Shrubs in New Acton precinct. Photo: Raelle Gann Owens.
Calling a new development ‘beautiful’ is willfully antisocial, like saying you like instant coffee or admitting in a book club you prefer the movie.
There are three reasons why.
The first is that we hate anything new. The Sydney Opera House was immediately controversial. So were most London skyline icons this century, like The Shard, which is a stunning glass cathedral to whatever we now worship.
The second is that those with three-bedroom homes lounged in leafy yards are witnessing the bulldozing of the ‘bush capital’ before their eyes. I don’t hold it against Canberra’s NIMBYs – in 2100, when I have my terraced home, I will probably be what ACAT calls ‘a vexatious litigant’. You can be a NIMBY and academically agree there is a housing crisis. Let the one without cognitive dissonance lay the first stone.
The third reason is that many developments are hideous. Or worse, soulless and stark; a place to stand in and scream noiselessly.
Yet there are objectively beautiful developments in Canberra, and we should recognise them. Here are four to get the conversation started:
1) Nishi, New Acton
Developer: Molonglo
Architect: Fender Katsalidis
Finished: 2014
Its honeycomb concrete with mossy tufts dominates New Acton, but you don’t actually realise how good Nishi and its precinct is until you’re in it, emerging from High Jinks three whiskies deep. Bush grasses, arbours, rusty sculptures, lawn and the silent promenade all combine to almost re-create Rivendell.
The foyer of Nishi, a timberyard ascending to a bar, is the most breathtaking lobby in Canberra, apart from Parliament House’s.
The main people behind Nishi and its environment, Molonglo, are currently working on the Dairy Road precinct, which is the most encouraging thing you can say to anyone worried about new developments in Canberra.
2) Branx, Braddon
Developer: Syzygy
Architect: JUDD.studio
Finished: 2021
Partly inspired by New York’s edgy Dream Downtown Hotel, Branx on Lonsdale Street was meant to be ‘dive bar meets residential’. Four years later, it has a wine bar in its basement, a “midlife crisis” passion project for local sommelier Chester Mok.
Branx is red brick with some hanging greenery, patterned elliptical balconies and portholes, and quartz-like shards of retail at its base. Stare at it glassily from Bentspoke’s outdoor tables and you’ll realise it’s something special.
3) Yamaroshi, Braddon
Developer: Syzygy
Architect: JUDD.studio
Finished: 2019
You probably know Yamaroshi – also designed by JUDD – by its slab of muralled concrete facing Elouera Street in Braddon. On Mort Street, its brilliant origami front unfolds. These days, the origami’s getting grimy in the folds, but so what? Art does need to be maintained.
4) Boulevard, Denman Prospect
Developer: Core Developments
Architect: JUDD.studio
Finished: ongoing
It’s easy to scrape away the [bovine faeces] in developer/real estate agent puffery – as ABC’s satirical Utopia did one episode when it showed an ‘Italian-style piazza’ to be a wind tunnel. A scene that always reminds me of Woden Town Square.
But when Boulevard, a three-building development in Denman Prospect, claimed ‘mid-century modern design’ for its multiple-pane windows and abundant curves, it was surprisingly apt. The gold-green cladding isn’t for everyone. But unlike some developments, it’s not a streak of wanton colour that tries, like fun socks on an EL2, to scream personality where there is none.
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