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East Newman Precinct Structure Plan recognised at PIA WA Awards

The East Newman Precinct Structure Plan (ENPSP) was recently recognised at the Planning Institute of Australia WA 2023 Awards for Planning Excellence for its collaborative and inclusive approach to working with Country.

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414 Rokeby Road receives JDAP approval

Positioned at the Subiaco Activity Centre’s southern gateway, 414 Rokeby Road is a high-quality mixed-use development that will breathe new life into an underutilised street corner of one of Perth’s historic main streets.

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Public realm: A matter of inclusion

William Hames, Iain Stewart and Sonja Duric

Helping people navigate and understand how a place works involves careful consideration and planning to improve accessibility, orientation and connectivity, along with those intangible moments of magic that lift a space to cultural icon status visited the world over.

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Hames Sharley promotes six team members to senior positions

National interdisciplinary design practice Hames Sharley has promoted six team members into senior architectural and interior design roles, acknowledging their continued growth as built environment professionals and as leaders among their peers.

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Sarah Burton and Yaara Plaves recognised at NAWIC SA Awards

Hames Sharley Associate Director Yaara Plaves and Graduate of Architecture Sarah Burton were recognised at this year’s NAWIC SA Awards, a testament to the impact they are making both within Hames Sharley and the wider built environment industry.

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A green return on investment: The future for returnable goods

Yaara Plaves & Rebecca Antos

As designers, we create retail centres that deeply consider site, context and sustainability to deliver a return on investment for our stakeholders. But many retailers, especially online retailers, are experiencing a fresh challenge – waste around returnable goods – and with it, new opportunities across the retail economy to refine what we do and how we work to bring us closer to zero waste. One solution is to optimise ‘reverse logistics’.

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The shape of water

How regenerative design can save our public pools and improve water safety

Yaara Plaves, Madeleine Steele & Talia Uylaki

Australia is an urban coastal nation – we love the water and our well-known fascination with the beach and water is part of our cultural DNA. But despite the strong culture around water, recent figures reveal that drowning deaths are increasing. The infrastructure of public swimming pools is also fast approaching its use-by-date, meaning we’re falling short in meeting the contemporary and anticipated future needs of our communities. However, we believe design can help.

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Perth Airport’s vibrant new neighbourhood centre

Convenience, accessibility and simplicity are at the heart of Hames Sharley’s design for the recently completed Dunreath Village, which provides thoughtfully planned amenity for locals, travellers and the broader Perth Airport community. Situated within the expanding Airport West precinct, the newly opened centre hosts anchor tenant Woolworths, Priceline Pharmacy and Sushi Hub, with a café and various pop-up vendors are poised to open later this year.

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There’s no place like home: Sarah’s journey and finding a home in architecture

As a young child, Sarah experienced housing insecurity first-hand. She moved constantly with her loving family from a baby to young adulthood, moving into 15 different homes growing up in Adelaide. Every time she moved, Sarah would sit and draw the floorplan of her new home so she knew where to go and could start to feel at ease in her new surrounds. This started her path towards architecture, having experienced the criticality of a secure home, our sense of ‘place’ and the importance of our mental health as part of our life experiences.

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Alex Quin appointed to Northern Territory Studio Leader

Hames Sharley Senior Associate Alex Quin has been appointed to the role of Northern Territory Studio Leader, bringing his passion for creating meaningful connections to place through his empathetic leadership style.

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Hames Sharley awarded contract to revitalise Bundilla Beach

The City of Darwin has awarded Hames Sharley the contract to deliver a masterplan for the revitalisation of Bundilla Beach, with the aim of enhancing liveability to create a world-class tourist destination.

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The designed environment

A neurotypical and neurodiverse perspective

Taliya Uylaki and Sonja Duric

Our wellbeing in the workplace is impacted by whether the built environment anticipates and meets our sensory needs.

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What’s your ‘why’?

Q&A with Denise Harper

We recently caught up with Associate Denise Harper from our Brisbane studio who shares her passion for social justice and her role in advocating for everybody to access safe and inclusive spaces.

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Curtin University Library completes five-year transformation

The transformation of the Curtin University TL Robertson Library is now fully realised, marking a significant milestone for one of the leading university's largest and most historic buildings.

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Retail therapy: How retail is the ‘third space’

Harold Perks, Emil Jonescu, Soobeen Jo, Paris Jacobs and Gingi Engloner

Generally, there are three elements to modern-day life – personal life, work life and lifestyle. Retail takes place firmly within the lifestyle element, becoming our ‘third space’ commodified as an experience rather than a product transaction.

