New Museum for Western Australia by HASSELL + OMA shortlisted for the Australian Construction Achievement Award

The New Museum for Western Australia in Perth, Australia, designed in joint venture by international design practices HASSELL + OMA, has been shortlisted as a finalist for the 2020 Australian Construction Achievement Award.

New Museum for Western Australia by HASSELL + OMA. Photography by Peter Bennetts; image courtesy of HASSEL + OMA

A number of innovations and new technologies were implemented in the delivery of the New Museum including:

- the first trial on a commercial site of wireless load controlling technology Roborigger, which holds a crane load steady in any given direction, without the use of a tagline, improving safety on the site;
- design and delivery of the structural steel including the construction of a 17-metre structural steel cantilever above the heritage-listed Hackett Hall building;
- design and installation of ceilings to manage the unique acoustics of the Museum;
- methods to provide seismic protection and care for the heritage-listed buildings.

Located in Perth’s cultural precinct, the New Museum formed with renovated historic buildings and new volumes has been conceived as a framework to share the diverse stories of Western Australia—a State characterised by its abundant endemic species and rich Aboriginal cultures. When complete, it will offer additional spaces for exhibitions and events, and new retail and dining opportunities for the Western Australian Museum.

HASSELL + OMA worked collaboratively with Managing Contractor Multiplex to deliver the project, with the design team led by HASSELL Principal Mark Loughnan, OMA Managing Partner – Architect David Gianotten, HASSELL Principal Peter Dean and OMA Regional Director Paul Jones.

The award, presented by Australian Constructors Association and Engineers Australia, recognises the country’s best construction projects. The 2020 winner will be announced in the 24th edition of the award next year.

Rendering. New Museum for Western Australia by HASSELL + OMA. Image courtesy of HASSEL + OMA

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OMA. Office for Metropolitan Architecture

Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) is an international practice operating within the traditional boundaries of architecture and urbanism. AMO, a research and design studio, applies architectural thinking to domains beyond. OMA is led by eight partners – Rem Koolhaas, Reinier de Graaf, Ellen van Loon, Shohei Shigematsu, Iyad Alsaka, Chris van Duijn, Jason Long, and Managing Partner-Architect David Gianotten – and maintains offices in Rotterdam, New York, Hong Kong, Doha, and Australia. OMA-designed buildings currently under construction are the renovation of Kaufhaus des Westens (KaDeWe) in Berlin, The Factory in Manchester, Hangzhou Prism, the CMG Times Center in Shenzhen and the Simone Veil Bridge in Bordeaux.

OMA’s completed projects include Taipei Performing Arts Centre (2022), Audrey Irmas Pavilion in Los Angeles (2020), Norra Tornen in Stockholm (2020), Axel Springer Campus in Berlin (2020), MEETT Toulouse Exhibition and Convention Centre (2020), Galleria in Gwanggyo (2020), WA Museum Boola Bardip (2020), nhow RAI Hotel in Amsterdam (2020), a new building for Brighton College (2020), and Potato Head Studios in Bali (2020). Earlier buildings include Fondazione Prada in Milan (2018), Garage Museum of Contemporary Art in Moscow (2015), De Rotterdam (2013), CCTV Headquarters in Beijing (2012), Casa da Música in Porto (2005), and the Seattle Central Library (2004).

AMO often works in parallel with OMA's clients to fertilize architecture with intelligence from this array of disciplines. This is the case with Prada: AMO's research into identity, in-store technology, and new possibilities of content-production in fashion helped generate OMA's architectural designs for new Prada epicenter stores in New York and Los Angeles. In 2004, AMO was commissioned by the European Union to study its visual communication, and designed a colored "barcode" flag, combining the flags of all member states, which was used during the Austrian presidency of the EU. AMO has worked with Universal Studios, Amsterdam's Schiphol airport, Heineken, Ikea, Condé Nast, Harvard University and the Hermitage. It has produced Countryside: The Future, a research exhibited at Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York; exhibitions at the Venice Architecture Biennale, including Public Works (2012), Cronocaos (2010), and The Gulf (2006); and for Fondazione Prada, including When Attitudes Become Form (2012) and Serial and Portable Classics (2015). AMO, with Harvard University, was responsible for the research and curation of the 14th Venice Architecture Biennale and its publication Elements. Other notable projects are Roadmap 2050, a plan for a Europe-wide renewable energy grid; Project Japan, a 720-page book on the Metabolism architecture movement (Taschen, 2010); and the educational program of Strelka Institute in Moscow.

Architects HASSELL

HASSELL is a leading international design practice with studios in Australia, China, South East Asia and the United Kingdom.

Recent projects include Shanghai’s Hongkou District on the Huangpu Waterfront, Sky Central in London, First Light Pavilion at Jodrell Bank in the UK, Resilient South City in San Francisco, Perth’s Optus Stadium, the new Melbourne Metro Tunnel, Sixty Martin Place in Sydney, and Brisbane’s Cross River Rail projects.

David Gianotten

David Gianotten is the Managing Partner – Architect of OMA globally, responsible for the overall organizational and financial management, business strategy, and growth of the company in all markets, in addition to his own architectural portfolio.

As Partner-in-Charge, David currently oversees the design and construction of various projects including the Taipei Performing Arts Centre; the Prince Plaza Building in Shenzhen; the KataOMA resort in Bali; the New Museum for Western Australia in Perth; the masterplan of Rotterdam’s Feyenoord City and the design of the new 63,000 seat Stadium Feijenoord; and Amsterdam’s Bajes Kwartier, a conversion of a large 1960s prison complex into a new neighborhood with 1,350 apartments.

David led the design and realization of the MPavilion 2017 in Melbourne and the Shenzhen Stock Exchange headquarters. He was also responsible for the end stages of the CCTV headquarters in Beijing. David’s work has been published worldwide and several of his projects have received international awards, including the 2017 Melbourne Design Awards and the CTBUH Awards in 2013. David gives lectures around the world mainly related to his projects and on topics such as the future development of the architectural profession, the role of context within projects, and speed and risk in architecture.

David joined OMA in 2008, launched OMA's Hong Kong office in 2009, and became partner in 2010. He became OMA’s global Managing Partner – Architect in 2015 upon his return to the Netherlands after having led OMA’s portfolio in Asia for seven years. Before joining OMA, he was Principal Architect at SeARCH in the Netherlands.

David studied Architecture and Architectural Engineering at the Eindhoven University of Technology, where he has also served as a professor in the Architectural Urban Design and Engineering department since 2016. Additionally, he serves on the board of the Netherlands Asia Honors Summer School.