2009 Australian Institute of Architects' National Architecture Awards

In 2009, in excess of 800 projects were submitted for Australian Institute of Architects’ State and Territory Architecture Awards. Of the 144 projects awarded at that level, 32 projects and practices have now been awarded 2009 National Architecture Awards or Commendations. Congratulations to all nominees and winners. This year’s winners are:

Public Architecture

The Sir Zelman Cowen Award for Public Architecture

National Portrait Gallery, Canberra, ACT

Architect - Johnson Pilton Walker

A series of linear blocks recall Griffin’s intentions for building alongside the national capital’s axis. They house the primary working spaces of the building, and are separated by open-ended corridors, glimpsing location and landscape. Externally the building recalls traditional Japanese pavilions and scaled-up Glenn Murcutt works. Giant cantilevered concrete blades define the forecourt, which serves both King Edward Terrace and the elevated walkway to the National Gallery. The building combines off-form and precast concrete, terrazzo panels, metal roofs, stone and timber flooring, rich timber accents, and relatively plain plaster backdrops for the display of art. A complex vocabulary is layered and understated, and the internal volumes are suitably varied. Considerable effort was made to resolve spaces and heights, and the acceptable admission of natural light – all to suit the various mediums of portraiture. Kahn’s top-lit Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth is a given reference. The entry and the galleries are a well resolved sequence of carefully modulated spaces, and provide a calm backdrop for the display of art. Visitors are unaware of the vast basement, which enables deliveries, parking and art storage to occur out of sight, the latter served by a cleverly unobtrusive goods lift. The building, while a triumph in cultural terms and popular appreciation, is clearly too small for its public role and purpose – a reflection of contemporary governments’ aspirations and budgets. Government probably never foresaw that this would be an attraction to rival the National Gallery and the War Memorial. The Portrait Gallery has been designed for extension to the west in a series of pavilions, and through this initiative may achieve a more substantial and permanent dimension, and better integration with the park setting. Nonetheless, the building is an important and worthwhile addition to the national capital, and reaffirms the traditional and necessary role of government to lead the way in the provision of worthy public buildings.”

National Award for Public Architecture

All Saints Primary School, Belmore, NSW

Architect - Candalepas Associates

Jury Citation: “Sited on a gentle rise in Sydney’s south-western suburbs, and across the road from its parent Greek Orthodox Church, All Saints Primary School is a robust educational structure, built to a brief that sought a 100 year life. In one sense it is a simple linear extruded form, but within that form is variety and interest, and an appreciation of what will suit children and work for teachers. Conventional teaching spaces are located over four levels accessed from continuous external walkways to the west. On the upper levels the walkway and breakout areas progressively increase in width to provide, on the top level, a 5.5 metre open gallery or school street, sheltered by a sculptural angled roof clad in corrugated steel and polycarbonate. The building has a subdued palette of concrete, white render, slim pale-coloured bricks, galvanised steel, timber slats, and an occasional flourish of pearlescent glazed brick. Rendered masonry panels in terracotta hues form angled blades to the east elevation and provide sun and glare control while limiting overlooking of the neighbouring suburban bungalows. The building was built to a tight budget and in places is not finely crafted; however the strength of the design and the robustness of the materials ensure a satisfactory result. The building has high thermal mass, excellent cross ventilation and rainwater storage. Designed and built to a tight budget, a very workable school has been achieved on a restricted site, with a strong character and practical teaching arrangements. It has an intriguing playfulness one has come to expect from Angelo Candalepas. In a time of large government grants for school buildings, where haste is often taking precedence over a lasting legacy, the All Saints Primary School shows the virtues of considered design, and offers an important model for schools on limited urban and suburban sites.”

National Award for Public Architecture

Monash Centre for Electron Microscopy, Monash University, Victoria

Architect - Architectus Melbourne

Jury Citation: “The Monash campus – typified by native plantings and brown brick – is the setting for this highly specialised building, created to house nine microscopes of the highest resolution. The particularities of the brief required virtually nil vibration, absolute quiet, and no interference from electrical fields. No lifts or fluorescent lights were allowed; air conditioning had to be low velocity, with plant located in a neighbouring building. These considerations required complex constructional solutions, all thoughtfully resolved in a building of quiet but accomplished character, with carefully modulated interiors providing a subtle sense of discovery. The accommodation is carefully arranged on several levels, with offices and meeting rooms on two sides, and with microscopes isolated in central chambers, all linked by ramps. The interiors unfold as a succession of unusually proportioned spaces, with translucent walls of vertical glass planking admitting muted light, plus circular skylights, both giving an ethereal feeling to the circulation spaces, and providing, externally, a back-lit volume at night. The microscope chambers are clad in plywood. The building structure is largely timber framed, as no significant or continuous metal elements could be used.

This was the most highly technical of the buildings inspected by the jury, and remarkable for its resolution and serenity. Externally, it is an understated and abstract temple form set on a grassy knoll. The architect has created a special spacial experience out of what could have been a standard research building, albeit one requiring very specific construction.”

National Commendation for Public Architecture

Faculty of Law, Library and Teaching Complex, University of Sydney, NSW

Architect - Francis-Jones Morehen Thorp (fjmt)

Jury Citation: “The University of Sydney dominates a ridge to the south-west of the City of Sydney. Its historic core, the Gothic sandstone Main Quadrangle and Great Hall by architect Edmund Blacket are now linked by a new pedestrian boulevard to the newer Darlington Campus. The boulevard commences at the important bronze-clad Fisher Library of 1963, and the new Law School adjoins it. Both were commissioned to be symbols of the modern university. In common with several other major projects designed by Richard Francis-Jones, the development comprises a substantial plinth – here containing the new law library, lecture halls and underground parking – with, above, a vast open terrace linking the new boulevard to grand steps leading into the park, and alongside and overhead, pavilion-like elements housing the faculty offices and other facilities. This is a huge project and an impressive orchestration of accommodation, construction and innovation. The design reinforces the campus’ axial planning as envisaged by Professor Wilkinson, and its above podium forms – a floating composition of transparent and layered glass and timber elements – bring visual delight to this prominent site. A metal-clad light cone to the library provides a natural vent and a sculptural accent against the Fisher Library stack. Within the podium are attractively modelled lecture halls and seminar rooms and a very large library. The tower block contains well-resolved offices linked by a suspended glazed bridge (on the cross-axis) designed as a place for informal meetings and interviews. The jury puzzled over some of the grand gestures, including the grand steps, which are yet to connect with Victoria Park and which preclude natural light and outlook to the library, and also queried the library’s light cone which logically would celebrate a special role or function. The elegant glazed facades and the smartly furnished interiors will require careful maintenance and management to retain their crisp presentation into the future. The creation of the imposing platform with its framed views, and refined superstructures (most specifically the faculty offices), add a new and worthwhile dimension to this part of the campus. The double curtain wall, in particular its adjustable scalloped plywood screens, represents an important innovation. The range and quality of the new facilities provided is impressive.”

