The Phoenix is a private art gallery and performance space for philanthropist and art collector, Judith Neilson. With over 96 individual work faces incomplete including an array of materials, angles exposing hazard and risk to the extreme, the FDC team had to take stock of what they’d taken on and apply a whole new systematic approach to safety. The building covers a 700m2 floor plate comprising 6 storeys, from Basement 3 up to Level 2 above ground. Characterised by off-form concrete walls and soffits, a curved “dimple” façade of handmade bricks and timber flooring and balustrades internally. The gallery features a roof comprised of 33 rhomboid “hoods” with a feature sawtooth ceiling beneath each hood. There is a 25m high void through this building. Building this safely without incident while appeasing the client, two architects and inheriting the previous builder’s sub-contractors is no mean feat. Which is why planning, adopting new construction methodologies, consultation and cooperation at every step of the way won FDC the category in 2019.