Rob Adams (architect)
Encyclopedia
Rob Adams is an architect
and urban design
er, Director of City Design at the City of Melbourne
, Australia. He won multiple awards as the leader of the revitalization of the Melbourne City Centre
and surrounds, helping to create a vibrant city streetscape with innovative design features.
(now Zimbabwe
) and gained a B.Arch at the University of Cape Town
, South Africa in the 1960s. He later took a Masters in Urban Design from Oxford Brookes University
in the UK. He helped establish an urban design course in Zimbabwe in 1978-80, before moving to Australia. Since the mid 1980s he has worked at the City of Melbourne. He is a regular lecturer at RMIT
and at the University of Melbourne
, where he has been a Professorial Fellow since 2004.
In 1985 the city centre of Melbourne was in need of revitalization, with retail trading and cultural activities lagging behind its counterparts elsewhere in Australia and in Europe. Adams helped to write, and to put in place, the first comprehensive urban design strategy for the City, based on the idea of creating a vibrant and well populated street-scape profiting from the city's multi-mode transport system. He guided the strategy's implementation in several projects, which took place as the city recovered from economic recession in the late 1980s and was prepared to invest in the built environment. These included Postcode 3000
(bringing redundant buildings into use, particularly for apartments in the city centre), the redevelopment of Swanston Street
as a pedestrian friendly street, the QV development
, the creation of a new riverfront park called Birrarung Marr from under-used rail sidings, the Queensbridge Precinct, the Turning Basin, and the CH2 building
which was the first purpose-built office building in Australia to achieve a maximum Six Green Star
rating and which has passive heating and cooling, power generation and blackwater treatment. He has also overseen the installation of kilometers of detailed bluestone paving across the city, opened up laneways for retail use, redesigned the Yarra River
frontage with walkways and new pedestrian bridges, installed street furniture and art, new lighting, signage and extensive tree planting.
Adam's urban revitalization work in the urban core has assisted Melbourne to become one of the world's most liveable cities
. Comprehensive urban design programs over two decades has seen a reversal in the way the city, and particularly its center, is perceived. By the mid 1990s Melbourne was ranked highly in indeces of desirable cities - as of 2010 Melbourne took second place in the 2010 Economist's World's Most Livable Cities Index. Adams has also promoted the arts and culture of Melbourne through projects such as Blue Line, Travellers, and Birrarung Wilam. He has expanded the City’s cultural program through venues such as ArtPlay (a venue for children's art and teaching activities), MeatMarket, ArtHouse and the Town Hall Gallery.
Currently he is engaged in work looking at how to accommodate over a million extra people forecast to move to Melbourne in the next few decades, within the existing metropolitan boundary. He advocates medium density
, 5+storey development for housing and commercial uses along the major tram and bus corridors leading out of the centre, but only in locations with rear access to properties. Accommodating these numbers in new residential developments and existing suburbs would avoid further urban sprawl
. Significant greening and reorientation of roadscapes would accompany these measures, which are outlined in the 'Transforming Cities' report.
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
and urban design
Urban design
Urban design concerns the arrangement, appearance and functionality of towns and cities, and in particular the shaping and uses of urban public space. It has traditionally been regarded as a disciplinary subset of urban planning, landscape architecture, or architecture and in more recent times has...
er, Director of City Design at the City of Melbourne
City of Melbourne
The City of Melbourne is a Local Government Area in Victoria, Australia, located in the central city area of Melbourne. The city has an area of 36 square kilometres and has an estimated population of 93,105 people. The city's motto is "Vires acquirit eundo" which means "She gathers strength as she...
, Australia. He won multiple awards as the leader of the revitalization of the Melbourne City Centre
Melbourne city centre
Melbourne City Centre is an area of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia. It is not to be confused with the larger local government area of the City of Melbourne...
and surrounds, helping to create a vibrant city streetscape with innovative design features.
Background
Adams grew up in Southern RhodesiaSouthern Rhodesia
Southern Rhodesia was the name of the British colony situated north of the Limpopo River and the Union of South Africa. From its independence in 1965 until its extinction in 1980, it was known as Rhodesia...
(now Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
) and gained a B.Arch at the University of Cape Town
University of Cape Town
The University of Cape Town is a public research university located in Cape Town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. UCT was founded in 1829 as the South African College, and is the oldest university in South Africa and the second oldest extant university in Africa.-History:The roots of...
