dB(A)))

We are proud to announce that we have been awarded first place in the international competition for a new landmark tall tower project in Ho Chi Minh City.

The competition was commissioned by Xuan Mai Eco Green Saigon, a major Vietnamese construction, development and integrated services corporation. Our flagship project for Xuan Mai is the 69 storey Hyatt Place Hyatt House tower that will be the new urban marker for District 7, and the major anchor for the currently under construction Eco Green Sai Gon development.

As part of the formal award ceremony at the EcoGreen Sai Gon display centre on site, we were given the opportunity to preview some of our design works to the public. We are thrilled to win this significant project and to commence on the design path with our local consulting partners.

Decibel Architecture was part of an international field of competitors, with commendations going to Aedas Singapore + Cubic (Vietnam), and Bruce Henderson Architects from Melbourne. The remainder of the practices included distinguished firms from Korea (Samoo + Plan ADD), Japan (Plantec Architects) and Vietnam (Archetype). We would like to acknowledge the excellent efforts of our fellow professionals who participated.

It is never easy in Architecture to be able to inspire belief in things that don’t yet exist and communicating those ideas with passion, integrity and respect is implicit to our practice. Decibel’s winning scheme proposed a highly integrated landscape podium, with an engaging public realm of retail and communal offerings built at human scale. Our landscape proposition expands the aspiration for the site to include the adjacent Xuan Mai parkland, proposing botanical bridges to connect this parkland heart to both the commercial hub, the tower and the future residential cluster on the adjacent site.

The tower springs from this raised landscape, reaching 275m tall, as a beacon of elegance – a refined environmental design and a cultural marker to bring District 7 into the new century of Ho Chi Minh’s growth. The Tower contains a conference centre and commercial offices to the lower floors. The upper levels are dedicated to the new Hyatt House + Hyatt Place dual destination of long stay apartment living and short stay premium hotel offerings. These two accommodation options share a spectacular sky lobby and access to a unique revolving restaurant and public sky deck viewing lounge at the pinnacle of the project.

The Xuan Mai Eco Green Tower represents a new and exciting benchmark for Ho Chi Minh City – with the recent opening of Landmark81, the city is growing in both economic and cultural importance. The Decibel Architecture proposal met with acclaim from the jury and the Urban Planning and Architecture Department. We would like to thank Xuan Mai Eco Green Saigon for this exciting opportunity and we look forward to the busy months ahead developing and delivering this exceptional project and outcome for our client.

Decibel Architecture wishes everyone a happy Lunar New Year. Thank you for your continued support, we (eagerly)) look forward to working with you all in the New Year and beyond. May the Year of the Rat be healthy, prosperous and plentiful for all!⁠

As a part of dB(A)’s ongoing work and collaboration in South East Asia we were recently invited to write a key note article about ‘what it means to be Iconic’ in the 100th issue of PRC Magazine. Read the article online HERE, and be sure to follow the PRC feeds on Instagram @prcmagazine for regular updates on the booming world of design in Asia.

The role is available for a Mid-level experienced Graduate (+5 years) or Practising Architect (+2 years) who is seeking an opportunity to work on innovative, challenging and extraordinary projects throughout Australia and South East Asia, from concept design through to completion.

Does this sound like you? Then throw down the gauntlet and get in touch with us. Send us a brilliant letter, and awesome CV and an outstanding folio to work@db-a.co . Please keep it under 10mb.

For a full position description, click here!

As the decade draws to a close, we look back on our last ten years with gratitude and wonder. There has been a lot of change in the world, in our lives and in our business over these years, and we are sure the same can be said for you and yours.

2020 brings a renewed focus to the importance and significance of the work we are undertaking, and we look forward to sharing a kind, inspiring and purposeful year with you all.

In the spirit of Christmas giving and in lieu of individual gifts for you, we have this year contributed to the Refugee and Asylum Seeker Toy Drive. As the grassiest of grassroots organisations run by this exceptional human, they are doing wonderful work for kids who have fallen through the gaps, and we are proud to be involved in their mission.

This festive season we invite you to share in those warm fuzzies by considering this, or your own chosen charitable organisation.

We wish you all a safe and refreshing holiday, and a prosperous and generous new year ahead.

Season’s greetings from our dB(A) family.

