Green Magazine #69 September-October 2019

timber certification explained

“WHEN YOU BUY LOCAL, THE TIMBER IS FROM A NEARBY FOREST AND NOT BEING TRANSPORTED ACROSS THE WORLD.” Specifiers and consumers want to be assured that timber products are coming from responsibly and sustainably managed forests. But with multiple certification schemes available in Australia, how do you know what the best environmental choice is? Forestry expert Andrew Morgan, Director of SFM Environmental Solutions, a national forest management company, explains. “When looking into timber products, the first thing specifiers should be looking for is certification, regardless of which system. Secondarily, buy local,” explains Morgan. The two largest internationally recognised forest certification schemes are PEFC (Responsible Wood in Australia) and FSC. While these two accreditations hold slight differences, the two certifications almost mirror one another. The Most Responsible Choice? Buy local. Aside from certification, purchasing a local timber…

mini living laneway architecture

MINI LIVING – INVERT 3.0 is green magazine and MINI’s third collaboration, which this year focuses on laneway architecture. These underutilised urban corridors present solutions to pressing issues of housing affordability and land regeneration, as well as sustainable mobility and community building. green magazine has invited a selection of Australian architects and RMIT University architecture students to respond to a hypothetical brief for a Melbourne laneway site. The exhibition of 1:20 scale models will be presented from 13 - 17 November at Rapha Melbourne, 32 Guildford Lane. For more information, head to: greenmagazine.com.au/invert…

upfront

Winner, Winner Winner at the 2019 Good Design Awards, the “Spin Stool” is ingeniously stackable and sustainable to boot. It’s made from certified sustainable veneer and water-based glues, is “virtually handmade” and uses minimal resources in production and transport. cubencircle.com.au FANCY A CUPPA? The Teapot Project is the culmination of an intergenerational, intercultural and interdisciplinary collaboration between designer-maker Kenny Yong-soo Son and prominent silversmith Hendrik Forster. The duo’s study of the humble teapot lead to a shared, handcrafted design with thirty different variations in finish and appearance – each as striking as the next. studiokyss.com Modular "Velos Vase” is made from raw, single-component aluminium and constructed in Sydney. It’s designed by Jordan Gogos, whose practice focuses on fully renewable materials, singular component use and objects as furniture. gogos.online Join Us Drawing on the simple pleasure of bringing folks together, “The…

all roads lead to …

When designing Pentolina – a new, Italian restaurant in Melbourne – Biasol looked to Rome for inspiration and combined references to the city’s famous ruins and quintessential Italian pasta bars with the fabric of the existing, century-old building. Classic Italian hospitality speaks volumes through the double-curved counter that spans the length of the restaurant, topped off with burgundy bar stools – a warm invitation to guests to engage with the staff and the space. Although it’s difficult to compete with views of fresh pasta being made, the surrounding palette of rose-coloured marble, hand-rendered concrete, terrazzo flooring and Tasmanian oak does well to keep up; marrying Italian style with a thoroughly ‘Melbourne’ design sensibility. biasol.com.au Sun, Sand and Shelter That most ingrained fixture of patrolled Australian beaches – the stalwart lifesaver’s tower – has been…

renaissance man

There is an air of excitement about Joost Bakker. You can feel it even before being in his presence: arriving at his Monbulk, Victoria family home and farm (which he designed and built) one is met by a wall covered in living strawberry plants. This is where the intrigue begins. The prominent environmental activist has turned his hand to many projects over the years, including hospitality ventures, consulting for various commercial projects and, in the works, a “true, living example of a zero waste system” – a closed-loop greenhouse inhabited by humans, which he envisages on a site in Melbourne. On top of that, he’s been working as a florist since the age of 19. Had you asked him what his ambitions were, growing up as a child in Holland, however,…

checkmate

On larger residential projects, a millimetre off is usually neither here nor there. But when the site is just 4.5 metres-wide, sandwiched between two double-storey houses, and the client seeks two gardens and living spaces, three bedrooms and a study, plus two bathrooms and a garage, every bit of space counts. It presented a delightful renovation challenge for Mel Bright and her team, who recently renamed her MAKE Architecture practice as Studio Bright; this is its first published project under the new name. “It was like moving little chess pieces around,” she laughs. The first move was pulling in space by building to the boundaries. So, with part of the existing house chopped off at the back, a new, singular dark brick form was gently balanced above it. Consisting of the main bedroom…