Residential Architecture – Houses

The Robin Boyd Award for Residential Architecture - Houses

Freshwater House, Harbord, NSW

Architect - Chenchow Little Architects

Jury Citation: “Harbord is a somewhat neglected Sydney suburb, focussed on a most glorious surf beach set between two rocky headlands. The client had lived on this small 332m² site for many years, and loved its elevated relationship with bushland, beach and ocean. Their quest was how best to maximise their accommodation, and to achieve privacy and focussed outlooks. The house is now two years old, and due to careful consideration of materials and detailing is standing up well to the marine environment. A neatly detailed palisade of weathered recycled spotted gum fronts the street, and conceals the garage, and fences a garden terrace in a gentle allusion to suburban picketing. This forms a podium for the house, a somewhat Miesian pavilion with a cantilevered upper bedroom level sheltering the main living level, and gaining privacy and sun control through a series of slatted dark metal screens, which can be opened or closed to suit the occasion. The podium contains the garage, entry lobby and water storage tanks. The living level appears generous and expansive through the careful positioning of sliding doors which open to a level lawn (above the garage) and a cleverly integrated swimming pool, which presents all year as a beautifully tiled set of reflecting ponds. From kitchen, the children at play can be readily observed. The effective use of corner glazing opens up this level and channels diagonal views to the sea. This planning, allied with clever boundary fencing and planting screens, plays down the immediate neighbours. The upper bedroom level contains four bedrooms, and is given a special quality by the dark external screens, which enable the use of maximum glazing and outlook, without compromising sun control and privacy. The interiors are stylishly fitted out, with an emphasis on glossy black and matt white finishes, and with lustrous Italian tiles enhancing the swimming pool upstand. The design provides an outstanding solution for an elevated site, and achieves a private compound, screened from the neighbours, yet open and expansive towards an outdoor lawn terrace, the beach and sea.”

National Architecture Award for Residential Architecture – Houses

Zac’s House, Sorrento, Victoria

Architect - Neeson Murcutt Architects

Jury Citation: “Located down a sandy track amongst ancient ti-tree and hardy clipped shrubs, this understated bungalow epitomises a simpler beach-side existence, reminiscent of the 1960s. Its roof and levels follow the contours of the site, with lemon-yellow steel frames accenting the walls of slim grey concrete bricks and sheltering and screening the north-facing openings. A central room links directly with the lawn, dunk pool, garden and tennis court, and is the focus of family life, centred around the fireplace in winter. The floors throughout are of dark polished concrete, walls are bagged brickwork, and the sloping roof/ceiling has a strong framework of blond plywood beams. A cross artery links the bedrooms and service areas, providing a garden vista to the west. There is a directness and honesty throughout. The kitchen and bathrooms are simple, and along with all joinery, pivot doors, and steel window framing, are well resolved and neatly detailed. Discreet skylights and a small rear courtyard provide light and cross ventilation. Sensible orientation, good thermal mass and water management are evident. Kept low and compact to achieve complying development (and a faster approval), negotiations allowed zero setbacks from the side and rear boundaries, maximising northern garden areas. The house shares garden space with two related properties, and amongst the sloping dunes and canted ti-trees landscape designer Fiona Brockhoff has introduced distinctive sweeps of hardy shrubs. Zac’s House is concise and liveable, relatively inexpensive, and a possible model for compact residential development. It represents simple strategies handled well.”

National Architecture Award for Residential Architecture – Houses

Whale Beach House, Whale Beach, NSW

Architect - Neeson Murcutt Architects

Jury Citation: “The Palm Beach peninsula, north of Sydney, is set between surf beaches and rocky headlands, and the great Pittwater estuary which divides it from Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park. Sheltered folds in the landscape contain special micro-climates and attractive native vegetation. The Whale Beach House is set in such a fold in the topography, with a stunning view over the beach, and a rear garden of distinctive rocks, ferns and coastal trees. The cliff-face to the north-west limits afternoon sun. A winding path and steps ascends the hillside to the house, which presents as a series of blocky irregular forms, some finished in white roughcast render, others in recycled spotted gum, providing allusions to both Mediterranean villages and sophisticated Scandinavian domestic architecture. The entry route passes by tree ferns, an outdoor shower, a lawn edged by native plants, and an indoor/outdoor terrace, before arriving at the nodal point of the house and a panoramic outlook to the beach. Internal spaces are typically irregularly shaped around specific functions, and each window and opening has been carefully positioned to catch the sun, or to frame an exquisite view either towards the sea, into or along the remarkable wild remnant woodland, or of domestic vignettes within. Every room has an individual character and outlook, communal areas open onto decks which are large enough for outdoor dining or recreation. The kitchen, located near the front door, is ‘operation central’ and overlooks the main living areas and a swimming pool. The several levels of the house are linked by secret stairs, so that each level seems discreet; the house seems at first completely open plan, but concealed doors can slide into place to achieve private spaces. Carefully positioned skylights and windows catch the sun, rainwater is collected and stored, and the house is heated in winter by hot water radiators. Profound geo-technical and drainage problems had to be overcome on this site, and the house is cleverly integrated into the hillside. The native ferns and shrubs in the vicinity of the house were carefully removed for nurturing and propagation during the works, and their reinstatement has reinforced the settled contexturalism of the design.”