Congratulations to all involved in the conception, design and delivery of the Landsea Shanghai Green Centre. The project has been awarded Gold in the 2019 Shanghai Design Awards for Architecture – Commercial – Constructed.

Landsea Shanghai Green Centre demonstrates excellence in sustainable design, high-performance buildings, and human centered spaces whilst creating a platinum LEED and Platinum WELL rated holistic environment for their employees, enriching workplace health, culture and productivity. ⁠

This project exemplifies the ethical commitment, ecological approach and exceptional outcomes delivered by dBA.

Thank you to all who supported the project along the way, special thanks to Tim Dillon – Commissioner for Victoria to China and the Victorian Government, to the team at Cundall, and to our very own team at Decibel for their vision, commitment and dedication to change the world for the better.⁠

Decibel Architecture would like to wish you a happy Mid-Autumn Festival!

Last week Dylan spoke at GTAV’s (Geography Teachers Association of Victoria) Patron Forum, presenting his vision of the Melbourne Masterplan. He joined, Dr Rachel Carey (UOM), Rory Shannon (DELWP), Sarah Ryan (State Library) and Melinda Clarke (The Melbourne Map) panel discussing the future of Melbourne planning.

Talking Poos, Roads and Trees, Dylan imagined a city when we reclaimed and developed space for occupation, transportation and the environment.

Looking into tomorrow, Melbourne has great potential to embrace new forms of transportation, connection and commercially viable environmental opportunities. Melbourne will continue to be one of the most liveable cities in the world if we radically improve our ecology, services and transportation networks and embrace change and innovation through smart, sustainable and brave plans.

https://www.gtav.asn.au/

We are happy to be celebrating another wondrous Lunar New Year with the deciBel family, and extend our well wishes to all.

We are excited to announce that we have achieved ISO Certification across standards ISO 9001:2015 (Quality management systems), ISO 14001:2015 (Environmental management systems) and AS 4801:2001 (Occupational health and safety management systems).

This is a great achievement not only for deciBel and its team, but also for our clients and stakeholders. ISO Certification ensures that we have systems in place to continue delivering (radical) projects into the future, in a quality (and fun) environment.

After one year of renovation, Landsea Green Center which is designed by deciBel (Architecture) (dB(A) in cooperation with Shanghai Landsea, Landleaf and Landsea architecture design institute, has begun to be settled successively. The building has been submitted for certifications of Platinum LEED and Platinum WELL rating.

The building adopts a total of 108 building technologies in 14 technical systems, realizing five core value points: healthy environment /comfortable office /energy saving /environmentally friendly design /intelligent management /user-friendly design. In addition, the same energy consumption brought by passive green building technology is less than 50% of the average of office buildings in Shanghai. Under an architectural proposition called ‘Taoism follows nature’, each floor of the building has its own natural theme. L1 is communication space, display space and coffee shop, while the basement has canteen, a gym and carpark, which have the theme of ‘Water’. L2 to L5 are office space, which have the theme of earth, mountain, forest and sky respectively. Through different themes, colors and artworks, etc., the design wants to introduce natural elements in the artificial environment, so that people do not feel it is an indifferent space.

It can be said that Landsea Green Center reflects the imagination of the future space in the mind of Landsea: a vertical ecological community complex willing to tolerate and connect everything, and everyone here can work freely and live happily.

Congratulations to Landsea team! And wish you all the very best in commissioning and operating in the new facility.

In (sky) breaking news, we are super excited to announce that in collaboration with Grocon, Decibel Architecture’s Magic has won Silver in the 2018 London Design Awards for Architecture-Proposed! We would like to thank our (inspiring) friends The Royal Society of Victoria for commissioning what will be the world’s most slender residential tower on a block (half) the size of a tennis court! The purpose driven 280m high tower will double as a science engagement precinct with profits being directed to RSV’s science outreach programs, allowing scientific exploration and engagement to continue into the (distant) future.

We are proud to share the honour in the same category alongside Zaha Hadid , MIRIS, Snøhetta, Powerhouse Company and SOM, with huge congratulations to Gold winner Populous.

Let’s keep making Magic! Click Here.

Our conductor Dylan Brady is invited to attend an opening conference hosted by IAPA in Guangzhou on 27^th November. The theme of this conference is “Design for Future”, as the most wonderful chapter of 2018 Guangzhou design week. Dylan will talk with other guests to explore and discuss which direction China and the world’s architecture will go in the new era after nearly 30 years of sustained and rapid economic development in China. What will be the focus in the future in terms of architecture design?

