Studio Trudeau

10/04/2022

We did it! The construction certificate has just been issued for major restoration and conservation works to the St Andrews Congregational Church in Balmain (where the Balmain markets used to be held). Built in 1854 it’s one of Sydney’s oldest.
It's our largest and most complex conservation and remediation work to date. Initially engaged as the principal (heritage) architect and heritage consultant, we continue to act as client representative and superintendent of works.
It's also a fantastic collaboration with TTW (as structural engineers) and Traditional Restoration Company (as stone conservators). Complex planning, code compliance and structural issues (and Council matters) meant planning and approvals took a full seven months!
The Story:
In late 2020, Studio Trudeau was engaged to determine and resolve rising damp and areas of stone decay to the base of the tower. Noting other issues, we commissioned a full external assessment to find that (among a range of other issues) the church spire itself was at risk of collapse!
The eight supporting columns of the spire have full depth vertical cracks, and many areas of stone are beyond repair.
After exploring all avenues, it was decided that the spire must be carefully dismantled, with the columns recarved from new stone to match the existing and an internal seismic frame of stainless steel inserted, before being rebuilt, re-using existing stone wherever possible.
Along with replacing a concrete slab floor with raised timber, a range of other repair works will also take place, including poulticing and salt remediation, repointing with lime mortar, and replacement of damaged external stone.
Can't wait to get started - next week! Watch this space for more discussion, photos and details as works begin.

10/04/2022

We did it! The construction certificate has just been issued for major restoration and conservation works to the St Andrews Congregational Church in Balmain (where the Balmain markets used to be held). Built in 1854 it’s one of Sydney’s oldest.
It's our largest and most complex conservation and remediation work to date. Initially engaged as the principal (heritage) architect and heritage consultant, we continue to act as client representative and superintendent of works.
It's also a fantastic collaboration with TTW (as structural engineers) and Traditional Restoration Company (as stone conservators). Complex planning, code compliance and structural issues (and Council matters) meant planning and approvals took a full seven months!
The Story:
In late 2020, Studio Trudeau was engaged to determine and resolve rising damp and areas of stone decay to the base of the tower. Noting other issues, we commissioned a full external assessment to find that (among a range of other issues) the church spire itself was at risk of collapse!
The eight supporting columns of the spire have full depth vertical cracks, and many areas of stone are beyond repair.
After exploring all avenues, it was decided that the spire must be carefully dismantled, with the columns recarved from new stone to match the existing and an internal seismic frame of stainless steel inserted, before being rebuilt, re-using existing stone wherever possible.
Along with replacing a concrete slab floor with raised timber, a range of other repair works will also take place, including poulticing and salt remediation, repointing with lime mortar, and replacement of damaged external stone.
Can't wait to get started - next week! Watch this space for more discussion, photos and details as works begin.

01/03/2021

Passive house certified designer course - day 2 about to begin! A short and sweet mental jolt: 1,991 pages of course material in eight days, then exam prep and the big day.
Been a long time in coming - but this should have been mandatory at uni! It’s fascinating and rewarding, and I’m already putting it to use for my clients.
If you don’t know it, passive house (or passivhaus) is the world’s leading building standard for energy-efficient, healthy, comfortable, affordable and environmentally-friendly buildings. Given we spend 90% of our time indoors, and the built environment provides some 30% of global C02 emissions, it’s a great means of providing better buildings that are also better for the planet.
Alongside the conservation and refurbishment of existing building stock (aided by a subset of the standard), it’s a critical means to produce socially and environmentally responsible architecture. Onwards!
thank you !

06/03/2020

Something about having 140 small practice (i.e. super competitive) architects in a room ... you could feel the billable hours ticking by.
Yesterday’s AIA small practice masterclass made good use of a rainy day, in any case. Lots of food for thought and some timely reminders!
the

01/03/2020

There's only so long you can fly solo ... so in the last few months we've grown by 300%! And I can now justifiably say 'we' when talking about the practice ;)

Jin (right) who's completing her masters at UTS, and Ferran (left), a talented Spanish architect, joined the practice in November and January respectively. Check out their full profiles in the About / Team tab in the website (link in profile).

Lots more updates coming as we catch up on the past few months - keep an eye out!

10/10/2019

I’m amazed that this still needs to be said, but the love affair with concrete has to end ... along with the general industry apathy for establishing workflows and design solutions for other materials and methods. Engineered timber appears best for now, but the uptake is still so slow.
And we are still be giving design awards to buildings whose primary material is concrete. Are we taking this seriously enough?

04/10/2019

Take a look! UTS, my old university, has just published a wonderful write-up of the story behind Studio Trudeau (and me!). It's a challenging but exciting time to be practising.

UTS architecture graduate Thomas Trudeau has done it all – and he’s got four degrees to prove it.

30/09/2019

Studio Trudeau is up and running!

With a lot of work on the books already, it's been tough to find the time to get social media in order - but it's happening! Projects and news will be posted regularly, so please check back soon for more.

Equally, head over to studiotrudeau.com for more information - and don't hesitate to get in touch!