National Commendation for Residential Architecture – Houses

Arm End House, Opossum Bay, Tasmania

Architect - Stuart Tanner Architects

Jury Citation: “Opossum Bay is located near the mouth of the Derwent estuary; the site of this house is protected from winds and screened from the water by a stand of old casuarina trees, through which one can descend to a sandy beach. The clients, a musician and his wife, wished for a ‘Zen’ house of no more than two bedrooms, and centred on a special room which made the most of the site. They wanted the house to be both a home and a place of contemplation and retreat, a sanctuary from busy, worldly lives. The house is very carefully detailed, and in places has joinery elements which are based on musical rhythms. The essence of the design is centred on the T-shaped living space designed with golden mean proportions, which has greater height and a free-standing hearth. A serene mood prevails, and large glazed doors open to enfold and shelter neat gravel terraces, and engage with northern views to mountains and western views, filtered by the Casuarina grove, over the Derwent. Projecting steel beams support wide sheltering eaves, and sliding screens temper the outlook from the bedrooms. The house turns a solid back to the south, and has been designed with sustainability in mind: good thermal mass, rainwater harvesting, and cross ventilation are all evident.”

Residential Architecture – Multiple Housing

The Frederick Romberg Award for Residential Architecture - Multiple Housing

Balencea Apartments, St Kilda Road, Melbourne, Victoria

Architect - Wood Marsh Architecture in association with Sunland Design

Jury Citation: “Many architects – including Mies van der Rohe – have long conceptualised the tower building as an elegantly shaped glass vessel. At Balencea, Wood Marsh has explored such a glazed sheathing for apartment use, ingeniously incorporating sheltered balconies and opening windows into the sleek envelope. St Kilda Road, conceived as Melbourne’s grand boulevarde, was once lined by imposing houses, now largely replaced by dull high rise buildings. Balencea counters this trend, recognising the importance of its position on a corner site, and the opportunity to achieve intrigue through its fluted form and slenderness, when viewed from certain positions. The use of mysterious inky blue glass provides a heightened fragility to the sculptured skin. The external envelope is refined and glamorous and rises from a well modulated and urbanised ground plane, with an outdoor terrace for a café, stepped planting, an artfully decorated substation, and a hidden carpark entry. The ground floor enables both a public interface through the café and the concierge, and shared facilities for the apartment dwellers, including a very atmospheric light-filled indoor swimming pool, gymnasium and sauna. The lobby is given richness through an undulating wall covered in gold leaf, and its counterpoint covered in white padded leather. Upper hallways are calm spaces, quietly lit. The tower houses 84 apartments, and there are five different floor plans, and some variety in individual apartments. The apartments are generous and well planned, with floor to ceiling glass. From within the faceted façade frames different outlooks towards spectacular views. The building is double glazed and achieves 5 star Green Star rating. There are 22 floors of apartments, an additional 3 floors being granted by the authorities in recognition of design excellence.”

National Architecture Award for Residential Architecture – Multiple Housing

Pindari, Kensington, NSW

Architect - Candalepas Associates

Jury Citation: “Pindari is an intensive medium-rise residential development set on a rise overlooking Centennial Park and with more distant views to the City of Sydney and the Blue Mountains. Its considered architectural planning and form provides a useful model for denser suburban living. The development contains 66 apartments and town houses. Randwick was once an elegant suburb of Victorian and Edwardian houses, somewhat compromised in the 1960s by the introduction of standard speculative walk-up flat buildings. Pindari confronts these mediocre dwellings with an architecturally resolved development of greater density and design integrity, set in an established garden of mature trees. Attractive fencing and planting edges the margins of the site with understated rendered (and unpainted) walls defining private courtyards and terraces. The various building elements are finished in subtle earthen tones, with string course, triangular bays, battened screens and stone panels modulating the walls, and distinctive golden brown plywood eaves and tapered roof edges providing a strong concluding accent against the sky. Rain is collected and stored to water Pindari’s gardens. Apartment circulation is sheltered, but typically out of doors, allowing good cross ventilation and sunlight penetration. Apartment and unit interiors are neutral in palette with limestone floors and modelled plaster walls, generous courtyards and terraces, and engaging idiosyncratic detailing. Parking is concealed below grade. The jury felt that the pedestrian street between the townhouses would benefit from some further planting or screening to temper overlooking. It noted that Pindari’s otherwise highly considered siting and planning, inventive massing, and robust detailing make it a desirable commercial product, and a worthwhile prototype for the more intensive development of suburban land at scale and of a character that can sit comfortably with existing townscapes. The award is to the whole Pindari complex, being 68 – 74 and 76 Wentworth Street, Randwick.”

National Commendation for Residential Architecture – Multiple Housing

Apartments in Cottesloe, Cottesloe, Western Australia

Architect - Blane Brackenridge

Jury Citation: “These four house-sized luxury apartments in Cottesloe are located on a 1100m² suburban site, in a cul-de-sac of individual houses and smaller unit blocks. The sloping ground provides an outlook to the Indian Ocean. Parking is below grade, and out of sight, and the development presents a low-rise scale to the street and the neighbours, of typically no more than two storeys, all generally within a 7 metre height control. The slope of the site encouraged stepped forms, and sections, enabling roof terraces and outlooks for all apartments. The language of white-painted cubic concrete forms and travertine floors suits the bright light and Mediterranean climate of Perth. A central vestibule, with natural light and ventilation provides access to all four apartments, which are all generous in scale and character, each with four bedrooms, and thoughtfully detailed kitchens and bathrooms. Each has lift access to the garage. The rectilinear planning is eased by the introduction of curving enclosures and stair landings. Courtyards, skylights and the central access spine allow good cross ventilation and daylight into the complex. External blades direct views and provide a degree of privacy with neighbouring properties. The clever planning and layering of the apartments, their outdoor areas, the central access way, and the parking, combined with a low-rise presentation, and the provision of four house-sized apartments on what is a single large residential block, is a worthwhile model for more intensive housing within established suburbs.”