, South Africa in the 1960s. He later took a Masters in Urban Design from Oxford Brookes University
Oxford Brookes University
Oxford Brookes University is a new university in Oxford, England. It was named to honour the school's founding principal, John Brookes. It has been ranked as the best new university by the Sunday Times University Guide 10 years in a row...
in the UK. He helped establish an urban design course in Zimbabwe in 1978-80, before moving to Australia. Since the mid 1980s he has worked at the City of Melbourne. He is a regular lecturer at RMIT
RMIT University
RMIT University is an Australian public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. It has two branches, referred to as RMIT University in Australia and RMIT International University in Vietnam....
and at the University of Melbourne
University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 1853, it is the second oldest university in Australia and the oldest in Victoria...
, where he has been a Professorial Fellow since 2004.
Urban design in Melbourne
Postcode 3000
Postcode 3000 was a planning policy for Melbourne, Australia coordinated by the City of Melbourne and supported by the state government, then under the newly elected Premier Jeff Kennett ....
(bringing redundant buildings into use, particularly for apartments in the city centre), the redevelopment of Swanston Street
Swanston Street, Melbourne
Swanston Street is a major thoroughfare in the centre of Melbourne, Australia. It is historically one of the main streets of central Melbourne, laid out in 1837 as part of the Hoddle Grid, the layout of major streets that makes up the central business district...
as a pedestrian friendly street, the QV development
Queen Victoria Village
Queen Victoria Village, generally known as QV Village or just QV, is a precinct in the central business district of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia...
, the creation of a new riverfront park called Birrarung Marr from under-used rail sidings, the Queensbridge Precinct, the Turning Basin, and the CH2 building
Council House 2
Council House 2 , is an office building located at 240 Little Collins Street in the CBD, in Melbourne, Australia. It is occupied by the City of Melbourne council, and in April, 2005, became the first purpose-built office building in Australia to achieve a maximum Six Green Star rating, certified by...
which was the first purpose-built office building in Australia to achieve a maximum Six Green Star
Green Star (Australia)
Green Star is a voluntary environmental rating system for buildings in Australia. It was launched in 2003 by the Green Building Council of Australia....
rating and which has passive heating and cooling, power generation and blackwater treatment. He has also overseen the installation of kilometers of detailed bluestone paving across the city, opened up laneways for retail use, redesigned the Yarra River
Yarra River
The Yarra River, originally Birrarung, is a river in east-central Victoria, Australia. The lower stretches of the river is where the city of Melbourne was established in 1835 and today Greater Melbourne dominates and influences the landscape of its lower reaches...
frontage with walkways and new pedestrian bridges, installed street furniture and art, new lighting, signage and extensive tree planting.
Adam's urban revitalization work in the urban core has assisted Melbourne to become one of the world's most liveable cities
World's most livable cities
The world's most liveable cities is an informal name given to any list of cities as they rank on a reputable annual survey of living conditions. Two examples are the Mercer Quality of Living Survey and The Economists World's Most Livable Cities .Liveability rankings are designed for use by...
. Comprehensive urban design programs over two decades has seen a reversal in the way the city, and particularly its center, is perceived. By the mid 1990s Melbourne was ranked highly in indeces of desirable cities - as of 2010 Melbourne took second place in the 2010 Economist's World's Most Livable Cities Index. Adams has also promoted the arts and culture of Melbourne through projects such as Blue Line, Travellers, and Birrarung Wilam. He has expanded the City’s cultural program through venues such as ArtPlay (a venue for children's art and teaching activities), MeatMarket, ArtHouse and the Town Hall Gallery.
Currently he is engaged in work looking at how to accommodate over a million extra people forecast to move to Melbourne in the next few decades, within the existing metropolitan boundary. He advocates medium density
Medium-density housing
Medium density housing is a term used in Australia to describe residential developments that are at higher densities than standard low-density, suburban subdivisions, but not so high that they might be regarded as high density housing. The density of standard suburban residential areas has...
, 5+storey development for housing and commercial uses along the major tram and bus corridors leading out of the centre, but only in locations with rear access to properties. Accommodating these numbers in new residential developments and existing suburbs would avoid further urban sprawl
Urban sprawl
Urban sprawl, also known as suburban sprawl, is a multifaceted concept, which includes the spreading outwards of a city and its suburbs to its outskirts to low-density and auto-dependent development on rural land, high segregation of uses Urban sprawl, also known as suburban sprawl, is a...
. Significant greening and reorientation of roadscapes would accompany these measures, which are outlined in the 'Transforming Cities' report.
Awards
- The City Design Division lead by Adams has received over 100 state and national awards for design excellence since the 1980s
- Order of AustraliaOrder of AustraliaThe Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, "for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service"...
(AM) in 2007 for services to urban design, town planning and architecture. - Prime Minister's Environmentalist of the Year, 2008 (Australia).
- Sidney Luker Medal, Planning Institute of Australia NSW, 2009.
- Melbourne Achiever Award, Committee for Melbourne, 2007.
- Australian Award for Urban Design for Transforming Cities report, 2009.