Australian diplomats posted to liaise with either Donald Trump or his successor after the 2020 presidential election will be housed in a new state-of-the-art embassy down the road from the White House.
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A parliamentary committee last week endorsed a $236.9 million plan to replace the 50-year-old embassy in Washington, DC with an environmentally friendly building.
The new structure on Scott Circle at 1601 Massachusetts Avenue, in the heart of the United States capital's diplomatic precinct and just over a kilometre from the White House, would use natural light, openness and an array of solar panels to boost environmental efficiency.
A glass atrium, exhibition gallery, function area and open spaces were designed to reflect an Australian "spirit" of vast space and warmth.
Bates Smart, the Melbourne-based firm behind the original embassy, won the bid to design the new building.
The company also designed the Vibe Hotel at Canberra Airport and the soon-to-be built Constitution Place precinct next to the Legislative Assembly in Civic.
Concerns about the state of the current embassy, including fears about the reliability of the hydraulic and electrical systems, prompted the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to rebuild the home of one of the country's most important diplomatic missions.
Scaffolding and protective netting erected around the exterior in 2014 in case pieces of the facade fell and hit visitors or pedestrians had remained in place since.
Embassy staff would be moved to a temporary chancery during demolition and construction, which was expected to be completed by late 2021.
During a Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Works inquiry in February, Bates Smart studio director Tim Leslie said the building would be different from the Washington-influenced, monolithic structure popular in DC in the 1960s.
He said, depending on the angle from which it was viewed, the new building would transition to match either the residential buildings to the north or the government buildings to the south.
"It is on a roundabout, which is quite significant for Canberra ... you are approaching this building from a multitude of different angles," he said.
"The building appears more solid as you are approaching from the north, towards the White House. Coming from the other way ... it has a much more civic nature: open and glass. "
The $236.9 million price tag included the cost of demolition, the rent, fit-out and relocation of staff at the temporary chancery, as well as construction of the new building.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Works said DFAT's proposal "presents an excellent opportunity to construct an iconic building of considerable beauty".
It found the department's attempt to use Australian materials as much as possible could increase costs, but said the construction could show off such components "in a building that has an aesthetically pleasing façade, and incorporates artistic representations of the Australian landscape".