Following the opening, two-week IAPA 15^th anniversary architecture exhibition will show IAPA’s most representative architecture practice over the past 15 years by models, images, design drawings and a variety of ways as a starting point, trying to present one of the possibilities of Chinese contemporary architectural practice, to keep the diverse thinking in today’s modern and traditional open field of vision, and an exploration to rearrange them in the new context.

 
Read more about the exhibition, click here (Chinese)

Magic continues to soar (into the clouds(and now competitions)) as it snatches a Gold in the DRIVENxDESIGN Now Awards. Rather than participants entering, the Now Awards works by an advisory panel of design leaders curating and judging projects from around the world.
This comes just a couple of months after our (soon to be World’s greenest and cleanest) Broo Brewery in Ballarat waltzed away with Gold at the DRIVENxDESIGN 2018 Melbourne Design Awards.

A purpose driven tower with (record-breaking) high ambitions, Magic is set to soar 60 storeys and 330m into the sky becoming the tallest resident in Melbourne’s (seemingly unstoppable) growing skyline.

Click here to listen to Dylan talk (excitedly) about Magic on the urban.com.au podcast

Big shout out to Grocon and the Royal Society of Victoria for their equally outrageous (and totally courageous) ambitions to make this a truly magical project!

To conjure up (and check out some) Magic, click here!

After a very busy month of (positive (and highly intrigued)) media circling around Decibel’s proposal for Magic, the purpose built tower set to become the city’s tallest, Dylan has been featured in a couple of podcasts discussing this project and more broadly about sustainability in architecture

Taking part in the Urban weekly podcast, Dylan discusses Magic with host Laurence, running through the tower’s design, challenges and ambitions. Click here to listen to the podcast in full.

Leading Ideas is a Triple M podcast series run by Dr Graham Philips about innovation in our workplaces. In the latest episode ‘Australia’s Greenest Buildings’, Dr Philips talks to Dylan about advancements in sustainable building technologies and discussing how Pixel (a building designed by studio505) incorporated these into its design, eventually becoming the World’s greenest office building. Click here to listen to the podcast in full.

Having just snatched the Commendation at the 2018 MIPIM Architecture Review Future Project Awards, our proposal for the Broo Brewery at Ballarat (soon to be the World’s greenest and cleanest) has come away with Gold at the 2018 Melbourne Design Awards (our second award(in the space of two months)).

Decibel’s proposition is founded on the idea that Broo at Ballarat will be more than just a factory, should be more than simply a place of business, and must be more than another public venue.

Check out the project here!
Or read about it on Melbourne Design Awards

Decibel’s CV Windsor (aka 105 Punt Road) was featured in the latest issue of property magazine Domain. The CV Windsor is inspired by the loft style apartments of the Manhattan neighbourhood of SoHo.

Read more about the project here.

Decibel’s proposal for Magic, a radical new Purpose driven residential tower on the site of the Royal Society of Victoria continued to be the focal point for Australian news outlets over the weekend, receiving coverage from Channel Seven, ABC News, Channel Nine, The Age, The Australian, Concrete Playground and the Urban Developer.

Magic is in the air..

Check out the project here

Decibel’s Magic proposal received a flurry of news coverage and a spot on the cover of the Herald Sun as the highly innovative and ambitious project was announced to the public.

A Purpose driven residential tower on the site of the Royal Society of Victoria (RSV), at the north eastern corner of Melbourne’s Hoddle Grid, Magic is set to soar 60 storeys and 330m into the sky becoming the tallest resident in Melbourne’s growing skyline.

Check out more on the project here
And check out the article here

The Pixel Building, designed as studio505 and the home of dB(A) has been featured in ‘Come On!’, the latest publication by the Club of Rome.

Now in its 50th year, the Club of Rome has been an influential organisation in recognising global challenges and proposing solutions through scientific analysis, communication and advocacy.

‘Come On’ focuses on current global trends and how these are currently unsustainable practices. It focuses on ‘optimistic case studies and policy proposals that will lead us back to a trajectory of sustainability.’

studio505’s Pixel Building is a landmark building in sustainability and innovation, achieving perfect 105 scores in both Green Star and LEED rating systems. This made it the world’s greenest office building as well as Australia’s first carbon neutral office building.