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How do we create spaces that elevate meaning?

Insights from Culture Bites

As design facilitators, we draw inspiration from the world around us. We believe that design outcomes are stronger when we all work together, giving everyone a voice rather than designing in isolation. By applying this thinking to the public realm, the outcomes can be better than anyone expected – fresh spaces for people to find, discover, nurture, take care of and grow. What can we learn from our experiences and how can our industry do this better?

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Katherine Sportsground Pavilion

Katherine’s new multipurpose sports facility is an essential piece of infrastructure to bolster liveability in the region and create a place to foster a healthy, active, and connected community. Hames…

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Hudson Hub

Hudson Hub offers an exceptional workplace experience within a thriving mixed-use precinct. Harmoniously blending with the urban environment, the design combines a retail-activated ground floor with offices above forging a…

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Paying attention: How to beat the retail goldfish bowl

Harold Perks and Dr Emil Jonescu

The key is starting with our understanding of the unique behavioural, cultural and psychological drivers we’re experiencing right now and how this may evolve in the future.

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Lot 2-7 Barrack Street

Situated in the heart of the Perth CBD, located between the Murray and Hay Street Malls, Hames Sharley’s planning and design team helped the owners of Lots 2-7 Barrack Street…

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Purruna Spencer Newton Centre, Scotch College

Purruna Spencer Newton Centre is the largest building project in Scotch College’s hundred-year history, located at the College’s Torrens Park Campus on the site of the former gym and pool…

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Rocky Bay Belmont gets the green light

Hames Sharley is delighted to share that Rocky Bay Belmont has received development approval, making way for a new world-leading community-integrated hub that will respond to the changing needs of people living with disability and neurodiversity in Western Australia.

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Ed.Square Town Centre

South west Sydney’s newest dining and entertainment destination. Ed.Square Town Centre has become a vibrant retail hub for local communities and residents across Sydney’s south west. Located within walking distance…

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Meet Hames Sharley’s latest Director: Janine Graves

As part of our recent series of promotions we were delighted to announce Janine Graves as our latest Director, a move that bolsters the company’s leadership across the eastern seaboard.

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Madeleine Steele: Leading with a life-long vision

Highly regarded leader and local South Australian design professional, Madeleine Steele, has recently been appointed to lead Hames Sharley’s Adelaide studio, further cementing the organisation’s position locally as one of Australia’s leading multi-disciplinary design consultancies.

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Department of Justice & Community Safety Victoria

Transforming the way courtrooms operate, the Department of Justice & Community Safety (DJCS) has introduced remote witness rooms that empower witnesses to provide their best evidence. These rooms have been…

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Hames Sharley celebrates internal talent with a series of promotions

We are proud today to announce a series of promotions, highlighting Hames Sharley's nation-wide stronghold of emerging and established leaders. “Moments like these are essential to our strategy and reaffirm our focus on being a future-thinking creative practice."

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An explosion of activity-based retail is about to hit our shopping centres

Harold Perks, Madeleine Steele, Yaara Plaves and Dr Emil Jonescu

As Australia ramps up to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne and the 2032 Olympics in Brisbane, new and existing multi-city sports infrastructure will cater for athletes competing and millions of spectators watching on the world stage. But what will happen to these spaces afterwards? And how can we learn from them to create healthy and thriving communities for the future?

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Laneways: Time + place + circumstance = opportunity

An urban activation case study

Our Research & Development team recently applied Gehl’s Twelve Quality Criteria approach to the modern-day challenge of activating laneways. In fact, to one in particular, near 92 William Street in Perth.

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Reducing aggression in emergency department waiting rooms

We know that spaces can empower or disempower people. The tipping point is often how that space is designed.

Hames Sharley’s Research team recently discovered a potential link between aggressive behaviour in Emergency Departments and spatial design, paving the way for a re-think of how these spaces are designed for clinicians, patients, visitors and the broader community.

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Aberfoyle Park High School

Hames Sharley was engaged as part of the Department for Infrastructure and Transport’s Capital Works Program (CWP) to elevate Aberfoyle Park High School’s educational offering with a focus on student…

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Connecting students with real world practice

Last night as part of Perth Design Week, Engineers Australia hosted a showcase celebrating the outcome of the first ‘Design Engineer Construct’ program piloted in Australia. Hames Sharley was among the industry practices that hosted students from Cecil Andrews College as they completed a holistic design brief for a recording studio and performing arts centre located in the recently redeveloped Subi-East precinct.