Commercial Architecture

The Harry Seidler Award for Commercial Architecture

ivy, George Street, Sydney, NSW

Architect - Woods Bagot in collaboration with Merivale Group and Hecker Phelan & Guthrie

Jury Citation: “The popular palaces of culture – the cinemas, stadia, and pubs and clubs – have, in recent years, rarely presented themselves as high architecture. Quite typically a utilitarian function has been rationalised as a presentable object. ivy is a remarkable exception. Part Roman baths, part smart restaurants, part urbane gathering place, it has been fused into the city’s fabric in a presentable and ingenious way. This part of George Street, while bordering the great trachyte arch of the Société Générale Building and civic precinct of Martin Place, was (and still partly is) a wasteland of mediocre commercial buildings and forlorn lanes. Apart from a handsome columned stone façade and a few other elements from a NAB branch (which were retained and effectively integrated into the design), the site was a blank canvas, and with the full support of the client – the Merivale Group – the opportunity was taken to enhance the streets and lanes, and indeed the life of the city. Allowable floor space could have been used for a tower, but the client opted for what he knew best: six levels of food, drink, hospitality and a darn good time in a fashionable setting. The client’s vision was realised by architects Woods Bagot in collaboration with interior designers Hecker Phelan and Guthrie. George Street has been given a new set of considered facades, with both a monumental scale (related to the street’s heritage features) and hints of relaxed informality, the latter suggested by random openings brimming over with tropical vegetation. Here, and within, the lush confident 1960s US architecture of Paul Rudolph and John Lautner is recalled. Ash Street and Palings Lane (now relocated to advantage) have become vibrant pedestrian thoroughfares, lined with shops, bars and cafes. In a clever move, this open space has become an urban hub, giving access to both the existing City Recital Hall and the two ivy facilities. ivy contains stylish courtyards fringed by bars and restaurants and a range of meeting, greeting and seating opportunities, with different levels connected by elegant stairs. A variety of spaces – including a grand ballroom, and a rooftop swimming pool with cabanas – provide different venues and moods, in settings enjoyed by all, from metrosexual youths to mature Mae Wests. It is perhaps Australia’s finest stage set or casting couch, but realised in a sophisticated, permanent and grandly architectural way. Every aspect – from food and bar service, place of public entertainment egress, and one level of very superior modern head office space for Merivale – has been considered and resolved, and speaks volumes of the commitment and delivery achieved by the project team.”

National Award for Commercial Architecture

Headquarter Sussan Sportsgirl, Cremorne, Victoria

Architect - Durbach Block Architects

Jury Citation: “The Sussan Sportsgirl corporate headquarters are the result of a limited competition, where the winning design provided a diagrammatic model which offered a clear way forward for effective adaptive re-use of a disjointed collection of twentieth century industrial buildings. The site, located between a major freeway and main railway line, and approached down narrow lanes, also overlooks the Yarra River. By cutting through the centre of the building and creating a sliver of garden admitting light, the planning and arrangement became logical, with reception and formal offices fronting the street, and beyond the garden, an array of working spaces overlooking the river. Towards the street, planks of translucent glass admit muted light, giving privacy from the road, and providing a distinctive elevation – of ethereal materiality – with the entry via a stepped ramp and planted porch. Distinctive stainless steel handrails, crisp steel detailing to the central garden’s fenestration and bridge, plaster blades concluding in rounded projections, and a sweeping top-lit staircase all combine to provide a cohesive architectural language to the interiors. The client wanted to create a special and memorable workplace with gardens that provided a soft contrast and emphasized the seasons. The spaces emerging from the former industrial buildings are sometimes unusually proportioned, but are used to good effect, with plenty of opportunities to present the owner’s spectacular art collection. The workplace has been transformed: spacious, light filled, art enhanced, and with outlooks to an attractive landscaped courtyard and the Yarra River. The clarity of the new planning, the seamless transition of spaces and finishes, the exemplary working environment and the general quality of the finished product speaks volumes of the working relationship between a single-minded client (and patron of the arts), a creative architect and a competent builder.”

National Award for Commercial Architecture

Bendigo Bank Headquarters, Bendigo, Victoria

Architect - BVN Architecture + Gray Puksand

Jury Citation: “Bendigo has arguably the finest High Victorian townscape in Australia, with its main streets lined with imposing Law Courts, Town Hall, the Shamrock Hotel, and elaborate parks and gardens. Across from the intersection centred on the famous Alexandra Fountain, the Bendigo Bank secured a large site, its first holding being a very average but relatively innocuous low-rise commercial building. Behind this a large six-level building has been developed (in stages) along a central pedestrian spine with work bays and top-lit atriums to each side. The main entry is off-set from the Alexandra Fountain intersection and the axis of the main street, and will, in due course, be screened by a wall of trees. The jury felt that the angled glazing and the circulation pattern of the entry area were not entirely successful. The Bendigo Bank Headquarters’ strengths include:

· vibrant medium-rise articulated elevations, sun-shaded where appropriate, which sit comfortably within the context of historic Bendigo

· contributory scale, rhythm and character, and integrated ground floor retail, which has upgraded and enhanced the length of Bath Lane to the south east

· excellent open plan workplace interiors, with ‘office community’ facilities centred on the atriums and outdoor break-out spaces, both facilitating the entry of natural light into the interiors.

There are many environmentally sustainable initiatives in the building design. The project received COBEII (Commercial Office Building Energy Innovative Initiative) funding from Sustainability Victoria for thermal modelling, natural light illumination and alternative water management strategies (including a black water treatment plant in the basement) in order for the building to achieve a five star Green Star as-built rating. Bendigo Bank Headquarters’ building is a remarkable addition to a major regional city, a first quality work place, and an imposing yet discreet addition to an outstanding historic precinct.”

National Commendation for Commercial Architecture

HASSELL Warry Street Studio, Fortitude Valley, Queensland

Architect - HASSELL

Jury Citation: “Fortitude Valley, possibly Brisbane’s most diverse district, is the locale for Hassell’s Brisbane office. Originally a large brick bakery building built in four stages, it has a formal elevation to Warry Street, and a series of large truss-roofed bays behind. Traditional earthy brickwork, the trusses, sloping ceilings and an array of massive baking ovens convey the building’s heritage. The basic brick provides a connecting theme for new construction, kept to a fundamental formula of brick and concrete, with black steel and white plaster accents. The former service yard has been reduced in size for parking and the provision of a low-scaled, almost monastic entry courtyard, with meeting rooms to one side and general staff areas to the other, both opening up in an easy way for simple access and cross ventilation. The office areas are light filled and spacious with attractive communal areas. The marriage of the new and the old has been handled well, with a few deft transitions revealing the ad hoc nature of the original buildings. Air conditioning has been provided, but is largely unnecessary for a large proportion of the year. The project shows the value of retaining gutsy industrial buildings – in itself a sustainable initiative – and of emphasising their strength and virtues through robust intervention and new additions. Given that at least 50 per cent of all future architecture commissions will be for the reworking of existing buildings, the Hassell offices show how a confident approach can retain existing significance and take a structure forward to a new and worthwhile future.”

