Kent Town Substation Upgrade, Kent Town

A playful approach to substation design, the facade references the past form of the site

The Tectvs design approach for a substation, on a challenging site, located in the inner-city suburb of Kent Town was approached in two ways. The architecture featured a playful and postmodern laser etching referenced the existing residential frontage, and the main substation adopted the modernist language of pre-cast concrete details. 

The substation went through multiple design iterations to best reference the past form of the site, and address massing in a residential area. The outcome represents an ongoing approach by Tectvs to mark substations as symbols of public ownership through innovative, thoughtful design. Often, we laser etch locally and historical symbolic references on facades, serving as a link to the primarily concrete forms of the primary electrical centres. This approach enables substations to adopt a human quality to their detailing. 

The substation has won the approval of the locals, who have responded to the ‘silver house’ with great pride.