Public Good

As an architect our obligation goes beyond the client, we have an obligation to the public and the city. If we considered every project as public, no matter who the client or what the incentive was – how would the existence of our cities change?

This project interrogates how we can address commercial developments with more generosity and care. The increasing privatisation of our cities means that low prices and fast construction are premia, with a lack of value placed on longevity and public amenity.

The critique of current “award-winning projects” revealed that the consideration of the public domain is not a high priority to the institute or locally acclaimed architects. The observations from these studies formed new exemplar examples of how we can design consciously through large- and small-scaled interventions. Interventions that can be embedded in our architecture to ensure the product is a public good.

The project manifests itself in the Woolworths on Smith Street but does not exclusively react to it. It has the potential and should be implemented across our city and suburbs to make good design accessible to everyone and prove that civic endeavour is possible in all projects.