International Architecture

The Jorn Utzøn Award for International Architecture

TKTS Booth/Redevelopment of Duffy Square, New York

Architect - Choi Ropiha, Perkins Eastman, PKSB

Jury Citation: “The jury especially liked the vibrant character, logical public meeting place, and practical sales point offered by this competition-winning design solution. The ‘red steps’ are a new and potent symbol of New York.The Booth project began in 1999 with an international design competition to re-design the popular TKTS booth (which serves the theatre district) at the centre of Times Square.”

The jury was provided with the following information: “The competition brief simply requested designs for a small scale architectural structure to replace the existing ticket booth however Choi Ropiha believed an urban design response was needed; they felt a conventional building in Times Square would undermine the powerful spatial character of the place, and made the observation that public space in Times Square is precious – as one of the city’s great gathering points and a focus of urban theatre, both literally and metaphorically. Times Square would benefit from a place where people could sit and enjoy the passing show. Choi Ropiha’s winning scheme terraces the square’s public domain upward as a series of tiered red translucent slabs to form an inclined public space with the booth housed beneath. This gesture simultaneously forms new public space where TKTS patrons and visitors alike can pause to take in the ‘theatre’ of Times Square whilst creating a built form that is ‘un-building like’. This gesture is given further potency by up-lighting the tiered seating from below causing the whole staircase to glow at night and strengthen the presence of TKTS within the visually charged context of Times Square. The structure coincidentally also forms a heightened backdrop for the nearby statue of Father Duffy and resolves a long running debate about the presence of the booth within the curtilage of the statue. Following the competition, the design was developed and progressed to construction by architects Perkins Eastman and PSKB Architects (responsible for the plaza design). Through their input, the concept has evolved to become an exceptional bespoke glass structure sitting on an expanded open plaza. A significant cost benefit analysis of the competition scheme was carried out at the beginning of this phase from which the aspiration to create a public asset of lasting value was confirmed. An all glass structure was settled upon providing both a durable surface finish whilst firming the design objective for a translucency and ephemeral quality. The functional requirements of the booth were expanded to 12 ticket counters and have been accommodated within an extremely compact compartment beneath the steps. Technical achievements include the all glass structure of the steps, the geothermal heating of the booth and steps, and LED lighting. The success of the project is a testament that through good design and a commitment to the public realm, different client groups – public, private, and commemorative organizations, can come together to achieve richer outcomes. Through this effort, the function and the identity of the TKTS Booth has been expanded and its position strengthened as an iconic New York destination.”

Award for International Architecture

Qatar Science and Technology Park, Qatar, United Arab Emirates

Architect - Woods Bagot

Jury Citation: “The jury especially like the strong structural/sculptural qualities of this major development, and the contrast provided by the abstract filigree canopies and screens, which provide a suitable reference to Arabian culture.”

The jury was provided with the following information: “Qatar’s new Science and Technology Park (STP) is a key initiative of the Qatar Foundation in its drive to diversify the economy, create highly skilled jobs and to establish Qatar as a knowledge economy in the Middle East. Qatar is championing industry-based research and development, and is investing deeply in education and science. In the STP, Qatar is building a world-class environment for companies to develop their technology in Qatar, including a business incubator to help technology start-ups. The masterplan for the STP encompasses 123 ha of land which is integrated with the facilities of the Qatar Foundation, its new teaching hospital and the new convention centre. Phase one construction of the STP comprises 115,000 sqm of development. At its heart is the 12,000 sqm Incubator Centre (IC), incorporating the administrative hub and business centre. This building is flanked by the first two tenant laboratory Information Transfer Centre (ITTC) buildings, each 20,000 sqm. All three buildings sit on a landscaped podium, providing under-croft car parking for 1,450 cars.

The design of the built form draws on Islamic cultural references in an abstracted, contemporary expression using cutting edge technology. An important feature of Islamic architecture is the focus on the interior space as opposed to the outside, or façade. The buildings are generally enveloped by double skin-facades that respond to the climate of the area, and the internal highly elaborate atriums are equivalent to the inner life of a traditional courtyard. The distinctive wave-like roof structure of STP’s circulation spine has a sculptural quality and a delicacy which strongly contrasts with the horizontality of the landscape. It provides shading to the outdoor areas and allows the buildings to be physically and symbolically connected, creating a floating veil of intensive, abstract, and appropriate patterning. Capitalising on its strategic location, the iconic Incubator Centre is the nucleus of STP. Located at the centre of the site on a elevated podium, it has an aeronautical quality and appears to defy gravity, like a hovering UFO, which gives it a subliminal presence in the landscape.”

The linked buildings provide a vast complex for new initiatives in Qatar. In their scale, resolution and architectural interest, in particular the contrasting of robust metal-clad frames and building modules with delicate floating canopies and screens, they have achieved an entity which is futuristic, but with an accessible reference to the traditions of the place.

Sustainable Architecture

National Award for Sustainable Architecture

VS1/SA Water Head Office, Adelaide, South Australia

Architect - HASSELL

Jury Citation: “VS1/SA Water is a substantial new commercial building on Adelaide’s Victoria Square, at the heart of the city. It is the headquarters of SA Water. A new landscaped plaza has been created to provide a forecourt to the building and an improved public presentation for the adjoining Catholic cathedral. An imposing colonnade at the base of the new building faces the square. Within is customer interface, a café and access to an educational centre which overlooks the water testing laboratories. A generous atrium rises up the centre of the building through ten levels, admitting natural light, and enabling open stair access between the levels.

The building has significant sustainable attributes, as follows:

· VS1/SA Water is the first building in South Australia to achieve a GBCA 6 Star Green Star design rating, delivered at competitive market rental. It sets a new benchmark in ESD, promoting best practice for an office environment, including reduced energy usage, waste, and off-gassing.

· The integrated basebuild and fitout are both designed to achieve GBCA Six Star Green Star As-built Rating. In a commitment to sustainability, the laboratory brief required world leading performance, leading to development of a sustainable rating tool, based upon LEED Labs 21 and GBCA Office Interior.

