie Lorimer, Australian Institute of Landscape Architects expert representative, moderated by Peter Sullivan, Australian Institute of Architects Chapter Councillor.
In case you have missed the session and for more information please visit the AIAs website.
CHAIR OF SUSTAINABLE ARCHITECTURE AWARD
The Institute’s Architecture Awards recognise excellence and innovation in design and are conferred via a rigorous system of peer review.
In NSW, each Awards category is presided over by a jury of three people. Juries are comprised of Institute members appointed and convened by the Institute’s NSW Chapter Awards Committee.
Peter has been selected to chair the 2021 Australian Institute of Architects Awards in the Sustainable Architecture Category alongside Nermine Zahran and Kristina Sahlestrom.
This award is an opportunity for public recognition of the valuable contribution architecture can make to the environment and its community.
Carbon Neutral since 2020
As of June 1st 2020, Furtado Sullivan are Carbon Neutral. Our practice is committed to the decarbonisation of our industry, and understand that we need to start by getting our own house in order. Now that we have made this step, we are looking forward to making further contributions as an office and as an industry.
In 2019 we join numerous other architecture practices to become signatories to ‘Australian Architects Declare Climate & Biodiversity Emergency'. We have had further industry engagement through our involvement in Sustainability live, and the AIAs national Climate Action and Sustainability Taskforce.
'THE PLACE-MAKERS' - Featured in INDESIGN #79
In conversation with Aleesha Callahan from Indesign Magazine, Peter and Sandra discuss design and the practice of architecture in a fast-paced world. Extract of interview below. For the full interview visit Indesign Live, The 'City Futures’ edition.
‘For an incredibly young practice, Furtado Sullivan brings honed insight, collaboration and a holistic approach to its projects – and our cities are all the better for it. Formed in mid-2018 and helmed by Sandra Furtado and Peter Sullivan,
what underpins the newly formed practice is an adept understanding of where architects sit – and need to sit – in the ever-changing built environment.
Top of the agenda is tackling large-scale projects that bring a level of complexity, such as mixed-use commercial and multi residential towers, alongside urban scale and precinct or place-making work. The types of projects that can truly leave an impact and change entire urban experiences.’
Quality Assurance Certified ISO 9001
Our practice is focused on the making of architecture. From the sketching of anidea to the detailing of construction joints, we celebrate craft in all its forms. Our work is generated by a talented team, following a highly crafted ‘practice framework’ implemented at the inception of the business.
This framework guides our team and their processes, and gives us greater time to invest in exploration, refinement and delivering of quality outcomes for our clients. This established framework forms the basis of our Quality Management Systems and has been QA ISO 9001 certified.
Podcast - Interview - Architecture & Design Jan 2019
In conversation with Branko Miletic from ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN, Sandra talks about a range of topics from environmental efficiency in design, vernacular design, architecture across different continents, carbon neutrality, women in architecture, leaving a legacy and more.
For the full interview visit:
Chair of Commercial & Interiors Architecture Award
The Institute’s Architecture Awards recognise excellence and innovation in design and are conferred via a rigorous system of peer review. In NSW, each Awards category is presided over by a jury of three people. Juries are comprised of Institute members appointed and convened by the Institute’s NSW Chapter Awards Committee.
Sandra has been selected to chair the 2019 Australian Institute of Architects Awards, for both Commercial and Interior Architecture Categories alongside Tony Grist from Hassell and Amber Stewart from ARM Architecture.