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A catalyst for change: Celebrating the grand opening of ONE Subiaco

Last night marked the official opening of ONE Subiaco by Blackburne – a landmark project that has become a catalyst for the rejuvenation of the inner-city suburb.

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The future of intensive care units

Researchers have recently completed a ground-breaking study that links Intensive Care Unit (ICU) noise levels and the potential for improved patient recovery and reduced post-care trauma.

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Historic Curtin University Library opens its doors after $90M transformation

One of the country’s largest and most historic libraries has undergone a $90 million dollar transformation, with Hames Sharley and international partner Schmidt Hammer Lassen unveiling an innovative and considered people-centric design that charts a new path for major libraries in Australia and internationally.

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Officially open: Scotch College Wellbeing & Sports Centre

Last night marked the much-awaited official opening of the Purruna Spencer Newton Centre; Scotch College’s new Wellbeing & Sports Centre. Hames Sharley, in conjunction with Scotch College, developed a very strong vision for the Centre – aspiring to ‘replace the old with the bold’ and seizing the opportunity to make a real connection between students, families and the broader community through the platform of wellbeing.

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The future of emergency departments in Australia

By the time the design and construction of a new hospital is completed in Australia, it may already be outdated due to a lack of flexibility and the rapid development of technologies and services. Design and construction limitations were highlighted during the pandemic, with a pronounced shift from face-to-face services to remote telehealth services. While telehealth services continue to grow as important tools for providing care to our growing population, who knows what’s coming next?

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A green light for the new heart of Nedlands

Hames Sharley is delighted to have been involved in the design of Nedlands Square development that received JDAP approval last week on behalf of our client Woolworths Group. The prominent site will be transformed into a dynamic town centre that will service the growing population of Nedlands, providing a full-line supermarket, specialty retail, a commercial office space and refurbishment of the iconic heritage-listed Captain Stirling Hotel.

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Hames Sharley rises in the World Architecture 100 list for 2023

Hames Sharley has once again placed in the World Architecture 100 (WA100); Building Design’s annual survey of the world’s largest architectural practices.

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Live from Tokyo: Professor Khoa Do to present at Okamura seminar

​Hames Sharley's Head of Design Education in Practice, Professor Khoa Do, will be presenting a live webinar from Tokyo, Japan as part of Okamura's ‘Empower and Inspire Quality of Work Life’ seminar on 16 February. The session called 'Seen in a New Light' is a call to empower designers to lead others on the journey of discovery, rather than bear the burden of ideation in isolation.

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Food for thought

Talia Uylaki

What are the current, and possible future initiatives food retailers in Australia have enacted to respond to the expectations of their consumers to be socially and environmentally proactive?

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Vasse hospital receives JDAP approval

Hames Sharley’s design for a new day hospital in the Vasse Town Centre has been unanimously approved by the regional Joint Development Assessment Panel, a wonderful outcome for clients Blackoak Capital and St John of God Health Care.

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Designing resilience against climate change

Talia Uylaki

Without immediate action, people, the planet, and infrastructure will suffer the consequences of dying biodiversity, loss of habitat, rising global temperatures, rising sea levels, food shortages, catastrophic natural disasters (droughts, floods, bushfires, etc.), and we will see a new phenomenon in our modern world: climate refugees. Architecture and design firms can play a critical role in adapting our communities to climate change.

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Electric vehicles in higher-density residential developments

Optimising shared carparking facilities through planning, design, and early engagement

Research & Development, Residential Thought Leadership Group

The number of EVs linked into the grid will grow significantly over the next decade, which presents several key global challenges including meeting overall energy and power demands, developing ‘smart charging’ or vehicle-to-grid service from linked cars, and for designers; developing spaces designed with sufficient forethought surrounding flexibility and systems integration.

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Rocky Bay unveils concepts for newly acquired Belmont site

Rocky Bay has partnered with multidisciplinary design practice Hames Sharley to design a leading health and community hub in Belmont. Hames Sharley was selected following a competitive process with a number of leading design firms. Its proposal for Rocky Bay’s almost 2-hectare Belmont site showed a strong understanding of the organisation’s requirements and, aspiration to create an integrated community space.

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Emergency Services Sector Headquarters Precinct

​The Emergency Services Sector Headquarters is a uniquely designed IL4 command centre that combines and improves responses to crisis situations by improving the functionality, capability, and ultimately the integration of…

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Subi East Redevelopment

Subi East is a significant urban redevelopment initiative in Perth’s inner west, undertaken by the State Government of Western Australia through DevelopmentWA. This ambitious project aims to establish a new…

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When mental health issues sneak up on you

Sometimes you don’t realise you’re not ok until someone asks

Madeleine Steele

Mental health issues can hit you out of nowhere. It could be an ordinary day, doing something you’ve done a million times before and then… WHAM. Out of nowhere, a panic attack comes and knocks the wind right out of you. Rendering you unable to move. Unable to breathe. And you have no idea what’s happening, let alone why.

