Our societies have evolved from being solely influenced by their surrounding geographical contexts to being sensitive to global events. These have direct effects on our lifestyle, culture and aspirations and pose a challenge to the relevance of our surrounding built environment. Architecture needs to possess the ability to be responsive to the evolving needs and changing societal norms of the communities that use it, along with being functionally sound. This ability also allows an architectural practice to maintain its longevity and a continuous series of evolving design languages. One such architectural practice that exemplifies relevancy and responsiveness in its portfolio, which spans more than a century is Woods Bagot. Their commitment to embrace cultures and ever-changing design trends of not just the context around them but rather the global landscape has allowed them to embrace the complexities of contemporary society.
The Initial Years
Woods Bagot was founded more than 150 years ago in Australia and today has grown into a network of 17 studios that span multiple continents, firmly establishing them as one of the most influential architectural practices in the world. The practice was formally established by Edward Woods upon receiving his first commission in the form of St. Peter’s Cathedral in 1869. He was soon joined by Walter Bagot, who previously articled under him, in 1905 as a partner in the practice, giving the firm its name Woods-Bagot. Over the next decades, the firm’s name kept changing as multiple prominent architects joined the practice, only to settle finally in 1974 as Woods-Bagot in reverence to the original founding architects of the practice.
Woods Bagot today sits on a history spanning more than a century, which includes works covering every possible sector of architectural and urban intervention, and yet when one looks over their growing body of work, never once does this past imply the burden of maintaining a certain language and style. This strength has helped the firm practice an architecture that is affected not by legacy but rather by the notion of staying relevant and responsive to the people and context it designs for. St. Peter’s Cathedral and Bonython Hall of the late 1800s and early 1900s were built in a Gothic style by Woods, but the design for future projects evolved and took into consideration the shifting trends of the design world that are directly affected by people.
Architecture of Relevancy
The relevancy, adaptiveness, and commitment to move with the evolving patterns of life are duly represented in the design decisions of Woods-Bagot. The South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI) is a modern research facility in Adelaide that has been adorned with a distinctive tessellated facade that goes beyond being a facade treatment to actually optimizing the amount of daylight and thus regulating energy efficiency. The highlight of the project, though, remains the architecture’s response to developing an active people’s place at ground level by lifting the entire building above.
Similar to the SAHMRI building, the architecture of Qatar Science and Technological Park is a highlight of firms’ adaptiveness to the cultural and climatic context of the Middle East. The high-tech research and development facilities are complemented by sustainable design elements like the traditional Islamic patterns used to provide solar shading in the harsh climate of the desert. This is further accompanied by again a lifted built form, forming public spaces that house amongst many amenities prayer rooms, an integral part of the local culture.
Adaptive Reuse
As much as Woods-Bagot can be associated with relevancy for their newer constructions, their adaptive reuse projects are of great acclaim too, like the Tianjin Jinmao Plaza. This project converts an existing Chinese power plant into a modern lifestyle destination near the banks of the Hai River in Tianjin Province. The design process respects the role played by the industrial site as a marker of the city’s growth and hence maintains the brick facade and the great grand atriums. These are sufficed with functionality by adding retail, recreational, and educational offerings alongside the complex’s public spaces.
The challenge for the future is clearly in navigating the challenge of creating a future where large-scale infrastructure developments are also looked at the human scale, which emphasizes people’s experience in the design process. Woods-Bagot’s approach is ultimately a sensitized response to the people and their local culture and context, which needs wider adoption in the architectural fraternity as we move towards a future where global design language is being forced into every city, no matter what context the project lies in. ‘People’s Architecture’, as Woods-Bagot refers to it, ensures impactful additions to the urban fabric of our cities that embrace the existing surrounding built environment, reflecting the true purpose of architecture to ultimately serve and improve the lives of people who interact with it.
References:
Architecture Museum, University of South Australia (2008) Architect personal details, Architects of South Australia – Architect Details. Available at: https://architectsdatabase.unisa.edu.au/arch_full.asp?Arch_ID=7#_Firms (Accessed: 18 July 2024).
Bagot, W. (2012) Qatar Science and Technology Park, Woods Bagot. Available at: https://www.woodsbagot.com/projects/qatar-science-and-technology-park/ (Accessed: 20 July 2024).
Bagot, W. (2014) South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, Woods Bagot. Available at: https://www.woodsbagot.com/projects/south-australian-health-and-medical-research-institute/ (Accessed: 20 July 2024).
Bagot, W. (2024) Ad-APT: Tianjin Jinmao Plaza, Woods Bagot. Available at: https://www.woodsbagot.com/journal/adaptive-reuse-tianjin-jinmao-plaza/ (Accessed: 18 July 2024).
