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design
mag |
35
Even in his uni days, Barry was a hustler, taking
on private jobs, so it’s no surprise that a few
years after graduation he was working for
himself and involved in small subdivisions,
buying and renovating houses, and building
townhouses.
In the late ‘90s he moved into a city office and
began designing larger scale projects, hitting
the big time with the landmark Miami
Apartments in West Perth.The Art Deco style was
unlike anything seen before in the Western
Australian capitol. In 2002 he won the Property
Council of Australia’s Future Directions Young
Achiever Award.
In that same year, with his reputation growing
and opportunities opening, Barry made a
decision that few of us would be brave enough
to take. He shut down his city office to allow him
to focus on looking after his two young children
while working from home to finish off work in
progress.
“I did that until about 2008, when I came back
in and set my office up in the city, a small office
at that point, and then started to slowly get back
into what I had started six years prior.”
In that same year, his Art Deco-inspired Kingdom
Apartments building was completed in South
Perth. Soon after, Baltinas was drawn into
controversy with his design proposal for a
20-storey apartment building adjoining the
venerable Weld Club in Barrack Street. City of
Perth’s planning committee approved the
design although one councillor said “it’s pretty
much like putting Lady Ga Ga (sic) next to the
Queen”, and then adding that “it might be a
very entertaining combination” and a point
of difference!
The committee chairperson said it showed
“no respect” for its heritage neighbour, an
accusation that still rankles Barry who rejects
the assertion, and claims that architecture
must be relevant to today’s society and
context. However, ultimately the project did not
proceed.
His current business operations are divided into
two streams: Baltinas Architecture and Baltinas
Made under the collective banner of Baltinas
Team.“We enjoy what we do as a studio, we
love our architectural work, we’re very
passionate about it,” Barry says, adding that it is
important to work with like-minded clients who
appreciate architecture.“But I have found that
by doing our own projects” – under the Baltinas
Made banner – “we get more freedom to do
what we want. Obviously there is more
responsibility because it has to be financially
viable or that dream will be deflated very
quickly.”
The latest Baltinas project is approaching
completion in Mount Street,West Perth,
adjacent to Kings Park. Halo on Mount has 21
apartments and two penthouses over its nine
levels.The facade design is dotted by a series
of circular windows, contrasting with the
linearity of expressed Wintergarden Balconies
with openable, sashless glazing that will allow
use of these spaces across the seasons.
Austral Precast were contracted to
manufacture the concrete wall panels at their
plant in the south-eastern Perth suburb of
Maddington. Production of the 597 panels took
place over a twelve month period.
“Austral Precast has done a great job because
we have some challenges there with curves,
circular openings and the finishing,” Barry
commends.The round openings had to be
particularly precise to accommodate the
imported prefabricated windows.
The building’s upper level is clad in curved
precast panels.“It would have been cheaper
to build the curved sections out of lightweight
but we wouldn’t accept that option because
of the need to maintain structural and
aesthetic integrity, not just for first two or three
years but over the long term.”
The curved panels were cast in specially-made
steel forms using surprisingly conventional
techniques.The steel reinforcement is wired into
place and the form flooded with a slightly
denser than usual concrete mix.The
manufacturing team then works quickly to
ensure the concrete is evenly dispersed and
vibrated to expel any entrapped air pockets.
Architect/developer
Barry Baltinas has been a
keen amateur car racer
since the early 1990s.
Photo by Anton Baltinas