Bence Mulcahy is undertaking a masterplan for Fahan School to guide their building program.

Fahan, a girls’ school with students from kindergarten to year 12, is situated on a leafy and historic campus in Sandy Bay and enjoys beautiful views of the River Derwent. 

In response to our consultation with students, and the school’s commitment to put the outdoors at the heart of education, our campus planning prioritises the landscape setting and ‘long view’ to the river.

A new terraced landscape “green heart” in the centre of the campus connects the whole school and is a place for gathering, outdoor learning and active play. New buildings capture the ‘long view’, and alterations to existing teaching spaces provide breakout spaces and connections to the outdoors. 

Deep consultation with students was a highlight of our work with Fahan. The high value of the gardens came through universally to become the focus of the masterplan. 

Images by Bence Mulcahy and Fahan School

Bence Mulcahy was selected to design a state-of-the-art veterinary facility on Flinders Island for the local council. 

The island’s Showground was selected as the location for the clinic due to its proximity to the island’s main roads and Whitemark township, and from a desire to support existing activities at the site, including the community shed and pony club.

The new building is informed by its agricultural context and continues the site’s tradition of simple, shed-style buildings that use a repetitive structural system. The openings are carefully placed to capture views of Mount Strzelecki

The clinic’s verandah is aligned with the community shed, to allow for a future connection between the two buildings, and offers the community a sheltered place to meet. It also provides a pet-friendly alternative to a traditional clinic reception and waiting room.  

Images by CUUB Studio

2022 Tasmanian Architecture Awards Commendation for Educational Architecture

Dover, located 81 km south of Hobart, is Australia’s most southern town.

The redevelopment of the Dover School campus to accommodate a new year 11 and 12 facility helps remove barriers to education for this remote community with a population of 486.

The school’s original 1950s hall was extended and linked to a new building that overlooks the town and port, connecting students to the dramatic landscape and their community.

The contemporary teaching space now caters for the school’s primary and secondary students, as well as adult learners and community events.

The new building continues the school’s existing gable and skillion roofs, with the folding roof planes outlining the three teaching spaces within.

Carbon-neutral Tasmanian red bricks were selected to be in keeping with the existing material palette and from a desire to use local materials.

Photos by Adam Gibson

Fusilier Cottage has picked up a 2022 National Award for Residential Architecture – Houses (Alterations and Additions)! We are so proud that this little project is nationally regarded. 

Jury Citation

“Hobart’s Battery Point is full of charm and the 1830s Georgian bluestone cottage opposite a rather good bakery on Hampden Road has had an enduring connection to the community. The garden of Fusilier Cottage has long acted as a de facto public park, with many happily spending time under the shade of its gracefully ageing sycamore tree.

The new addition by Bence Mulcahy is a glorious exercise in restraint and understanding of this heritage building in relation to the streetscape. The new timber pavilion sits exquisitely in the garden, with large sliding doors that enable the occupants to either embrace the crisp Hobart air or retreat to the warmth and privacy behind the timber screening.

Internally, the bluestone flooring connects with the original building and the timber cabinetry adds to the comfort and sense of modern permanence of this home.

With a light touch that is indicative of the inspired current trajectory of Tasmanian architecture, Fusilier Cottage presents as a thoughtful and delightful gift to those seduced by the romance of Battery Point. Come for sausage roll and stay for the architecture.”

Read about all the award winners here

https://architectureau.com/articles/national-architecture-awards-2022/

These tiny houses are for a simplified way of living. 

Less space, less stuff, less energy consumed. 

Built off-site and transported to any location. They are for the city or the beach.

An option for densification of our cities, these tiny homes provide for intergenerational needs, granny-flat, teenager or parent retreat.  They are for working-from-home or for boutique accommodation.

They are also for the remote escape.

A simple but dynamic form is achieved within the dimensional constraints of transportation. 

A rectangular plan with a diagonal gable makes for unexpectedly playful exterior where all four elevations vary. Entries and windows taper into the form, making shadows and oblique views.

A small footprint with a lofty interior, these tiny homes are both intimate and spacious.

Monochromatic interior colour and materiality adds drama to what is typically a generic building typology.

Designed for two friends, starting a business together, Wild Huts are built in Tasmania.

Thanks to CUUB Studio for visualisations.

Wild Huts are available here 

Congratulations to Bek for being selected to join this year’s Dulux Study Tour.  Bek is pumped that she’ll spend May touring famous buildings and prestigious architecture practices in Tokyo, Berlin and Madrid.  To find out more about the study tour and to follow Bek’s travels, click here.

2020 Dulux Study Tour participants from L-R: Tahnee Sullivan, Keith Westbrook, Bek Verrier, Sam McQueeney, Ksenia Totoeva