· The building is cooled by individual climate controlled under-floor ventilation. The system uses 100% outside air during building occupancy, with a minimum 150% increase in outside air rates to increase indoor air quality with no recirculation.

· The building emphasises water conservation and energy reduction. Rainwater and recycled water are used for toilets and water efficient taps, showers and cooling towers are used. Highly efficient water cooled chillers are used, delivering significant energy savings.

· A gas heat and power unit is connected to an absorption chiller-hot water system reducing greenhouse emissions and peak demand by 25%.

· When connected to the Glenelg to Adelaide Pipeline (supplying re-cycled water) in 2010 it will achieve a reduction of 70% water consumption, saving 11m litres of water a year and a reduction of 50% greenhouse gas emissions.

· The building has excellent links to public transport and as a result the design has reduced the number of car parks provided, with 25% of car parking provided for small cars. The basement contains space for 140 bicycles and changing facilities.

· In response to climate the façade responds to each orientation, this includes a fritted western veil, and passive solar shading reduces reliance on mechanical cooling. Spandrel panels and vertical fins reduce solar load, whilst manual and automatic blinds control glare.”

National Commendation for Sustainable Architecture

Bendigo Bank Headquarters, Bendigo, Victoria

Architect - BVN Architecture + Gray Puksand

· vibrant medium-rise articulated elevations, sun-shaded where appropriate, which sit comfortably within the context of historic Bendigo

· contributory scale, rhythm and character, and integrated ground floor retail, which has upgraded and enhanced the length of Bath Lane to the south east

National Commendation for Sustainable Architecture

Australasian Performing Rights Association (APRA) Headquarters, Ultimo, NSW Architect - Smart Design Studio

Jury Citation: “Ultimo was traditionally a wool store and warehouse district to the north of Broadway, and convenient to the City of Sydney. It still contains a number of robust brick warehouse buildings, internally framed with hardwood columns and beams. The adaption of this building allowed APRA to relocate from conventional office space into the rugged, lofty open plan interiors provided by the former warehouse. A new top-lit atrium was provided to the heart of the building, with open plan offices, communal facilities and meeting areas arranged to encourage interaction and improved working ethos. The following outlines the main sustainable initiatives which were employed in this project:

· A displacement air-conditioning system with natural ventilation mode.

· Sunshading over the north and east-facing windows, with external blinds fitted to west facing windows. Internal blinds to further reduce glare for the occupants.

· Use of natural lighting and minimal artificial lighting via flexible DALI control; all areas controlled by motion sensors, energy efficient lighting sources and light coloured finishes.

· Stormwater collection and re-use.

· Bike storage facilities and showers for use of employees.

· An existing stairwell on the north side of the building opened up to each floor, to provide an alternative to lift travel.

· Greenstar approved finishes and locally made products used where possible.

· Careful waste disposal throughout the construction phase.

· A Building Management System (BMS) installed to ensure a good level of interface and record of the building systems’ operation.

Throughout the project, decisions have been made based on the long term ramifications relating to APRA’s ownership of the building (maintenance, running costs, longevity of finishes etc), as well as the organisation’s primary goal of service to its members. Economical and durable materials have been used extensively to ensure the project budget was adhered to, whilst the extensive application of sustainable initiatives will produce longer term rewards. The completed building reveals a sensible marriage of adaptive re-use and sustainable objectives. It has not been evaluated against the Green Star system, as this does not adequately take into account the nature of substantial traditional construction and proper consideration of the concept of embodied energy.”

Heritage Architecture

The Lachlan Macquarie Award for Heritage

St Paul’s Cathedral, Conservation of the Fabric, Melbourne, Victoria

Architect - Falkinger Andronas Architects Heritage Consultants

Jury Citation: “Marvellous Melbourne, like Chicago, was one of the most rapid and amazing urban phenomena of the late 19^th century, punctuated by a range of grand public buildings.

Prominently located at a key intersection on an embankment overlooking the Yarra River and St Kilda Road, St Paul’s Cathedral was commenced in 1880 to designs prepared by leading English Gothicist William Butterfield and realised by a number of very competent Melbourne architects, with final completion in 1933. The design reveals Butterfield’s love of complex patterning and materials, though tempered by John Barr’s thoughtfully resolved 20^th century sandstone spires. Gothic cathedrals are complex structures and constructions, requiring careful management and maintenance if they are to survive in good order and serve changing patterns of use. Falkinger and Andronas have been responsible for the conservation of both of Melbourne’s major cathedrals, and at St Paul’s have been involved for over nine years, with the life of the cathedral ongoing throughout the project. Their work commenced with the preparation of a Conservation Management Plan, and involved stone and spire repairs, roof and stormwater works, mosaic and stained glass conservation, and the provision of new wiring and lighting. Disabled access to the front door has been discreetly introduced and a new glazed storm porch created, allowing more open entry and the formation of rich modern glazed panel which extends the character of the historic west window to the floor of the nave. Priority has been given to major works in difficult and inaccessible areas, in particular the towers, spires and roof, as other parts can be attended to more readily. The decay of the building has been slowed, stormwater failures have been addressed (and the water tanked on site) and the building surfaces (in particular the interior) cleansed, so that we can more readily appreciate the visual qualities of the cathedral as its designers intended.”

