Hassell (architecture firm) explained

Hassell
Firm Type:Architecture, interior design, landscape architecture and planning
Founders:Philip Claridge
Colin Hassell
Jack McConnell

Hassell is a multidisciplinary architecture, design and urban planning practice with offices in Australia, China, Singapore, USA and the United Kingdom. Founded in 1937/8 in Adelaide, South Australia, the firm's former names include Claridge, Hassell and McConnell; Hassell, McConnell and Partners; and Hassell and Partners Pty. Ltd.

They are particularly known for the Adelaide Festival Centre complex, which opened in 1973.

History

Hassell was founded in Adelaide, South Australia in 1938.[1]

From 1937, Colin Hassell worked with Philip R. Claridge and Associates, with Claridge, Hassell and McConnell being established as a partnership which included Jack McConnell. Hassell served in the Australian Army during the Second World War, resuming his place in the firm in 1945. After Claridge retired in 1949, the firm became Hassell, McConnell and Partners, and established offices in Melbourne and Canberra. In 1962 John Morphett joined the practice, who was very influenced by the Bauhaus and modernist movements. In the 1970s the firm became Hassell and Partners Pty. Ltd., with Hassell as Senior Principal and also Managing Director of the group. During this period, additional offices were opened in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth.[2]

Hassell and Partners Pty Ltd designed the Adelaide Festival Centre in 1970, with the Adelaide Festival Theatre opened in 1973.[2] Said to be designed "from the inside out" by chief designer John Morphett, the complex has been "hailed as a major step forward in modern architecture in South Australia".[3]

After 1978, the firm became simply Hassell.[2]

In 2010 the firm was ranked the largest architecture company in Australia and the 25th largest in the world,[4] and retained the Australian ranking for the following two years in the BD World Architecture 100 annual survey.

In 2019, Hassell, then the second-largest design firm in Australia, announced that they would be closing their Adelaide office upon completion of existing projects in 2021, so it could focus on larger urban centres. The existing projects included the Adelaide GPO development, the Adelaide Festival Centre redevelopments, and the expansion of Adelaide Airport terminal. Although the physical office closed, the firm continued to undertake work in Adelaide, via a consultancy which set up by the three principal architects based in Adelaide.[5]

Accolades

The firm has received Australian Institute of Architects national awards for the Sydney Olympic Park railway station (1998), the VS1/SA Water building in Adelaide (2009), ANZ Centre in Melbourne's Docklands and the railway stations of the Epping to Chatswood railway line (2010)[6] and the Australian National University Birch Building Refurbishment (2022).[7]

In 2023, the firm won a Civic Trust Award for the First Light Pavilion Visitor's Centre at Jodrell Bank Observatory.[8]

Selected projects

The firm's first major project was the Art Deco building at 2 King William Street for the Bank of New South Wales.[5]

Australia

United Kingdom

China

Gallery

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Hassell to close founding Adelaide office. Bleby. Michael . 2019-10-28. Australian Financial Review. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20191029132743/http://www.afr.com/property/commercial/hassell-to-close-founding-adelaide-office-20191028-p5353m. 2019-10-29. 2019-12-20.
  2. Web site: Architects of South Australia . Architect Details: Hassell, Frank Colin (Colin) . University of South Australia. 16 April 2021.
  3. Web site: Architects of South Australia . Architect Details: Morphett, John Neville . University of South Australia. 16 April 2021.
  4. News: Hassell in top 25 . . 10 February 2010 .
  5. Web site: Hassell to close founding Adelaide studio . Architecture & Design . 14 October 2020 . 17 April 2021.
  6. http://www.architecture.com.au/awards_search?entryno=&showstyle=1&location=-1&awards=2&browseyears=-1&option=search&search=advanced&keyword=HASSELL&field=-1&majorcat=-1&minorcat=-1 Australian Institute of Architects
  7. Web site: 2022 National Architecture Awards - Winners Gallery - Australian Institute of Architects. 15 September 2023.
  8. Web site: First Light Pavilion Visitor’s Centre. 15 September 2023.
  9. Web site: ANZ Centre / Hassell. 2010-11-23. ArchDaily. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20191220131748/https://www.archdaily.com/90709/anz-centre-hassell. 2019-12-20. 2019-12-20.
  10. Web site: Our history. National Institute of Dramatic Arts. 20 July 2023.
  11. Web site: It was a 'complicated' and 'difficult' project, but the new $396m WA Museum building is finally finished. Gubana. Benjamin. 2019-12-19. ABC News. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20191220160437/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-12-19/new-wa-museum-free-entry-announced-as-building-completed/11814400. 2019-12-20. 2019-12-22.
  12. Web site: EZONE UWA. . n.d.. UWA Campus Management. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20200831004143/https://www.cm.uwa.edu.au/projects-and-works/current-projects/ezone-uwa. 2020-08-31. 2020-08-31.
  13. Web site: The new buildings set to shape the world in 2023. Oscar Holland. 5 January 2023. CNN.
  14. Web site: Team appointed to design Melbourne Arts Precinct public realm Arts Centre Melbourne . 2022-05-25 . www.artscentremelbourne.com.au . en.
  15. Web site: 'Dramatic, diverse' planting design for proposed Melbourne Arts Precinct public spaces . 2022-05-25 . Landscape Australia . en . 4 June 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190604105802/https://landscapeaustralia.com/articles/dramatic-diverse-planting-design-for-proposed-melbourne-arts-precinct-public-spaces/ . live .
  16. Web site: AL_A, HASSELL + PLP complete flagship sky central workplace in west london. Philip Stevens. designboom.
  17. Web site: Hassell completes final phase of Brighton university masterplan. Fran Wlliams. Architects' Journal.
  18. Web site: Explore astronomy at Jodrell Bank's First Light Pavilion in Cheshire. Ellie Stathaki. Wallpaper*.

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