{"id":7591,"date":"2019-07-02T07:00:04","date_gmt":"2019-07-01T23:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/historic-perth-buildings-redesign-reconnects-alumni-with-curtin\/"},"modified":"2022-12-07T13:09:27","modified_gmt":"2022-12-07T05:09:27","slug":"historic-perth-buildings-redesign-reconnects-alumni-with-curtin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/historic-perth-buildings-redesign-reconnects-alumni-with-curtin\/","title":{"rendered":"Historic Perth building\u2019s redesign reconnects alumni with Curtin"},"content":{"rendered":"

Curtin alumni have helped transform the interior of Curtin\u2019s newest city premises at 137 St Georges Terrace, Perth \u2013 a castle-like, Federation gothic building that has a special place in Curtin University\u2019s history.<\/p>\n

The striking red brick building was constructed to accommodate growing numbers at the Perth Technical School, Curtin\u2019s earliest predecessor institution<\/a>, from 1909 until its discontinuation in 1966.<\/p>\n

Now, it is being used to provide new learning opportunities<\/a> for business professionals and postgraduate students in the heart of Perth.<\/p>\n

Director of Alumni and Advancement Services Erika Beazley says it was fitting that Curtin alumni were involved in transforming the historically significant building into a modern learning space.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving our alumni work on the design of the premises is a way of reconnecting our past \u2013 both as Curtin and as the Perth Technical School \u2013 with our present operations.\u201d<\/p>\n

We were able to speak with two Curtin alumni about their contributions to this exciting project:<\/p>\n

Adam Cruickshank, Perth furniture designer<\/h2>\n

\"Adam<\/p>\n

Adam Cruickshank doesn\u2019t take commissions lightly.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn this line of work, to be awarded a commission shows a high level of trust from the client,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cEach project must be carried out with maximum effort. The final work needs to be innovative and produced with a strong artisanal approach.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cruickshank operates a business that designs custom architectural features, furniture, installations, lighting, sculptural works and other products for the commercial market.<\/p>\n

For the Building 137 project, Cruickshank was commissioned to produce a cabinet for the new board room.<\/p>\n

The design features a subtle asymmetrical form made from solid French oak with a white Corian top, set on a polished base made from a welded 16mm aluminium plate.<\/p>\n

He titled the work Senja Credenza<\/i><\/em>, naming it after the island Senja in north-west Norway, which he was cycling around at the time he was asked to do the commission.<\/p>\n

\"Board
\u201dSenja Credenza\u201d (right), by Adam Cruickshank.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThis design, as most of my designs, was inspired by nature\u2019s subtleties,\u201d Cruickshank says.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy range of cabinets pick up on a landscape\u2019s surface forms; for example, the contours, ridges and silhouettes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cruickshank, who graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (Furniture Design) in 2007, says he was \u201cdelighted\u201d to have been approached for the project and to have reconnected with Curtin.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of my units provided me with an excellent introduction to the industry. My lecturers were very experienced and were able to pass on their specialised knowledge.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy attending Curtin, I became part of a larger network of professionals, which led to mentoring programs and work opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Emily Wills, Melbourne textile designer<\/h2>\n

\"Emily<\/p>\n

Creative Director for textile design business SURFACE 1\u00b022, Emily Wills is passionate about creating lively, colourful surface pattern designs that imbue personality into a space.<\/p>\n

For the Building 137 project, she teamed up with Melbourne lighting designer, Ode to Elma, to design two geometric prints that were digitally printed on to soft furnishing fabrics, including covers for cushions located in the reception area.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy digital textile design process starts by hand, usually with sharpies, gouache or fine tip pens.<\/p>\n

\u201cMoving between hand and computer ensures elements of texture, shade and the imperfection of hand-generated motifs are retained.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Geometric
Geometric prints, by Emily Wills, in collaboration with Ode to Elma.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

She also supplied colourful, organic textured pendant lights, which she had originally designed with Ode to Elma lighting designer Kerrie Mould.<\/p>\n

The pendant lights now hang in breakout spaces between rooms.<\/p>\n

\u201cKerrie and I designed a range of textile and lighting products in 2017.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey came about through our collective vision to create unique design pieces, which reflected our love of colour, texture and print.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Pendant
Pendant lights, by Emily Wills, in collaboration with Ode to Elma (photo: Penny Lane).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Wills is considered a leader in the Australian and Asian surface design community.<\/p>\n

She founded SURFACE 1\u00b022 nine years ago and for the past two years has lectured at RMIT University\u2019s prestigious College of Design and Social Context.<\/p>\n

Her prints have been included in clothing collections by global fashion labels, including Vamastyle and Syndicut London.<\/p>\n

She has also held various academic positions, including at Curtin University and at LASALLE College of the Arts in Singapore.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m delighted to work alongside people who share similar values of creativity, curiosity and the desire to create something special, meaningful and sustainable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wills, who is now based on Melbourne, says she was excited to work remotely on a project for Curtin, from which she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (Fashion and Textile Design)<\/a> in 2005.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy degree has helped build my skills in critical and creative thinking, and the ability to move and collaborate between disciplines.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Curtin alumni have helped design Curtin\u2019s new Professional and Continuing Education premises in the Old Perth Technical School \u2013 a building connected with the history of the University.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4275,"featured_media":7592,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_oasis_task_priority":"","_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_research-areas":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"research-areas":[],"class_list":["post-7591","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorised"],"acf":{"post_options":{"":null,"additional_content":{"title":"","content":"","image":false},"related_courses":false,"credits":{"author":"","photographer":"","media":false},"display_author":true,"banner":{"image":false}}},"featured_image":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/137-St-Georges-Tce-1-1000x500.jpg","author_meta":{"first_name":"Curtin","last_name":"University","display_name":"Curtin University"},"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-12 21:11:47","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7591","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4275"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7591"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7591\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7592"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7591"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7591"},{"taxonomy":"research-areas","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/research-areas?post=7591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}