National Award for Heritage

Wiston Gardens House, Double Bay, NSW

Architect - Luigi Rosselli

Jury Citation: “Professor Leslie Wilkinson designed this house in 1936, and also its original neighbour to the south: both were celebrated in the late 30s as civilised models for compact domestic architecture for Sydney. Wilkinson’s architecture, which abstracted Mediterranean and Georgian influences for modern purpose, is an endless source of surprises and idiosyncrasies; his houses are complex and full of unexpected twists and turns, his scale is human, comfortable and not rhetorical. The owners loved this house, but their family life and possessions could barely fit in it. Luigi Rosselli worked with them over a number of years and stages to extend the accommodation and to provide a further layer of interest and intrigue to the property. Rosselli brings European sensibilities to his projects: he has an eye for proportion, materiality and detail, at both large and small scales. Throughout the house the historic detail and fabric has been retained and conserved, original tallowwood and concrete floors uncovered and restored, and changes subtly and cleverly alluded to. The house is tucked against a cliff face and windows have been unobtrusively amended, joinery rearranged, and a skylight introduced to ensure that the house is light-filled. The original service areas, designed for a resident cook/maid have been revised to serve family life, and the kitchen opened up, and an addition provided as a family room: the addition is connected to the old house by a glazed link which clearly explains what is new and what is old. The most inventive move has been the partial excavation and reworking of the cliff at the rear of the site, with Rosselli’s characteristic dimpled stonework replicating the cliff face, which now incorporates a study/library and a winding stair which provides access to terraces, lush roof-top gardens, and finally a lap pool and guest pavilion, which looks out over the house to the bay. In this work the contribution of interior designer Louise Bell of Interni, and of heritage consultant John Oultram is noted. Rosselli fully understands the layering of history, and the need for each generation to add its own contribution in a constructive way. His work will, in due course, be seen as an important part of the house’s evolution and heritage. It clearly shows that we need to move beyond the frozen heritage position of ‘do nothing’ or ‘match the adjoining detail’ to put such projects into the hands of skilled designers.”

Urban Design

The Walter Burley Griffin Award for Urban Design

Armory Wharf Precinct, Sydney Olympic Park, NSW

Architect - Hargreaves Associates, Lahz Nimmo Architects and Lacoste + Stevenson Architects

Jury Citation: “The Sydney Olympic Park is gradually evolving as one of Sydney’s major regional parks, in effect one of the ‘lungs’ of the city. This part of the park contains some important remnant Cumberland Plain woodland. There are also the surviving elements of the munitions stores or armory established here in the late 19^th century, including a wharf and cranes alongside the Parramatta River. The river here is edged by mangroves and is famous for the afternoon light across the rippling tide – hence the name Silverwater. The site represents a node where an access road, parking, a bicycle way, a ferry wharf, and the armory entry point all come together alongside the Parramatta River. It is a pretty spot, somewhat idyllic and semi-rural, and it was decided some years ago by the Sydney Olympic Park Authority that a consciously designed landscape set with allied public facilities should be created here. Landscape consultants Hargreaves and Associates in conjunction with Lacoste + Stevenson Architects terraced the adjoining hillside (in part to contain contaminated ground), repositioned the roadway and parking, and created an elegant riverside promenade, with fountains, and a water and a marshland margin providing a suitable habitat for rare native frogs. Lacoste + Stevenson designed at that time several simple and engaging toilet blocks, circular in roof form and spiral in plan, and also a sequence of tensile canopies supported on triangulated Cor-ten steel posts. The canopy’s shade layer is provided by army camouflage in shredded fabric, providing an unusual and distinctive ambience to the outdoor seating areas. The mangroves and estuarine setting, and the architecture (both old and new) hinting at military purpose, evoked cinematic memories, for one of the jury, in particular Apocalyse Now. The most recent addition to the precinct is Lahz Nimmo’s café building, designed and constructed at great speed to replace one destroyed by fire in 2007. It is a simple building, aligned with the existing shade shelters, but given enormous gutsy vigour – and an industrial flavour suited to the Armory Wharf and cranes – through the use of well detailed ribbed Cor-ten claddings, which rise to a sentinel-like block, which houses (and disguises) the kitchen exhaust, gas flues, and other equipment. More delicate ribbed metal roofing is used to define the café area. The original armory railway tracks are sympathetically retained in the paving of the precinct. The Armory Wharf Precinct is a remarkably attractive park precinct with much-enjoyed, well-designed public facilities. It is a most agreeable place to visit, uncluttered, well resolved, and in harmony with the natural and man-modified landscape.”

National Architecture Award for Urban Design

ivy, Sydney

Architect - Woods Bagot in collaboration with Merivale Group and Hecker Phelan & Guthrie

Jury Citation: “The popular palaces of culture – the cinemas, stadia, and pubs and clubs – have, in recent years, rarely presented themselves as high architecture. Quite typically a utilitarian function has been rationalised as a presentable object. ivy is a remarkable exception. Part Roman baths, part smart restaurants, part urbane gathering place, it has been fused into the city’s fabric in a presentable and ingenious way. This part of George Street, while bordering the great trachyte arch of the Société Générale Building and civic precinct of Martin Place, was (and still partly is) a wasteland of mediocre commercial buildings and forlorn lanes. Apart from a handsome columned trachyte façade and a few other elements from a NAB branch (which were retained and effectively integrated into the design), the site was a blank canvas, and with the full support of the client – the Merivale Group – the opportunity was taken to enhance the streets and lanes, and indeed the life of the city. Allowable floor space could have been used for a tower, but the client opted for what he knew best: six levels of food, drink, hospitality and a darn good time in a fashionable setting. The client’s vision was realised by architects Woods Bagot in collaboration with interior designers Hecker Phelan and Guthrie. George Street has been given a new set of considered facades, with both a grand scale (related to the street’s heritage features) and hints of relaxed informality, suggested by random openings brimming over with tropical vegetation. Here, and within, the lush confident 1960s US architecture of Paul Rudolph and John Lautner is recalled. Ash Street and Palings Lane (now relocated to advantage) have become vibrant pedestrian thoroughfares, lined with shops, bars and cafes. In a clever move, this open space has become an urban hub, giving access to both the existing City Recital Hall and the two ivy facilities. ivy contains stylish courtyards fringed by bars and restaurants and a range of meeting, greeting and seating opportunities, with different levels connected by elegant stairs. A variety of spaces – including a grand ballroom, and a rooftop swimming pool with cabanas – provide different venues and moods, in settings enjoyed by all, from metrosexual youths to mature Mae Wests. It is perhaps Australia’s finest stage set or casting couch, but realised in a sophisticated, permanent and architectural way. Every aspect – from food and bar service, place of public entertainment egress, and one level of very superior modern head office space for Merivale – has been considered and resolved, and speaks volumes of the commitment and delivery achieved by the project team.”

