Design King Company in Paddington, New South Wales | Home improvement

Design King Company

Locality: Paddington, New South Wales

Phone: +61 2 9261 3062

Address: Suite 202 2-8 Elizabeth Street Paddington 2021 Paddington, NSW, Australia

Website: http://www.designking.com.au/

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25.01.2022 Creation of Small House Prototype progresses with Dr Christian Tietz. Prototypes do a number of things that are useful. Can assist in negotiation collective action and may cause a paradigm shift.... They allow for improvisation and collaboration. They make no distinction between applied and primary knowledge. Disolves university/industry policy/science divisions Its all about tinkering and inventing

25.01.2022 We have had a busy week designing and now building a very small and intimate theatre for The Griffin Theatre Company. It will take its place in Circular Quay this Saturday for a test run, with the hope it will travel more widely throughout the year. The concept is a the brainchild of the Artistic Director of the Griffin, Lee Lewis who intends to give people a very close encounter with Australian Theatre. It is a prototype designed and built in a week so it is going to be a te...st for the little structure, the actors and the audience of one. Graphics will be applied by Re: Sydney and this model only intimates the final look of the MINI Griffin Theatre.

24.01.2022 A visit to the Rose Seidler House over the weekend was a reminder of what a great and iconic piece of work this was. Built in times of material shortages it represents Australia's first real brush with modernism.

23.01.2022 Almost the first job the office ever did is now undergoing a significant upgrade. The original refurbishment of the 1960's Perisher Huette lodge by Design King Company dates back to 1996 and it has served the membership well. However the harsh environment of the Snowy Mountains takes it toll on all buildings and so the windows and facade are being repaired and renewed. At the same time we are also upgrading some of the interior that was pragmatic but lacking in atmosphere and reinstating some of the history that has been purged over time. This will be a gradual process but much needed to keep the lodge both functional and attractive. To have continuity with a project over so many years is a great privilege and ensures that a building gets better not becomes diminished by unsympathetic renovations.

23.01.2022 We are commencing preparation of documents for the design and construction of this exciting new commercial project in Sydney. Extending the existing 19th Century shed with an elegant and transparent addition.

22.01.2022 Carefully working out how to light a Banksy Defaced Hirst, 2009 and bright Takashi Murakami and Kaws amongst other iconic modern works of art is a very pleasnat challenge. A sketch model helps us to understand the fittings to be selected, beam angles and colour, and to coordinate the fittings with other building services.

21.01.2022 Bondi Trattoria. One of Sydney's icons and a great place to have a Sunday morning breakie after a swim.

21.01.2022 Delegates of the International Forum of Adaptive Urbanism were lucky enough to be a part of "Festa", an event created, built and organized by Architecture and Engineering students within the destroyed central city of Christchurch.

18.01.2022 Our Alberta Street laneway works are now largely complete and already the transformation is evident, as people begin to appreciate a new and more generous piece of public space. A great piece of collaboration with City of Sydney.

16.01.2022 A project about scale and intimacy. Photographs Brett Boardman.

15.01.2022 Sample of travel sketched from last few weeks in Europe.

15.01.2022 As the sun returns to our laneway, and the trees in turn begin to spring back to life.. our central city location starts to look very urbane. This mixed use development with a small footprint, narrow frontage and rising 10-11 storeys is looking like a very good model for development.

11.01.2022 Barnet got all the good jobs. On a recent visit to Port Macquarie, orientated around a childs sporting comp, I managed to sneak away for a quick dip at Lighthouse Beach and came across this gorgeous little lighthouse at Tacking Point. Of course designed by James Barnet. He got all the good jobs. Imagine having five lighthouses to design! The perfect site every time. The function and role so straightforward and yet so important. At Tacking Point there had been at least 20 shi...pwrecks prior to the Lighthouse being completed. James Barnet was the Colonial Architect for NSW between 1862-1890 and in that time designed so many beautiful buildings...The General Post Office in Sydney, Customs House, Darlinghurst Court House, and this is the tip of the iceberg.

