Cafe Society: Missing element in height limit debate

Focusing on a blanket height limit is the wrong way to approach debate around construction in the CBD, says the state president of the peak architect’s body.

An artist’s impression of the proposed Welcome Stranger development, which was recently knocked back by the Hobart City Council’s planning committee.

LOOK Mum, no hands! I’m sitting with the Australian Institute of Architecture’s Tasmanian president Shamus Mulcahy at Providence Cafe and we’re talking about a piecemeal approach to planning.

Broadly, we are here to discuss the design opportunities and risks facing Tasmania at this time of economic growth, but I particularly want his take on Tasmania being the only state to go it alone without a Government Architect.

The Government or State Architect tends to be more of an advisory role around the country these days, superseding its original purpose of providing in-house plans for public buildings.

Shamus says the best State Architects today integrate strategic and design considerations to advise governments on individual public buildings and the broader urban environment.

He is concerned about the state’s sometimes ad hoc approach to development and thinks a State Architect would make a valuable input.

“There was a misapprehension that the state architect was an arbiter of style, but the scope of the role is so much broader than that,” he says.

“We need a co-ordinator, someone to make all those strategic connections, especially between housing and transport.

“We will never maximise outcomes if we continue to behave reactively rather than having a long-term vision.”

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Architect Shamus Mulcahy says good design is a more important consideration than imposing a blanket height limit. Picture: NIKKI DAVIS-JONES

Shamus is broadly supportive of the statewide planning scheme scheduled to roll out next year, replacing a patchwork of local council regulations.

He says the “massive change” it will bring does not diminish the need for an office of State Architect. Reinstating it would give the State Government a valuable sounding board as it faces considerable planning challenges.

Peter Poulet was appointed our first and only State Architect in 2009, and left a comprehensive Hobart Capital City Plan 2011-2040 gathering dust behind him when he left in 2012 to take up the same role in Sydney. The position remained unfilled and was officially axed by the Hodgman Government in 2014.

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Daily traffic snarls and other planning issues Poulet predicted have come to pass. And, in the continual argy-bargy surrounding new development applications, Shamus notes that design excellence barely seems to rate a mention.

“The blanket height limits people are discussing dumb the argument down to the lowest possible threshold. At the institute, we would say what’s more important than height is good design.”

He fully supports the City of Hobart’s Building Heights Standard Review prepared last year by architect Leigh Woolley.

“It’s a brave and complex document that comes from his high-level experience, and I think it has sensible limits around heights while allowing diversity and leeway,” he says.

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He has little patience for the “delay” talk dominating the discussion about the future redevelopment of Macquarie Point. It’s a massive site and a long time line is reasonable, he says, particularly for a site without a dedicated client.

“I completely support a long burn,” he says.“More important than speed is getting it right. It’s taken 200 years to build Hobart.

“I don’t look at the timesheets but, at the end of the day, I know a project of that scale and complexity will take a long time.”

He says he learned a lot about realistic time frames working on the London Olympics Village ahead of the 2012 games.

“It was 5000 apartments, plus a stadium plus other facilities. When a country pitches for those Games and wins, it is still six to eight years off building them. All those projects are in place — not built, but they are ready to go when they pitch. So that’s 12-14 years to build what you already know you will need.

“Macquarie Point is probably a bit smaller, but at the moment it’s just a place looking for projects. It’s not going to happen like an election cycle every three or four years. It’s vital that it doesn’t.”

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He welcomes the University of Tasmania’s city campus model with its plan to relocate from Sandy Bay over the next 10-15 years.

“We have been talking to [Vice-Chancellor] Rufus Black very recently, and in the past few months we have experienced greater receptivity from the university,” he says. “We are reassured by the level of collaboration.”

And for this champion of Tasmanian talent, every such meeting is an opportunity to remind the uni that Tasmanian architects are up for hire.

“Local architects have vast cultural knowledge, understand the social aspects of living here and the innate character of the place,” he says.

Shamus will be speaking at the Tasmanian Architecture Awards presentations at a free event open to the public upstairs at the Odeon Theatre in Liverpool St on Saturday, 6-8pm. Check out the latest cool builds, buy a drink from the bar and vote for your favourite project in the People’s Choice award. Register on Eventbrite.com.au by searching for Tasmanian Architecture Awards — Public Gallery