Truly honoured to be part of such an an important and influential piece of work!

Click here more information on the Club of Rome.
And here for more information on the Pixel building.

ABC News published an article on the current situation at Jabiru and the positive strides being made in ensuring its future as a tourism capital for the Kakadu National Park.

The Mirarr, as the traditional owners of the land, have been working with Dylan Brady, and Decibel Architecture since 2001 on a proposal to reinvigorate and reimagine Jabiru. The township is situated within the heart of the only national park recognised by UNESCO for both its living Culture and Biodiversity, and is home to the world’s oldest living culture.

dB(A)’s masterplan will identify a township that will be pruned, grafted, and refined, and a vision for interaction will be developed that will transform this town into a true regional capital.

For an informative and worthwhile read, check out the article here.
Or head over here to read more about the project.

We are (above(and beyond)) excited to announce that our work on the Broo Brewery in Ballarat has been awarded a Commendation in the Retail & Leisure category at the AR Future Project Awards 2018!

The first award (of many) for our young office, what better project to celebrate with than one that promotes world class, state-of-the-art and environmentally sustainable beer brewing and (responsible) drinking!

We would like to thank our (awesome) client Broo for their bold ambitions and the talented folk at CJArms for their amazing work on the brewery’s expansive water treatment facilities.

For a more in depth look, click here.

Congratulations to category winners John Wardle Architects for their work on Marchwiel.

Here is to enjoying the greenest (and cleanest) beers in the world!

Cheers!

On this International Women’s Day, we want to celebrate (champion(and thank)) all the amazing (courageous(fearless(and inspiring))) women at dB(A) and all across the world!

WE ARE HIRING! We are looking for a Senior Architect with 10+ years experience to join our dB(A) family, working on innovative, challenging and extraordinary projects throughout Australia and South East Asia.

We are hunting for a committed, energetic and sophisticated design and delivery thinker, who will wield robust degrees of agency and leadership in design, quality and practice within our studio.

Does this sound like you? Then throw down the gauntlet and get in touch with us. Send us a brilliant letter, and awesome CV and an outstanding folio to work@db-a.co . Please keep it under 10mb.

For a full position description, click here!

deciBel(建筑设计)祝您在新的一年
十犬十美! 汪汪年!人旺旺!!

Công ty Kiến trúc Decibel xin kính chúc quý khách Năm Mới an khang thịnh vượng!

Decibel Architecture would like to wish you a happy (bright(& prosperous)) Lunar New Year!

Well, that was another (absolutely cracking (and damn fast)) year of (playful (and on purpose)) projects; new (fabulous) clients (and friends); of hits (and sadly (a few) misses). Of meetings (and (beer accompanied) mimosas); of designing (and (radical (explorational)) testing); of (everyones’) birthdays (and (challenging) brainstorming; of learning (and (hungry for knowledge) lunches); of (raising) toasts and celebrating our (good) fortune and health.

Thank you to everyone that has been a part of it. A (very) Happy (and hilarious) Holidays and a cheerful, safe New Year!

We will be taking a (well earned) break from the 22nd of December and back (in business) on the 8th of January. See you in 2018!

That’s a (resounding) YES! Well done Australia on voting for tolerance, fairness and most importantly, love. dB(A) says YAY!

We are thrilled to announce that Dylan and Decibel Architecture will be the feature of Melbourne School of Design’s upcoming 2017 ‘Alumni Survey Series’. ‘Work: in Progress’ explores architecture as a journey along a continuing path. As a cultivating weaving of our cultures and crafts. As an ambition to inspire, to challenge and enrich, to question and learn and test and reflect and create.

Work: in Progress
27 September – 27 October
The Dulux Gallery
Melbourne School of Design

As part of the exhibition, dB(A)’s conductor Dylan will be hosting an interpretive dance session (lecture). Titled ‘Work: in Play’, he will swear and joke his way through his journey along this continuing path.

Work: in Play
Thursday 28th September, 2017. 7:00pm – 8:00pm
B117 Theatre, Melbourne School of Design

Click here to register!

See you down there!

The deadline for enrolling to vote is fast approaching! Take a stand for love and equality. Stand on the bright side of history.

