Peddle Thorp

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Peddle Thorp is an architecture firm based in Melbourne that has designed many of Australia's landmark buildings. Among the buildings it has designed include: Vodafone Arena; Rod Laver Arena; Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre; Skilled Stadium and ANZ Headquarters. The firm has designed the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre which was used in the recent Commonwealth Games. The firm is now designing venues for the Indian Commonwealth Games and the Teda soccer stadium for the 2008 Olympic Games.

The firm has also produced highly innovative design features such as the roof opening at the tennis centre at Melbourne Park, which was one of the first in the world to use this approach. This allows play in all kinds of weather. [1]

Despite its success, Peddle Thorp has been criticised by architectural critics such as Norman Day for producing buildings of little value.[2] Day's views have been contested by Peddle Thorp's design director Peter Brook.[3]. The dispute reflects a broader tension in architectural circles about its role in the commercial sphere. The dispute was seen publicly when a group of architects opposed Peddle Thorp designed changes to Harold Holt swimming pool in 2007.[4] The dispute lost ground when the original architect Daryl Jackson praised Peddle Thorp's revised designs. The highly successful commercial architect Barry Patten, who designed the Sidney Myer Music Bowl, also faced similar criticism from Day and other critics during his career. He was later seen as one of Australia's greatest architects. [5]