Monthly Archives: April 2016

Innovation and the Bankwest Gallipoli Run 2016, April 17th in Kings Park

Twins?

On the 17th of April, I did the BankWest Gallipoli Run with notable sculptor Max Ball. We sat together at school in the early 1960s and studied architecture together in the late 1960s. Here is a picture of us together…… twins? Just like Danny Devito and and Arnold Schwarzenegger? 🙂

2016 Gallipoli Run, Max Ball and Garry Baverstock

Unfortunately the Post thought so recently in their Sculpture article (page 9 Feb 27th) where Nick Melidonis’ photo of Max was incorrectly captioned as me.

I felt honoured to be seen to be younger looking and sexier but I know the Post being a seeker of the truth, thought it should corrected.

Inspiration During The Run

Inspired by the Gallipoli run through Kings Park last Sunday morning the following comment surfaced about the run itself and its crazy correlation with innovation theory:

It is easy to see how anyone one could get confused with our identities, what do you think? (Max is on the left and I am on the right!). At the start of the race we mused that because we were displaying a bank sponsor that maybe we should go slow or run last in sympathy for the Australian banking system.

However, once the starters gun was heard, our pride got the better of us and we chugged along at 10 km/hour and to our great surprise eventually finished in the top third of the field. Not bad for old farts.

These days after many years of mining boom the buzzword is ‘innovation’ and as a founding director of a non-profit, Innovate Australia, it is habitual for my mind to meander in down times about it this phenomenon and its imperative for our civilization. Running, as real runners can testify, can be a transcendental experience. So as Max and I got into a groove, my mind started to wander and my intellectual pursuits melded with my animal instincts.

The ‘innovation curve’ is a statistical representation of attitudes of the populace to new ideas. It is a normal distribution bell curve with innovators, early adopters and adapters at the front, a vast number of people in the middle, not too early but not too late either, followed at the end by ‘laggards’ and ‘luddites’.

As we crunched on past the memorial trees of fallen ancestors I could not help think as my mind wandered as we got into a hypnotic rhythm, that the distribution of the field in the run was a a lot like the innovation curve.

The laggards, I pondered were like a safety break in the system during hysterical, greedy times but diabolical in downtimes, holding back the group from progressing, and slowing down our collective progress overall.

We were not trying all that hard and deliberately chose to cruise along in silence and of course in reverence for our revered ANZACS. It was a nice experience, beautiful tree canopies passing overhead in dappled light.

However we did notice the competitiveness in some and also ourselves, with one young chap about 40 years old passing us about 10 times. Pacing past numerous times, only to be passed by us further down the track as he hit the wall, gasping for breath walking along. It got a little annoying after a while and I have to admit that my boxing instincts nearly set in, as I flashed an image in my mind hammer fisting him as he passed us after the ninth time.

But peace returned quickly and justice prevailed and we motored past him on the last hill and rolled down to the finish line. Still competitive at 67!

It was a lovely experience for us buddies for the last 52 years. We are both Cottesloe residents to boot. What a brilliant way to remember the ANZACS.

Congratulations to all concerned, organizers, sponsors, the Sport WA people, the army, the RSL and of course the innovation curve that arrived and ‘competed’ the course.

Re-visiting the Architectural Design of the Mandurah Retirement Village

Dementia Wing: Mandurah Retirement Village

The existing dementia wing within the village has been designed by Ecotect to maximise the passive solar nature of the site. An example of this innovative design is that all bedroom windows, regardless of whether they face North or South access North light with their specially designed high level windows.

The bedrooms are clustered in two wings around a central garden courtyard with a ‘Wandering’ path with all rooms looking out onto landscaped garden court areas. Another feature is the clear and simple route from the bedrooms to the communal dining area which is located away from the main circulating spaces. This means that dementia patients are not agitated by excessive movement of staff going about their daily routines.

Communal Dining Area

The communal dining area has been set out into niches creating intimate spaces. Again, this area obtains North light and warmth throughout the depth of the space with the use of high level clerestory windows and has space views onto the gardens and main central court.

There is potential for secure internal and external circulation ‘wandering’ routes with points of interest along the way. Further enhancements include smaller intimate spaces in the library entrance, sunroom, passage niche, central court solar pergola and dining solar pergola.

Storage facilities are also well designed and incorporate a functional service yard and service equipment storage area.

Ecotect-Architects take pride in designing facilities such as these to maximise light, functionality and enjoyment of life for patients and a great working environment for the carers.

Ecotect Architects to Lead and Promote a Vision for Swanbourne

Vision for Swanbourne

The vision for Swanbourne was spawned 12 years ago when Garry Baverstock and Julia Hayes made Swanbourne their home. They could see the village environment was degrading slowly rather than improving, however, they felt it was a great place for rejuvenation around the railway station. This rejuvenation was given a large boost with the current plans to develop the whole precinct with the Swanbourne Village complex becoming a catalyst for change to a more vibrant and desirable place to live.

Swanbourne Precinct will share Vision

The Swanbourne Village will take advantage of the proximity of the railway station with plans to help existing businesses already there to increase diversity and create more customers while attracting new businesses to the area and making them all more viable.

Collaboration with Business Owners

The vision will be further extended just across the railway line from the Swanbourne Village with the creation of the Swanbourne Precinct Development Trust that has recently purchased a crucial property within the business complex. A collaboration with the business owners adjacent to the railway line will complement the initiative of the Swanbourne Village to increase and improve the shopping precinct while also increasing the density with transit oriented developments at the back and over the existing shops over the next 10 years.

The first step in this rejuvenation is to masterplan the precinct and engage the existing community and business owners as stakeholders as the Trust develops, so all are empowered to control their own destiny rather than the piecemeal approach often favoured by big developers. Garry Baverstock commented,

“We create a community style development where the stakeholders are the real stakeholders and beneficiaries of what is achieved; driven by an architectural and planning concept rather than simply a money-making venture”.

Development Similar to Prahran, Melbourne

This planned development will be similar to Prahran in Melbourne and the Swanbourne Village Trust has a video illustrating how this progressive community in Prahran carried out the planning of their precinct. The principles behind this community based approach is what Ecotech Architects is promoting for Swanbourne.

Finally, every development Ecotect undertakes will adhere to its commitment for maximised, passive and active solar systems and integration into sustainable garden and water waste management systems.

Photo Credits; Nick Melidonis, www.nickmelidonis.com