Bates Smart has Managed and Intertwined The Multiple Responsibilities

Bates Smart is awarded the John Andrews Award for Commercial Architecture for Constitution Place. Constitution Place is an architectural composition that skilfully plays an assured role in the Canberra architectural narrative: a composition that includes reflection on the city’s Griffin legacy and confidently carries a new character into the future.

Bates Smart has managed and intertwined the multiple responsibilities carried by this site into a work of contextual balance. The taller more formal commercial building on Constitution Avenue is the architectural equivalent of a superbly tailored suit.

The building to London Circuit responds to a different solar orientation and context as expressed through lower height, lighter colour, varied grids, textures, and reflectivity as it follows the curved London Circuit frontage. The facade facing the heritage Legislative Assembly building is scaled to its civic function and incorporates a colonnade and gridded masonry expression that references Canberra’s mid-century architectural exemplars.

Fundamental to the composition is the diagonal ‘eat street’ positioned at the development’s core. Eating, entertainment and service opportunities that exist symbiotically with the host buildings, the adjacent theatre and civic precincts, ensure a vibrant, socially sustainable and enduring contribution to the civic and municipal heart of Canberra.

Constitution Place is a masterly contribution to the centre of the Griffins’ city beautiful vision for Canberra. Canberra’s municipal core between London Circuit and Vernon Circle is loaded with symbolism and as-yet largely unrealised potential for magnificent places to enrich the city’s heart. This development, however, grasps the city – making challenges and provides a transformative response.

The urban design gestures are grounded in the Griffins’ vision and in a contemporary reading of the city context and future of this key precinct. The development provides a strong built form at the commencement of Constitution Avenue: the higher, more formal building mass marking the transition to City Hill.

The lower building to London Circuit is sensitively scaled and sited to create a diagonal through-site laneway. The laneway is compressed to provide a sense of theatre and friction; the intimacy is of value in a city notable for its vastly scaled avenues and public spaces. Appropriately, Lyric Lane provides pedestrian permeability and a slew of options for lunchtime workers and evening theatre crowds.

Well-scaled parks punctuate the diagonal: a pocket park at Constitution corner is an intuitive focal point. The Legislative Plaza to the north extends Akuna Street vistas and its formal design references the Legislative Assembly.