Searle X Waldron is an Australian architecture firm based in St Kilda,

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

. It is an emerging firm co-founded by Nick Searle and Suzannah Waldron in 2007. The firm focuses on projects ranging from small scale residential to larger scale urban master-planning. Some of their notable projects and design competitions include the MoCAPE (Museum of Contemporary Art & Planning Exhibition) and

Art Gallery of Ballarat The Art Gallery of Ballarat is the oldest and largest regional art gallery in Australia. Established in 1884 as the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery by the citizens of Ballarat, both the building and part of its collection is listed on the Victorian H ...

Annexe which have managed to attain various awards from the

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, including the 2012

Colorbond BlueScope Steel Limited is an Australian flat product steel producer that was Corporate spin-off, spun-off from BHP, BHP Billiton in 2002. History BlueScope was formed when BHP, BHP Billiton Corporate spin-off, spun-off its steel assets on 15 ...

Award for Steel Architecture and 2012 Architecture Award for Public Architecture Alteration & Additions. Their designs have been exhibited across Australia and throughout Asia and Europe.

Partners

Nick Searle and Suzannah Waldron first met each other in their first year of undergraduate study in Sydney's UTS before moving to

to complete their degree.

Nick Searle

Since graduating in 2001 from

Deakin University Deakin University is a public university in Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1974, the university was named after Alfred Deakin, the second Prime Minister of Australia. Its main campuses are in Melbourne's Burwood suburb, Geelong Waurn Ponds, ...

, Searle has gained a wide variety of experience working for several Architectural firms internationally. The firms include

Allford Hall Monaghan Morris Allford Hall Monaghan Morris is an architecture practice based in Clerkenwell, London, with offices in Bristol and Oklahoma. History Set up in 1989 by Simon Allford, Jonathan Hall, Paul Monaghan and Peter Morris, the practice employs over 500 pe ...

, UK and

Erick van Egeraat Erick van Egeraat (; born 1956) is a Dutch architect and author. He heads the architectural practice based in Rotterdam with offices in Moscow, Budapest and Prague. He is best known for his projects of ING Group Headquarters in Budapest, Drents Mu ...

Architects,

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and

BVN Architecture BVN is an architecture firm based in Australia. The firm has won more Sir John Sulman Medals than any other Australian practice. BVN has studios located in Brisbane, Sydney, London and New York. History The firm was founded in 1926 with the ...

, Australia where he was involved in design, documentation and contract administration for a broad range of projects. Aside from building his practice, he is also encouraging the future of Architectural design by teaching in an architectural and urban design studio in

RMIT University RMIT University, officially the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology,, section 4(b) is a public research university in Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city ...

, School of Architecture & Design.

Suzannah Waldron

Since graduating from

, Waldron has gained a wide variety of experience working for several Architectural firms internationally. The firms include

Office for Metropolitan Architecture The Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) is an international architectural firm with offices in Rotterdam, New York, Hong Kong, Doha, and Australia. The firm is currently led by eight partners - Rem Koolhaas, Reinier de Graaf, Ellen van ...

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

and dRMM (de Rijke Marsh Morgan Architects), London where she was involved in the design works of projects ranging from civic buildings to commercial and retail. Some of these projects include

Prada Prada S.p.A. (, ; ) is an Italian luxury fashion house founded in 1913 in Milan by Mario Prada. It specializes in leather handbags, travel accessories, shoes, ready-to-wear, and other fashion accessories. Prada licenses its name and branding t ...

, the City of

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded in ...

and

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

. Waldron was also selected to exhibit her works in the National Design Centre's "Do Not Crop" Exhibition held at

Federation Square Federation Square (colloquially Fed Square) is a venue for arts, culture and public events on the edge of the Melbourne central business district. It covers an area of at the intersection of Flinders and Swanston Streets built above busy ra ...

in 2008. Along with Searle, she is also leading an architectural and urban design studio in

, School of Architecture & Design.

Significant projects

MoCAPE

MoCAPE: Museum of Contemporary Art & Planning Exhibition (MoCAPE) was an open competition for an international art institution located in

Shenzhen Shenzhen (; ; ; ), also historically known as Sham Chun, is a major sub-provincial city and one of the special economic zones of China. The city is located on the east bank of the Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern province ...

, China, covering an area of 80,000sqm with a budget of US$100 million. The site sits within the Shenzhen civic masterplan, which features a new library and concert hall by

Arata Isozaki Arata Isozaki (磯崎新, ''Isozaki Arata''; born 23 July 1931) is a Japanese architect, urban designer, and theorist from Ōita. He was awarded the RIBA Gold Medal in 1986 and the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2019. Biography Isozaki was ...