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Reactivating city laneways with virtual infrastructure

Research & Development

The city laneway is often viewed as narrow, dark, lined with rubbish bins and vehicles parked on the verge, tagged with graffiti, and used only for transitionary foot traffic. They are characterised as potentially unsafe areas, especially at night and if the laneway has inefficient lighting.

There is potential in reactivating existing laneway infrastructure to create vibrant, active spaces that promote increased foot traffic to the buildings that back or open onto the laneway, as well as facilities and services on the streets at either end of the laneway.

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One Subiaco

One Subiaco has been designed to ‘breathe new life’ into the iconic Subiaco Markets site. The mixed-use development has not only become Subiaco’s most sought-after real estate, but once fully…

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Baldivis District Sporting Complex Master Plan

Baldivis District Sporting Complex is an innovative and contemporary multi-purpose sport and recreation facility that accommodates a wide range of activities for one of the fastest growing suburbs in Perth.…

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Good architecture leaves no one behind

Harold Perks, Sonja Duric and Talia Uylaki

Accessibility is a common theme when talking about design. This article states unequivocally that designers have an obligation to raise awareness of accessible design. Diversity in our community is an increasingly relevant factor in design matters in our centres.

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The significance of place

The Canberra Civic and Culture District

Research & Development

To cultivate a ‘sense of place’, communities must plan for physical environments that are uplifting and memorable, and that generate a unique sense of belonging. A community also fosters a ‘sense of place’ by recognising and valuing its natural surroundings, views, landmarks, and traditions.

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The evolution of mixed-use developments in thriving cities

An account of three exceptional case studies and their circumstances

Lisa Azhar, Andy Ong, Emily Arnolda

By thinking of a city as a living organism, as something that grows, consumes, produces, and nourishes, we can study and learn from its ‘heart and soul’, behavioural patterns, and complex functions for opportunities that will best support the city’s communities. This could involve reinvigorating dead city zones, creating inviting spaces, focusing on sustainable solutions, and providing facilities and amenities that benefit the needs of the public.

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Hames Sharley bolsters Melbourne team; appoints Sonja Duric as Director

Positioning the Practice to meet growing demand for interiors and workplace projects nationwide.

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Lot 2-7 Barrack Street receives DA approval

Hames Sharley’s proposal for a mixed-use development at Lot 2-7 Barrack Street today received DA approval, an excellent outcome for the City of Perth and our client Humich Group.

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Hames Sharley promotes Lisa Azhar and Eloise Voss to Senior Architects

National multi-disciplinary design practice Hames Sharley is delighted to announce the promotion of Lisa Azhar and Eloise Voss to Senior Architects, as the firm continues to invest in the professional development of its internal talent and future leaders.

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Knowledge is power

The value of our archives

Talia Uylaki, Archivist and Researcher

Archives are valuable repositories of information to us at Hames Sharley, but you won’t think of it at first when the next batch of boxes are brought out: crumbling cardboard boxes with dusty files filled with yellowed papers held together by rusty staples and paperclips that crumble into bits as they are pried off. But take the time to go through each individual project file and decades of hard work and the character of a business begins to gleam from beneath 50 years of dust.

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Mixed purpose: The importance of delivering ‘soul’

Harold Perks

Do we rely too much on ‘peak trading times’ – Christmas, Mother’s Day, Easter and so on? Are ‘quiet times’ simply unavoidable and just part of everyday shopping habits? What if those ‘quiet times’ could become busier? How can design and tenant mix change trading patterns?

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Design-led solutions for curbing crime

Talia Uylaki

Purposeful design elements in an urban or residential area that encourage community interaction and engagement can lead to a symbolic ‘sense of place’. The community takes pride and care in their environment and so wish to see it protected.

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Hames Sharley honoured at the Master Builders WA Excellence in Construction Awards

Multi-disciplinary design practice Hames Sharley was honoured to receive the ‘Peter Hunt Memorial Architects Award’ at the Master Builders WA Excellence in Construction Awards.

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Karrinyup Shopping Centre Redevelopment

Karrinyup is a coastal suburb 12km north of Perth’s CBD. The original 2,000sqm Karrinyup Shopping Centre was built in the late 1950s and replaced by a larger complex on the…

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