James Kazalac, Foreground Architecture

What is your favourite material to design and work with at the moment?

We tailor our specifications project to project but always try to seek out products that are sustainable or locally-made where we can.

What is a staple material/product in all your designs?

If there is an opportunity to generate energy on site, we will specify solar capture whenever possible.

Tell us about the project you've submitted.

The Plumbing Industry Climate Action Centre (PICAC) in Narre Warren (completed in 2019) is Victoria’s first Net Zero Energy training facility. It has been a game-changer for trade training centre design and paved the way for more recent Foreground projects like PICAC Beenleigh, the TasTAFE Trades and Water Centre of Excellence and the RMIT Trades Hub in Bundoora.

Tell us about your practice

Until recently, we were known as FMSA Architecture. We’ve been around for almost 50 years and are perhaps best known for our versatility. On any given week, we could be designing schools, social housing, corrections facilities, commercial fit-outs, or alpine homes and retirement villages.

How would you describe your style and design principles?

Working across typologies means we are always open to collaboration and to exploring new ways of working. We value the client’s budget limitations but we will always ask the question: how can we design to best serve both people and planet?

What is your favourite aspect of the project?

Definitely the building’s legibility as an education tool. To realise a best practice demonstration facility, we fought the traditional urge to conceal services. Everything is on display – from the copper pipes in the geothermal pump room to the meticulously-laid conduits throughout.

Were there any new products or construction techniques that have been used in this project that you have not used previously?

PICAC Narre Warren was our first project with a geothermal component and our first Net Zero Energy facility. The screw pile foundations integrate heat exchange technology and we specified Thermomass insulated precast, tilt-slab, concrete panel wall systems. Working with the additional passive design principles, we were able to limit the solar capture capacity to 275kW and still achieve NZE.

Were there any interruptions to the project that forced you to change tac/your design? 

The value architecture adds is being able to investigate and propose options like geothermal where this makes sense; in this case, on a swampy site. This didn’t come without its challenges – like an extra 2-3 months getting out of the ground – but that made all the difference to the building’s NZE legacy.

What were day-to-day challenges did you experience?

We had a seamless design and construct arrangement with Hutchinson Builders, collaborating with an excellent team of additional consultants working on the project. We did discover a threatened, native fish species in the waterways on the site but we made successful provisions for the conservation of its habitat.

In hindsight, what are you most proud of with this project?

When research is rigorous and a client takes a bold but calculated risk, architects can demonstrate the multiplying benefits of design innovation. PICAC Narre Warren has set the bar high for new industry training facilities, demonstrating fantastic environmental and social returns on investment but it is also on track to pay for itself within five or six years. Flagship projects like this should define the built environment of the future.

What do you love most about your Built Environment Channel screen, and why?

As architects and designers, we are always researching, so we love seeing the exciting new projects and products shared by others within our industry. The BEC content often gives us inspiration at just the right time.