Newly completed an award winning ‘Beehive’ building at 122 Buckingham Street, Surry Hills. Stitched between a century-old brick warehouse and a row of Victorian terraces on a former car park, The Beehive offers an illusive first impression. Terracotta roof tiles have been reconfigured and stacked vertically into a rhythmic brise-soleil that defines the facade and informs the building’s name. Designed as the new studio for Luigi Rosselli Architects, The Beehive challenges the conventional limitations of discarded terracotta roof tiles, a building material without an established re-use market. It celebrates the act and art of creating something beautiful and new from ‘found’ materials. And it sets an example for how waste products may be reclaimed, reimagined and re-used, with minimal energy. Understandably, it won a string of accolades on completion, including a sustainability award from the Australian Institute of Architects. Step into The Beehive with its architects and makers. Your Sydney Open tour of this multi-award-winning new architecture studio will provide insight into the inspiration for this brilliant design, and firsthand accounts of the research, development and construction techniques that went into realising it. On the top floor is a communal garden terrace. Below this level, a conference table is semi-enclosed by a terracotta tile bookshelf, another variation of the stacked terracotta module, brought into the interiors. The multiple uses of the terracotta tiles have been part of the education process that the architects hope will demonstrate to the public it is possible to reuse waste products from the construction process. And, at the same time, harness their inherent beauty.
