Woods Bagot

Woods Bagot's origins date back to 1869, when architect Edward John Woods was commissioned to improve and expand the design of St. Peter's Cathedral in Adelaide.{{cite web|title=About Us - Architects |url=http://stpeters-cathedral.org.au/about-us/history/architects/ |website=St Peter's Cathedral, Diocese of Adelaide, South Australia |access-date=30 June 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150304222715/http://stpeters-cathedral.org.au/about-us/history/architects/ |archive-date=March 4, 2015 }} In 1905 he joined forces with another prominent local architect, Walter Bagot, and the pair created Woods & Bagot.

Woods retired from the practice known as Woods, Bagot & Jory on 30 June 1915, and Louis Laybourne-Smith became a partner in the practice, causing the practice to be renamed Woods, Bagot, Jory & Laybourne Smith.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article5474154 |title=Advertising. |newspaper=The Advertiser|access-date=19 March 2012 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia}} Woods died in January 1916.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article209550389 |title=Death of Mr. E. J. Woods. |newspaper=The Express and Telegraph |volume=LIII |issue=15,719 |location=South Australia |date=6 January 1916 |access-date=3 February 2021 |page=5 (5 o'clock edition. sports number) |via=National Library of Australia}} Jory left to practise on his own and the practice was dissolved on 30 September 1930, with James Campbell Irwin (later Lord Mayor of Adelaide) joining the practice, now called Woods, Bagot, Laybourne-Smith & Irwin.{{cite web|url=http://w3.unisa.edu.au/artarchitecturedesign/architecturemuseum/docs/catalogue/woods%20bagot%202010.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121116162639/http://w3.unisa.edu.au/artarchitecturedesign/architecturemuseum/docs/catalogue/Woods%20Bagot%202010.pdf|archive-date=16 Nov 2012| title=Woods Bagot Collection|publisher=Architecture Museum, University of South Australia|series=Woods Bagot Series 187}} Note: Not all of the dates in this document are correct.J. C. Irwin, [http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A110675b.htm Smith, Louis Laybourne (1880-1965)], Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 11, Melbourne University Press, 1988, pp 656-657.Bridget Jolly, [http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A170581b.htm Irwin, Sir James Campbell (1906-1990)], Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 17, Melbourne University Press, pp 576-577. Irwin was a senior partner in the firm from 1965 until he retired in 1974.{{cite web | website=Architects of South Australia | title=Architect Details: Irwin, James Campbell | url=https://www.architectsdatabase.unisa.edu.au/arch_full.asp?Arch_ID=67 | access-date=3 February 2021}}

A summary of the practice's early names:{{cite web | website=Architects of South Australia | title=Architect Details: Bagot, Walter Hervey|publisher= University of South Australia | url=https://www.architectsdatabase.unisa.edu.au/arch_full.asp?Arch_ID=7#_Firms | access-date=17 January 2021}}

• 1905-1913: Woods & Bagot
• 1913–1915: Woods, Bagot & Jory
• 1915–1930: Woods, Bagot, Jory & Laybourne Smith
• 1930-1974: Woods, Bagot, Laybourne-Smith & Irwin

From 19 June 1974, the firm was registered firstly as Woods Bagot Architects Pty Ltd (until at least 1996{{cite web| url=https://archival.collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/brg/BRG18_WoodsBagotArchitects_preliminaryinventory.pdf |title= Woods Bagot Architects Pty. Ltd: BRG 18: Preliminary Inventory|date = April 1996|publisher=State Library of South Australia|first=C.| last=Read}}), and subsequently as Woods Bagot Pty Ltd.{{cite web | title=Woods Bagot Pty Ltd | website=Australian Securities & Investments Commission| date=14 March 2015 | url=https://connectonline.asic.gov.au/RegistrySearch/faces/landing/panelSearch.jspx?searchText=007762174&searchType=OrgAndBusNm&_adf.ctrl-state=kk98o8b9t_15 | access-date=3 February 2021}}

In 2015, the firm was named as the world's seventh largest architecture firm by employee count in Building Design magazine's World Architecture 100 list.{{cite web|url=http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/art-and-design/melbournes-woods-bagot-listed-among-worlds-top-10-architectural-firms-20150108-12k24j.html|title=Melbourne's Woods Bagot listed among world's top 10 architectural firms|last1=Rule|first1=Dan|date=8 January 2015|website=Sydney Morning Herald|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161016104857/http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/art-and-design/melbournes-woods-bagot-listed-among-worlds-top-10-architectural-firms-20150108-12k24j.html|archive-date=16 October 2016|access-date=20 December 2019}}

