How will Australia reconcile its sprawling suburbs with urgent sustainability needs? Tone Wheeler addresses this tension, challenging deeply ingrained cultural norms. Are tightly knit urban communities part of the solution?
Tone Wheeler is an architect, author, educator, and consultant who champions socially, environmentally, and economically sustainable design. Founder of environa studio, Tone has led numerous lauded projects, including the Milo Dunphy award-winning Wayside Chapel.
In this episode, he delves into suburban sprawl in Australia, discussing ways to reimagine suburbia for sustainability and the potential of Indigenous design. Discover how increased density and thoughtful design can help Australia meet its climate goals.
| 00:07:25 | “What you’ve done is destroy paradise and put up a parking lot.” |
| 00:03:45 | Australia as a surburban nation |
| 00:05:06 | “We are, in many senses, the most urbanised country in the Western world.” |
| 00:05:47 | “The metropolitan area of Sydney is a little over 12,000 square kilometres, and it’s about the same in Los Angeles. But Los Angeles has twice the population of Sydney.” |
| 00:06:53 | “Suburbia runs through all parts of Australian society.” |
| 00:08:27 | Reimagining suburbia |
| 00:08:47 | “There are huge opportunities actually to turn suburbia back on itself.” |
| 00:09:19 | “Australia has the greatest penetration of solar PV on roofs for a country that’s not interested in sustainability.” |
| 00:11:34 | “The outer suburbs now are very sustainable. It’s this kind of weird invert that’s really hard for us who’ve been arguing against it for so long.” |
| 00:25:50 | Championing change |
| 00:26:21 | “The future of Australian design is actually way back in the past, and Australia is only just starting to discover Indigenous design.” |
| 00:30:45 | “You had a culture that lasted for 60,000 years … maybe we should take another look at all of that.” |
| 00:32:23 | “We are missing the idea of what we had as a community.” |
| 00:33:22 | Becoming Tone |
| 00:33:54 | “What a long, strange trip it’s been. Yeah, it’s been from hippie to hip and maybe hip replacement fairly soon.” |
| 00:41:41 | “Hopefully somebody just goes past one of our buildings and it’s hardly noticeable.” |
| 00:43:50 | “We’re a very diverse country, huge multiculturalism, enormous, and there’s friction a lot of the time about that, but it just means there’s a richness to what you might get in your architecture.” |
Is low-density living hindering sustainability efforts in Australia? Tone Wheeler explores how reworking suburbia and integrating Indigenous design principles could transform urban environments, blending innovation with tradition.
Tone shared a striking fact: Australia is the most urbanised country in the Western world, with 40% of the population living in just two cities. Sydney, for example, sprawls out over an area comparable to Los Angeles, yet houses only half the people.
There are opportunities, however, within the sea of brick and tile.
Around 40% of suburban homes in Australia have rooftop solar panels, says Tone. This suburb in New South Wales provides an example.Tone believes there’s a chance to rethink Australian suburbia. He advocates for increasing density by cleverly adapting existing infrastructure. This can be achieved by replacing existing single-family homes with far more efficient low-rise apartment buildings.
By increasing the density of existing suburbs, Tone says it would be possible to double Sydney’s population using only 20% of its land.In discussing the future of sustainability, Tone sees Indigenous design as a treasure trove of sustainable practices, perfected over millennia but largely overlooked. Reintegrating these ancient techniques could be a springboard to environmental innovation.
With regard to the social aspects of sustainability, Tone highlights the Nightingale movement in Melbourne. Architects like Jeremy McCleod of Breathe and Andrew Maynard of Austin Maynard Architects are at the forefront, redefining communal living through cooperative housing projects.
The Commons (Melbourne, Australia), by Breathe, was designed to be a catalyst for community-building.There’s an aspiration in Tone’s own architectural work for seamless integration into the fabric of communities, rather than a quest to stand out. It’s a humble but powerful perspective that values utility and integration over prestige.
The Junction (Sydney, Australia), by environa studio, exemplifies Tone’s approach to architecture that fits into its neighbourhood without demanding attention.Tone champions a future where architecture fosters sustainability through thoughtful, unobtrusive design. He challenges us to view our neighbourhoods as canvases for sustainable innovation. After all, the path to sustainability in architecture can be as much about rediscovering and repurposing the old as it is about pioneering the new.
This episode is brought to you by:
| The Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction The Holcim Foundation helps drive systemic change towards a more sustainable built environment. It was founded in 2003 to define and promote the key principles of sustainability for the construction sector and is committed to accelerating the sector’s transformation so that people and the planet can thrive. The Foundation has investigated various aspects of sustainable construction via a series of roundtables and conferences with international experts. It has also recognised excellent contributions to this field with the Holcim Awards which are considered the world’s most significant competition for sustainable design. Committed to a holistic approach that recognises the equal importance and interdependence of four key goals, the Foundation combines the collective knowledge, ideas, and solutions of our global community of experts with a recognised platform of international competitions to democratise thought leadership for the entire sector. |  |
This episode is brought to you by:
The Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction
The Holcim Foundation helps drive systemic change towards a more sustainable built environment. It was founded in 2003 to define and promote the key principles of sustainability for the construction sector and is committed to accelerating the sector’s transformation so that people and the planet can thrive.
The Foundation has investigated various aspects of sustainable construction via a series of roundtables and conferences with international experts. It has also recognised excellent contributions to this field with the Holcim Awards which are considered the world’s most significant competition for sustainable design.
Committed to a holistic approach that recognises the equal importance and interdependence of four key goals, the Foundation combines the collective knowledge, ideas, and solutions of our global community of experts with a recognised platform of international competitions to democratise thought leadership for the entire sector.
Tone Wheeler is an architect, author, educator, and consultant with an abiding interest in the triple bottom line in architecture: social, environmental, and economical design. Tone founded environa studio in 1986 and has designed individual and multiple housing projects, commercial buildings, and urban design schemes, all with a strong emphasis on social and environmental concerns. The practice has won numerous awards and competitions, including the Milo Dunphy Award for Sustainable Architecture for the Wayside Chapel project.
Tone has been on faculty at Sydney University, UTS, and Canberra University, and is currently Adjunct Professor in Sustainable Design at UNSW. He is the current President of the Australian Architecture Association, has been Chair of the Australian Institute of Architects (AIA) National Sustainability Committee, and has sat on the boards of the New South Wales Building Professionals Board (BPB) and the Association of Building Sustainability Assessors (ABSA).
He is a frequent writer and speaker on architectural issues. He contributes to the Sydney Morning Herald; had a weekly column in the Architecture & Design newsletter; has spoken at conferences and seminars for the (R)AIA, the Building Designers Association of Australia, and the PIA; and has been a regular contributor to ABC Radio and TV — on Radio National’s “By Design” show; on ABC702 as a “Woodie” and “Homie”; and as a judge on “The New Inventors” programme on ABC Television. Over 12 years he has designed and helped build four electric cars.
E | tone@environastudio.com.au
W | environa studio
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Host
Nirmal Kishnani
Producer
Maxime Flores
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