The debate on the role of architects just ramped up another notch this week, first with a thought piece by Philip Graus, and now Clare Cousins, national president of the Australian Institute of Architects, has her say.

Amazon is making a play for the prefabricated construction and smart home markets, investing in a California startup that makes prefab homes.

For Forza Capital director Adam Murchie, the sustainability focus of the near-complete $85 million Supply Co apartment complex in Richmond is not just about “enviro stuff”.

Designs for a new “green refuge” urban park in the centre of Melbourne have been endorsed by the Future Melbourne Committee. The Market Street parkland development will be the first…

This is the sort of headline that should be at the top of any minister’s inbox who has responsibility for overseeing Australia’s future in a rapidly changing construction world.

Why should we care about the future of buildings? This question was posed last week by Dr Mathew Aitchison, Professor in Architecture and lead for the University of Sydney’s Innovation and Applied Design Lab at August’s Sydney Ideas – The Future of Building.

One of Australia’s first residential buildings with Onyx Solar photovoltaic glass integrated into the facade has been built in Melbourne’s inner suburb of Northcote.

Terry Leckie’s Flow Systems has entered into a partnership with Norsk Hydro and a number of other developers to to redevelop 2000 hectares of land at a former aluminium smelter at Kurri Kurri in NSW’s Hunter Valley.

A joint submission from Cox Architecture and Dutch practice UNStudio has taken out developer Beulah International’s design competition for a $2 billion mixed-use skyscraper on the BMW site at Southbank in Melbourne.

Marketing executive Sandra Brewer has been appointed executive director of the Western Australian chapter of the Property Council, replacing Lino Iacomella, who has stepped down after 13 years. Meanwhile, the Urban Development Institute of Australia WA’s chief executive Allison Hailes has resigned.

It was designed with the highest of green ratings in mind, but the City of Canning in Perth is taking design firm Christou and consultant Aecom to court over alleged “misleading or deceptive” conduct regarding the $37 million Cannington Leisureplex’s ecologically sustainable design.

The Australian construction industry has among the lowest rates of investment in research and development in our economy.

Apartments that can be easily adapted into various living arrangements may be the future of sustainable high-density living.

Here’s a practical handbook pitched to those familiar with modular building – and those not so familiar – from the highly regarded James Murray-Parkes at Brookfield Scientific Solutions Group and Monash University’s Yu Bai.

Western Australia is joining the timber trend sweeping the eastern seaboard with its first timber-framed building, a 10-storey hotel at inner city Northbridge.