Vote YES! for marriage equality!

Go to check.aec.gov.au and make sure you are enrolled by the 24th of August.

A great snapshot by ‘The Project‘ of what is happening to a small rural town nestled within the Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory.

A project with a long history, with regards to the traditional custodians of the land and also architecturally, Jabiru faces challenges ahead as it transitions into a post-mining town. Dylan has had a long involvement with the conceptual masterplanning of Jabiru, creating ways in which this small regional hub can flourish into the future.

Check out ‘The Project’s’  snapshot here

Decibel Architecture were recently selected as the architects to design a new world class, state-of-the-art, environmentally sustainable brewery, located in the regional hub of Ballarat, Victoria.

The beermakers behind the brewery, Broo, recently announced their plans to expand their operations in both Australia and abroad.

Located on a 15 hectare commercial site in Ballarat, the brief was to deliver a brewery that will strive to become both the greenest and cleanest in the world, utilizing the world’s most advanced building technologies and environmentally sustainable processes.

Check out the project here
And also our friends over at Broo

A little over a month after winning a COTE (Committee on the Environment) Top Ten Award, the Ng Teng Fong General Hospital has won in three categories following the Design & Health International Academy’s Awards: International Healthcare Project above 40,000 sqm (Highly Commendable), Salutogenic Design Project (Winner) and Sustainable Urban and Built Environment (Winner).

The Ng Teng Fong General Hospital was won as an international design competition in association with HOK and CPG Consultants. studio505’s innovative new patient bed configuration in the naturally ventilated 6 bed and 12 bed ward rooms improves natural ventilation by 200% and gives every patient their own window close to their bed with a view to a garden from which to take fresh air.

Check it out here!

studio505’s Pixel building, located in Melbourne, Australia (and the home of Decibel Architecture) has been featured in two international publications that focus on Net Zero Energy Buildings: ‘Solution Sets for Net Zero Energy Buildings’ and ‘Net Zero Energy Buildings’.

Pixel became a landmark project in Australia and globally, when it achieved a perfect score of a 100 under the Greenstar rating system, as well as a perfect 105 points under the US LEED Rating system.

Dylan was one of six Australian architects to share their personal stories and anecdotes of working on projects throughout Asia and the Middle East.

“One consistent element in these cultures, one trait that is eminently transferable and deeply effective, is that relationships must be built and maintained”

Click here to see the article!

Originally published in ‘Architecture Australia’ July/August 2017.

Dylan recently returned from Sydney after giving a presentation at the Brickworks ‘Double Talk Speaker Series’ in Sydney, speaking alongside Ingrid Richards of Richards&Spence

Dylan has recently returned from the ‘Melbourne Design Showcase’ in Hong Kong. The showcase marks the official commencement of the partnership between Hong Kong and Melbourne for the ‘Business of Design Week’, an annual design event organised by the Hong Kong Design Centre.

Decibel Architecture were selected as the architectural studio to represent Victorian design. Speaking with both Hong Kong representatives, Commissioner for Victoria to China Tim Dillon and the Victorian Premier, Hon Daniel Andrews, Dylan had the opportunity to showcase Decibel Architecture, and more broadly, Victorian architecture and its influence both at home and throughout the Asian continent.

“What a great firm, what a great architectural practice, what a great body of work” – Victorian Premier Hon Daniel Andrews

Watch Hon Daniel Andrews’ speech here

Adding on to its growing list of awards and accolades, Ng Teng Fong General Hospital in Singapore has just received a COTE (Committee on the Environment) Top Ten Award. Organised by The American Institute of Architects, the COTE award is the most widely recognised awards program for sustainable design excellence.

You can see Ng Teng Fong General Hospital and the other 9 recipients of this award here.

dB(A)’s Hanoi Lotus project has been featured on Archdaily! You can check out the article here and also on our website here

Hey! G’day! Hola! Guten Tag! Namaste! 你好!

We are hiring! Our (awesome) little studio in the Pixel Building (the highest LEED rated building in the WORLD), located in leafy Carlton, is looking to expand our creative pool of awesome, radical, self-motivated, meticulous, passionate, foosball-savvy architects. We have positions for both a senior and mid-level architect.