11.01.2022 Cafe and Expresso Bar Williamsburg Brooklyn. Transformation, gentrification call it what you like. With our guides Get Up and Ride we were taken on a tour of downtown Brooklyn to witness the spectacular transformation of these previously largely industrial and manufacturing areas into a vibrant arts and artisan based communities. Re purposing of existing industrial and warehouse buildings was widespread and inspiring so to was the quality of street art and small boutique manufacturing. Not far behind the developers are sensing the opportunity and so the cycle of gentrification goes. It is probably in that very sweet spot currently where it has a good balance between opportunity and affordability. That will change rapidly I imagine.

11.01.2022 I Dropped past the house at Palm Beach on Saturday. Built for Ruth Ritchie and Jhonnie Blampied it was designed in collaboration with Stephen Collins in 2002 and was completed in 2004. 12 years later it stills looks great and given the opportunity to build it to today, it would be the invisibles I would be most focused on. Ground works, drainage and the services and systems would be much easier to achieve given the 14 years of experience under the belt. But the intent still holds and has stood the test of time.

11.01.2022 Earlier in the year I participated in the Vivid Sydney Festival in an event entitled "Speculate Super High Density Sydney" During this live event a number of cross disciplinary groups looked at the re-planning of a large track of industrial land not far from the Olympic Park in Homebush. These quick sketches were done live on my iphone using "sketchbook" and formed part of the discussion and speculation on the future shape of Sydney. My approach was one of incremental change rather than a wholesale re-development of the precinct in the conventional masterplanned approach with a single developer. architecturebulletin.com.au/winter-20/vivid-2015-in-review/

11.01.2022 As an architect you often will something into being by the act of drawing. When you walk into a house, a site or a damaged city you have to imagine and transcend the often challenging reality of a given situation or site. You might call this vision but when I look over early sketches of completed works you will find the answer is intuitively there right from the very beginning. The challenges of budget, of clients expectations, of approvals and building are all mediated by the original concept. Good architects are most often determined people who resist compromise but welcome creative adjustment and tuning of the concept to real needs and demands. Much like a good sailor we navigate the storms and hope to make safe passage.

11.01.2022 Restaurant Sasaki completed and the transformation of a laneway in Sydney complete. The food and experience was awesome and I look forward to seeing Yu in turn see his vision fulfilled.

10.01.2022 Tuesday morning in the office with my friends.

10.01.2022 Design King Company are Moving. After 10 Years at 21 Alberta Street in the City, Design King Company is moving the Office to 2-8 Elizabeth Street Paddington. We may be off air for a few days as the inevitable problems with our utility and communications monopolies play out. Our telephone and email should be restored and up and running by Monday and the contact details will remain the same. With a bit more space and flexibility we are ready for a new chapter in the business and looking forward to the change of scene. Now with a DA approval from the City of Sydney in place our vision for this little precinct of the city is almost complete and in collaboration with our wonderful friend Yu Yusaki we will develop our current premises into Sasaki Restaurant which will open in January. See you on the other side!

09.01.2022 December and January allowed me to visit some of Norman Foster's landmark buildings that span some 30 years of working consistently on the principle of providing simple and legible structure, driven by an overriding environmental agenda. From galleries and museums to offices and airports this is now what I'd call a global vernacular and has without doubt changed the way we view and interact with the world.