{{as of|2021}}, Woods Bagot has offices in Waymouth Street, Adelaide; Beijing, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Shenzhen in China; London; Abu Dhabi and Dubai in the UAE; Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco in the US; and Singapore.{{cite web | title=Contact | website=Woods Bagot | date=2021 | url=https://www.woodsbagot.com/contact/ | access-date=3 February 2021}}

File:Adelaide Convention Centre, West Building.jpg

Inevitably for a firm with whose history spans more than a century, Woods Bagot has embraced a wide variety of architectural styles since its inception. Early Australian buildings such as Bonython Hall were built in the classical Gothic style popular at the time, but the firm's steady expansion into Asia, Europe and North America was accompanied by a corresponding shift in style and approach that embraced a variety of modern and progressive themes.

The firm's latest work is often inspired by the natural world. The South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI) building's exterior surface is inspired by a pine cone, for example, with a so-called 'living skin' designed for optimal passive solar performance.{{cite web|last1=Wang|first1=Lucy|title=SAHMRI's Striking Pinecone-Inspired "Living Skin" Uses Passive Solar Design in Australia|url=http://inhabitat.com/sahmris-striking-pinecone-inspired-living-skin-uses-passive-solar-design-in-australia/|website=Inhabitat|access-date=12 May 2015}} A new extension to the Adelaide Convention Centre, designed in association with American architect Larry Oltmanns, references local geological forms, in particular the distinctive colours and stratification of the South Australian landscape.{{cite web|title=Expansion 2017|url=https://www.adelaidecc.com.au/happening/expansion-2017/|website=Adelaide Convention Centre|access-date=27 August 2015|archive-date=23 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190323003027/https://www.adelaidecc.com.au/happening/expansion-2017/|url-status=dead}}

Some recent designs have focused on philosophical as well as environmental and geological themes. The design of the Nan Tien Institute in Wollongong, New South Wales, reflects Buddhist teaching principles, specifically avoiding hierarchical components and providing a neutral environment free of materialism and excess. A new bridge and plaza connecting the Institute to the nearby Nan Tien Temple complex has been designed as a practical, mixed-use focus point for community gatherings, as well as a notable development in its own right.{{cite web|last1=Johnson|first1=Nathan|title=Buddhist philosophy inspires Woods Bagot design for Nan Tien Bridge and Plaza in Wollongong|url=http://www.nantien.edu.au/content/buddhist-philosophy-inspires-woods-bagot-design-nan-tien-bridge-and-plaza-wollongong|website=Nan Tien Institute|access-date=14 September 2015|date=21 May 2014|archive-date=25 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170425102108/http://www.nantien.edu.au/content/buddhist-philosophy-inspires-woods-bagot-design-nan-tien-bridge-and-plaza-wollongong|url-status=dead}} Outside Australia, the Cubism-inspired Cubus, a 25-storey retail tower completed in Hong Kong in 2011, is equipped with geometric lighting panels that emulate the shapes and forms of ice cubes.{{cite web|title=Woods Bagot breaks the ice|url=http://www.worldarchitecturenews.com/project/2011/15772/woods-bagot/cubus-in-causeway-bay.html?sector=commercial|website=World Architecture News|access-date=29 May 2015|date=31 Jan 2011}}

Woods Bagot was named as the 2009 Architects' Journal AJ100 International Practice of the Year.{{cite web| last1=Roberts |first1=Jeff| title=Woods Bagot wins esteemed prize|url=http://www.constructionweekonline.com/article-5543-woods-bagot-wins-esteemed-prize/|website=ConstructionWeek Online|access-date=29 May 2015|date=15 June 2009}}

File:SAHMRI Adelaide.jpg

File:1 William Street, Brisbane, under construction in March 2015.jpg]]

File:Ham Yard Hotel.jpg]]

File:Nan Tien Institute.jpg, Wollongong]]

Woods Bagot has designed some landmark buildings throughout Australia and the world, including the following major architectural projects:

In 1915, Woods, Bagot, Jory & Laybourne Smith designed a recreation hall for the Keswick Repatriation Hospital in Keswick, which opened on 11 February 1916.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article87241803 |title=For the wounded at Keswick |newspaper=Chronicle |volume=LVIII |issue=3,000 |location=South Australia |date=19 February 1916 |access-date=3 February 2021 |page=41 |via=National Library of Australia}}

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• Architecture of Australia

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.woodsbagot.com/ Woods Bagot website]

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Category:Architecture firms of Australia

Category:1869 establishments in Australia