If you think you have something to give, and that you could be part of our story, please email a brilliant letter, an outstanding folio and your vital details (max 10mb) to mail@db-a.co

🙂

Dylan has just returned from Hanoi with approval to proceed to full services for the Hanoi Lotus!

The Hanoi Lotus is set to become the new cultural heart of Hanoi, offering a meeting place for family and community, a place to be married, a multifunctional theatre and performance space to enjoy local and international performances.

Check out the project here

studio505 have been awarded multiple awards for their innovative work on Ng Teng Fong General Hospital in Singapore. Taking out the Highly Commended in the European Healthcare Design Awards, a Merit in the FuturArc Green Leadership Awards and a Certificate of Recognition for an Outstanding Project from the Singapore National Parks & LEAF (Landscape Excellence Assessment Framework)

The innovative ward layout of the Ng Teng Fong General Hospital, created by studio505, improves natural ventilation by 200% and gives every patient their own window close to their bed with a view to a garden from which to take fresh air.

You can check the project out here

Jan Henderson is back with the new series, Architects Overseas in which she discusses international endeavours with notable Australian architects.

‘In this week’s episode, Jan talks with Dylan Brady from deciBel architecture, and formerly studio505. The award winning architect speaks candidly about the joys and frustrations of working as an architect in China, Singapore and Japan, on projects as diverse as the Malaysian Academy of Han Studies, The Lotus Building and Phoenix Valley projects in China and the Ng Teng Fong General Hospital in Singapore.’

Watch the extended version here.

studio505 and LT&T Architects are excited to be awarded the Jury Winner in the Architizer A+ Awards 2016, Category : Architecture +Colour for our Nanyang Primary School Extension in Singapore. Congratulations to all who received an award. It’s time to celebrate!

Thank you Sarah for representing studio505 and collecting this award on our behalf at this year’s Architizer A+ Awards 2016 Event Gala held in New York in May! For more information on Nanyang Primary School please click here.

For more images taken at the Architizer A+ Awards 2016 Event Gala please click here. All images of event courtesy of Architizer.

We want to wish you all a happy long weekend as you enjoy the Dragon Boat Festival for 2016!

The role:

Let’s cut to the chase, all job descriptions these days require candidates to have a strong passion for design, be meticulous, self-motivated, able to work in a team, able to work by themselves, be great in adobe, excel at myriad 3d programs and also have excellent construction knowledge and documentation experience…easy.

If you can tick all of the boxes above, fantastic, but we’d also like to hear from you if your personal venn diagram of skills and experience encompasses most of the above, and some stuff we haven’t listed. We believe in being able to teach you skills you may not have, and hope you can do the same
for us.

The most important quality you will have is an ability to constructively embrace and engage with our core values – knowledge, radicalism and play. These three concepts guide our work, and in practice this results in our team constantly expanding their skills as we seek to design a better future.

We’re ideally looking for someone who is recently registered or looking to become so in the next 1-2 yrs. You will be working on projects that vary greatly in scale and complexity, from portable structures up to masterplanning urban and rural communities, and you must be comfortable working within various teams and across project types simultaneously. Rather than list the projects we have on
the drawing board, we’d prefer to meet good candidates and match them to the kind of work we’re doing, and that we are interested in doing.

The office:

Decibel Architecture is housed in our newly furbished studio in the world’s greenest office building, Pixel, in Carlton. Pixel is a ‘Future Office’ – a prototype of the commercial buildings that will emerge when a carbon constrained environment demands a greater focus on energy efficiency. We’re here because we are walking the talk, and this resonates with our diverse client base.

Venn skill sets:

Tertiary Qualification
Revit
Experience
AutoCAD
Adobe Suite
Rhino
Grasshopper
Excel
A valid visa
3Ds Max
Unity
Skill
Dynamo
Passion
Courage

If you think you have something to give, and that you
could be part of our story, please email a brilliant letter,
an outstanding folio and your vital details (max 10mb)
to mail@db-a.co.

Pixel is a ‘Future Office’ – a prototype of the commercial buildings that will emerge when a carbon constrained environment demands a greater focus on energy efficiency. As a prototype, it enables an analysis of the ongoing implications of new technologies in the commercial
building sector.

The most publicly visible element is Pixel’s colourful Façade. A simple but intricate assembly of zero waste, recycled colour panels providing maximised daylight, shade, views
and glare control.

View the Pixel building’s website here.