Willow Aliento

9 posts

Willow Aliento is a senior journalist for The Fifth Estate.

Re-loved warehouses: creative, cool and in demand

Warehouse conversions for apartments have been popular for decades but the rising appetite for co-working and shared office space is seeing a new wave of conversions. The business case for…

Engineering reloved buildings: the inside story

Willow Aliento
21 October, 2019

Building Codes and safety standards have come a long way in the past century but that’s no reason to write-off an existing building as too hard to bring up to…

The hidden value of old buildings

Willow Aliento
21 October, 2019

There is a huge store of hidden history and sustainable value in old buildings, which shouldn’t be wasted to make way for the new, say experts. In an economy built…

Ghastly refurbishments of existing buildings are bad enough, but there have also been some high-profile examples of illegal demolition. One example is the heritage Corkman pub in Melbourne in 2016,…

5 reasons re-loving old buildings makes dollars and sense

Willow Aliento
21 October, 2019

Phillip Lukin, Rachel Jackson and Elisha Long share five things you might want to factor in if you want to make a business case for re-loving a building. 1. Spend…

Sustainable buildings – 10-years later, are they living up to the promise?

Willow Aliento
15 May, 2019

Bond University’s Mirvac School of Sustainable Development building was the first in Australia to be awarded a 6 Star Green Star Education PILOT rating when it was opened in August…

When University of South Australia’s Materials and Minerals Science Building and Plasso at the Mawson Lakes campus was completed in 2011, it marked a new trajectory for the university’s approach…

Should “beauty” be a requirement for a green building?

Willow Aliento
15 May, 2019

It’s been said the Living Building Challenge rating system is the toughest standard to achieve in terms of green building credentials. Is this because of the requirement for “beauty”? Under…

2020 hindsight – the University of Melbourne’s emissions reduction journey since 2007

Willow Aliento
19 April, 2019

“The Spot”, constructed for the University of Melbourne’s Business and Economics faculty, was reported to be the first 5 Star Green Star university building in Australia. Constructed in Pelham Street,…