Architectural Team: Simon Pendal, Stephen Neille, Shane Winter

AIA (WA Chapter) Urban Design Architecture Award 2011

First Prize - Shortlist Invited Competition

New Trends of Architecture in Europe and Asia-Pacific 2008-2010

John Curtin Gallery- Structuring Perception: architectural projects by Pendal and Neille March 2010

This project aims to reaffirm the formal visual axis from Parliament House to the city, and a landform connection to the escarpment upon which it rests.  The interior of Parliament House is determined by its ‘Four Grand Rooms’.  Each is a refined and intense vessel.This project was awarded to Pendal and Neille via a Department of Housing and Works design competition in 2008.  The design carries with it a deep concern for place and required the re-working of an existing, decommissioned, fountain structure within the confines of the Heritage Listed Parliament Building.  Conceptually it forms a terraced landform, allowing the forecourt to rest upon the escarpment.  Its roots, like that of the Parliament itself, can be found in the mortuary temple of Hatshepsut, Egypt.  The new forecourt seeks a deep resonance in history, while becoming part of the ensemble of Parliament House by adding two new garden courts to its ‘Four Grand Rooms’, The Legislative Council, Legislative Assembly, Member’s Library and Member’s Dining Room.   Within the body of the new work is a public restaurant, the ends of which address the new garden courts.  The ramps in front of this linear building provide a long, unfurling experience for all to encounter- from the footpaths of Hay and Malcolm Streets, to the new terraced garden rooms and then to the forecourt above.  At a conceptual level this expresses inclusiveness & connects to ideas of democracy and access to the broad Parliamentary Precinct.