08.01.2022 Blackheath Starting to develop.

08.01.2022 Recently completed house in little old Queen Street for Kate and Stephen.

08.01.2022 On a trip to Europe over December January I made a point of visiting Copenhagen, a city the invites much praise for its liveability and cycle friendliness. It is also a compact city and an exemplar I cited in our Christchurch submission for its building form and population density. Denmark is also a country that puts the collective good high on its agenda and so it is highly taxed but has very good public education, health and transport infrastructure. And of course it is re...nowned for its design culture that is deeply rooted in a culture that celebrates the ordinary with extraordinary craft, attention to detail material and light. Arne Jacobsens Bellevue Coastal Baths just north of Copenhagen were designed in the 1930s and remnants of the original change rooms, kiosks and watchtowers still remain and people still bath in this on this beach in winter! A little further north is the Louisiana Gallery of Modern Art. Renowned for its wonderful landscape setting, beautiful domestic scale buildings and very particular collection of modern art. The current exhibition of Olafur Eliasons Louisiana Riverbed is remarkable and quite disorientating as he has constructed a Icelandic riverbed through a number of the gallery spaces. And of course we have the Utzon connection to Australia. Utzons simple houses at the Kingo Estate give me something to contemplate going forward and thinking about housing. Built around a central pond, the houses are set in a low density attached courtyard configuration that is at once private and collective. A bit closer to Copenhagen is the extraordinary Grundtvigs Church. Inspired and built as a monument to one of the founders of contemporary Denmarks identity it is timeless and beautiful. Visiting it in the fading daylight which is very short-lived at this time of year, we were lucky indeed to get access.

08.01.2022 Progress photographs of the Barbaric/ Greenwood House. The Bulider, Horizon Habitats who are hoping to complete to lock up before the end of the year.

06.01.2022 It was a long journey but a very happy arrival. Nick reckons "best thing ever" and when you look at where we started I tend to agree. Happy summer holidays from DKC

05.01.2022 After a few years break I can now look back on these beautiful images of Brett Boardman with some pleasure. The really incredible brick and steel detailing is something to be very proud but it takes it out of you.

04.01.2022 India King, shocked and deeply disappointed to see her marvellous graffiti removed so methodically and completely from the rear wall of our laneway office in Sydney, had to learn the hard way that the politics of art are complex. Not to mention that without DA approval street art is not legitimate it seems in the eyes of City Council. Who identified this 20/20 year 10 SCEGGS artwork and decided to have it removed remains a deep mystery. Who is on the payroll to make these val...ue based decisions? and who on earth is paid to remove them so completely? This remains a part of the process of learning for our budding artist and I am sure Banksy (a valued colleague and advisor to India) may help her understand why the City of Villages, the Polycentric Urban Conglomerate of the City of Sydney viewed her work as an eyesore and wiped it off the face of the earth. See more

04.01.2022 Next week Jon king will participate in the International Congress of Adaptive Urbanism in Christchurch. The agenda will focus on issues of empowerment, ecology, property ownership and rights, underlying economic frameworks, community engagement, the barriers to inclusion and of course experimentation. It is the logical extension to many of the ideas we developed during our Breathe New Urban Village experiment/project and distinguished thinkers and practitioners from around the world will gather in Christchurch to discuss evaluate and participate in the sharing of ideas and experiences. http://www.adaptiveurbanism.org.nz/

03.01.2022 Construction nearly at an end in Randwick for Dr Draga Barbaric and Dr Matthew Greenwood and their three children. Horizon Habitats have done a great job again. Photographer Kerry Wilson

02.01.2022 Fewer people do things with their hands today. Leon Smith now in his eighties and had been building and mending everything from his Bruce Rickard House in the 60's, to various ski lodges in Kozcuisko National Park and keeping his family's taxi fleet going as a young man. As I sought advise on matters of our ski lodge at Perisher I could not help but take a few shots and marvel at the practical beauty of this shed with a small house attached to it.

02.01.2022 Currently working on compact production house with Industrial Designer Dr Christian Tietz. The site for the prototypes will be a small subdivision in the Blue Mountains.

01.01.2022 The process of finding a painting for Katie's 50th was indeed a great little adventure, ending in the emergency purchase of a 1982 Nissan Pintara. Lucy's very particular engagement with the world around her gives her work a very reverberative energy. Hard to expalin without seeing the works at close quarters. However one sees the influences of Margaret Preston, Japanese printmaking, Van Gogh and a long line of Australian painters that somehow gel into a very personal and authentic body of work. And so the journey to finding the right painting has also been a personal and interesting story.