. Searle X Waldron's design proposal was for 2 spaces that are connected by cultural facilities that covers about 30,000sqm. There were 170 entries from around the world but Searle X Waldron managed to win a position in the final 4 and was invited for a second round proposal in collaboration with Arup. Their work was exhibited in National Design Centre,

Art Gallery of Ballarat Annexe

Searle X Waldron was commissioned by the City Of

Ballarat Ballarat ( ) is a city in the Central Highlands (Victoria), Central Highlands of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 Census, Ballarat had a population of 116,201, making it the third largest city in Victoria. Estimated resid ...

and the

, the project had completed construction in 2011. The brief for the project was to expand on the existing heritage listed structure of The

and create a suitable space to be used for conduction of Lectures,

Workshops Beginning with the Industrial Revolution era, a workshop may be a room, rooms or building which provides both the area and tools (or machinery) that may be required for the manufacture or repair of manufactured goods. Workshops were the only ...

Art installation Installation art is an artistic genre of three-dimensional works that are often site-specific and designed to transform the perception of a space. Generally, the term is applied to interior spaces, whereas exterior interventions are often called ...

s, and Community Functions. Its design also caters for the option to facilitate private functions which operate independently from the other

gallery Gallery or The Gallery may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Art gallery ** Contemporary art gallery Music * Gallery (band), an American soft rock band of the 1970s Albums * ''Gallery'' (Elaiza album), 2014 album * ''Gallery'' (Gr ...

spaces. The project combines the attributes of three specific structures – Public hall for Mix programs,

Verandah A veranda or verandah is a roofed, open-air gallery or porch, attached to the outside of a building. A veranda is often partly enclosed by a railing and frequently extends across the front and sides of the structure. Although the form ''veran ...

as a transitional space and a

Bandstand A bandstand (sometimes music kiosk) is a circular, semicircular or polygonal structure set in a park, garden, pier, or indoor space, designed to accommodate musical bands performing concerts. A simple construction, it both creates an orname ...

as an Event Space. By incorporating these three ideas in one flexible space Searle X Waldron have designed a building which has multiple uses and has become a focal point for public addresses in the

City of Ballarat The City of Ballarat is a local government area in the west of the state of Victoria, Australia. It covers an area of and, in June 2018, had a population of 107,325. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. It is primarily urban with the v ...

. The project was awarded the 2011 Award for Public Architecture and the Colorbond Award for Steel Architecture from the Victorian Chapter of the Australian Institute of Architects.

Architectural/urban landscape projects

Annexe – 2011 –

, Australia * Majorca House – Centre Place,

* Footscray Town Hall –

Footscray, Victoria Footscray is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Maribyrnong local government area. Footscray recorded a population of 17,131 at the . Footscray ...

(In progress) * Little House on a Laneway – Seddon,

(In Progress)

Other projects

* Las Vegas Studio – Exhibition Design –

RMIT Design Hub The RMIT Design Hub is a design hub that houses research, archive, exhibition, and studio space of the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and ...

Awards

* 2012 Colorbond Award For Steel Architecture Australian Institute Architects – Victorian Awards] – Anexxe, Art Gallery of Ballarat * 2012 Architecture Award, Public Architecture Alterations and Additions Australian Institute Architects – Victorian Awards] – Anexxe, Art Gallery of Ballarat * Winner-Commercial Interior 012 Intergain Timber Vision Awards– Anexxe, Art Gallery of Ballarat * Highly Commended – Public Space 012 IDEA – Interior Design Excellence Awards– Anexxe, Art Gallery of Ballarat * Shortlist – Emerging Designer of the Year 012 IDEA – Interior Design Excellence Awards– Anexxe, Art Gallery of Ballarat * Commendation – Public Design 012 Australian Interior Design Awards– Anexxe, Art Gallery of Ballarat * Commendation – Color in Commercial Design 012 Australian Interior Design Awards– Anexxe, Art Gallery of Ballarat * First Prize N-Habitat Open International Competition 2008– Mobility Centre & City Spatial Design * Joint First Prize – Invited 2nd Stage Finals pen International & Invited Competition 2007– MoCAPE (Museum of Contemporary Art & Planning Exhibition) * Honorable Mention pen International Competition 2007– GBD Art District * Shortlisted Finalist Open International Competition 2009 – Green Water City Urban Park

References

{{reflist

External links

* http://www.sxwa.com.au/ * http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/art-and-design/an-odd-yet-wonderful-space-20121129-2aiid.html * http://www.architectureau.com * http://www.architeam.net.au/projects/art-gallery-ballarat-annexe/ * http://www.archdaily.com/240703/annexe-searle-waldron-architecture/ Architecture firms of Australia Australian companies established in 2007 Australian women architects 20th-century Australian architects Architects from Melbourne 20th-century Australian women St Kilda, Victoria Companies based in Melbourne