National Commendation for Urban Design

Rundle Lantern, Adelaide, South Australia

Architect - BB Architects

Jury Citation: “Rundle Mall in Adelaide is a popular, largely pedestrianised street. At the corner of Pulteney Street is a multi-storey steel-framed carpark. Adelaide City Council wanted to provide some animation and interest to this end of the Rundle Mall, and held an ideas competition several years ago to enhance and enliven the carpark and the intersection. Fusion, a firm of industrial and graphic designers, won the competition and worked closely with BB Architects to realise their vision. The first scheme was for projected images onto a seamless surface fixed to the carpark’s walls, and the design evolved into a computerised light display, capable of conveying bold coloured graphics and simple images. LED lighting illuminates a grid of 748 angled aluminium panels wrapping around the corner of the carpark structure, which enables fresh air to reach the carpark, and for it to retain its status as an open parking structure not requiring mechanical ventilation or sprinklers. The LED lighting has to date ensured low power usage, and solar panels on the carpark roof will now make the Lantern independent of the electricity grid. The fabulous nine-storey nocturnal lightshow has become one of the attractions of central Adelaide (see YouTube), with diverse imaging and bright lights recalling (without the advertising) the colourful impact of New York’s Times Square or London’s Piccadilly Circus. The Lantern has been described as a digital canvas. Lively by night, it is a neat modulated metal façade by day.”

Small Project Architecture

National Award for Small Project Architecture

Polygreen, Northcote, Victoria

Architect - Bellemo & Cat

Jury Citation: “Polygreen – a compact new residence in a laneway of old warehouses in a northern Melbourne suburb – has an experimental expression allied with economical and practical construction and planning. Designed by an architect/sculptor duo, its container-like volume becomes an external artwork through the use of a translucent outer skin with patterning in shades of green, and randomly punctuated by neat window penetrations. The skin is formed of woven fibreglass, with the patterns a screen-printed overlay on the rear surface of the fibreglass derived from a series of abstractions on art projects realised by the duo. The house’s main interior is at an upper level, entered via a children’s play space, expansively connected by stepped platforms to the main living area, which is overlooked by a partially screened gallery bedroom. To the north large windows frame views over a landscaped terrace to pictorial Victorian roofscapes and distant mountains. The proportions of this space, the quality of light, the successful use of unusual materials in combination make for a very memorable interior. Similarly, the exterior is striking, and the whole design provides a compact and successful framework for family and business life, all at modest cost. The structure has been designed to allow a further storey at a later date. With regard to environmental performance: the construction system provides good levels of insulation, the main windows are to the north with awnings and screens, heating is by hot water radiators, and rainwater is stored on site.”

National Award for Small Project Architecture

Ang House, Mosman, NSW

Architect - Chenchow Little Architects

Jury Citation: “Located on a busy street in a fashionable Sydney suburb, the local council required the retention of the street presentation as the house was half of a pair of semi-detached cottages, and part of a group of such cottages. The front elevation to the original ridge line and the front two rooms remain essentially unaltered, with radical modernity beyond: a stylish and streamlined set of interiors framed by two beautifully detailed steel trusses supporting a new room and a cantilevered deck, and stabilising existing side walls. While light-filled and crisp, the house has achieved an openness and generosity quite untypical of narrow terrace houses and semis. Colorbond ripple-iron ceilings in ‘surf mist’ provide the soft off-white colour accent which pervades the addition. Radiata pine floors are limewashed to harmonise. The additions comprise a main level with living areas and kitchen opening onto the cantilevered deck, which has metal screens to each side and above, enabling sunlight control and managing privacy. Above is the master bedroom, tucked back into the existing roof space, and below is a rumpus room opening into a small, neat garden. The interiors are serene, stylish, and minimalist in character, assisted by the client’s selection of furniture. The base of the rear elevation is contained between piers of retained stonework, which provides an attractive linkage with the adjoining semi. This is a small and relatively inexpensive project delivered with great panache. It is so neatly resolved that one can foresee the concept multiplied as grouped town houses or home units to good effect. The project shows how architecture can deliver a maximised product at a minimised cost.”

Interior Architecture

The Emil Sodersten Award for Interior Architecture

Melbourne Recital Centre and MTC Theatre Project, Southbank, Victoria

Architect - ARM

Jury Citation: “Located across a wide street from the sombre bluestone rear walls of the National Gallery of Victoria, the complex contains the most significant new performing arts venues in Melbourne. Easy access and effective egress are givens, along with sizeable lobbies and public areas, and a functional back of house. The most important aspect of the development is the performing arts spaces, their adequacy, sightlines and acoustics. All three are effectively boxes within boxes, isolated from the outside world and the ground to minimise noise and vibration transfer. The grandest of the three spaces is the Elisabeth Murdoch Hall at the MRC, which follows the traditional double cube volume and intensively modelled walls beloved by performers for the clear rendering of music. Stepped seating provides good sightlines to the artists. The walls and ceiling have a distinctive contoured plywood panelling, floors are of hardwood, and the ceiling can retract and adjust for flexibility and different effects. Timber chandeliers uplight the ceiling and punctuate the grand volume. A leading concert pianist has told the jury that the Hall is a delight to play in, particularly suited to chamber groups, string players and anything in the upper register. In essence it was specifically designed to suit quality chamber music and ensemble playing. It is described as having a sparkling acoustic quality which ‘obliges the audience to be rapt’. The Salon at the MRC is a fundament flat floor box, designed for musical clarity, and lined with angled and articulated timber panels, and inscribed with words and symbols recalling Percy Grainger, Melbourne’s most famous musical prodigy. The interior of the MTC theatre reflects the illusionary nature of theatrical performance with its perimeter walls perforated with key phases, capable of being backlit to graphic effect. The theatre provides first quality facilities for a prominent theatre company. All three performing arts venues achieve a very high standard of architecture in terms of excellent functionality within distinctive and memorable interiors.”

National Award for Interior Architecture

National Portrait Gallery, Canberra, ACT

Architect - Johnson Pilton Walker

Jury Citation: “The monumental concrete edifices of the National Gallery and the High Court dominate this precinct, to which the National Portrait Gallery is the new family member. Smaller, more precious, it seeks to resolve a public presence and public gallery with the intimate, often domestic-scaled nature of portraiture. A series of linear blocks recall Griffin’s intentions for building alongside the national capital’s axis. They house the primary working spaces of the building, and are separated by open-ended corridors, glimpsing location and landscape. Externally the building recalls traditional Japanese pavilions and scaled-up Glenn Murcutt works. Giant cantilevered concrete blades define the forecourt, which serves both King Edward Terrace and the elevated walkway to the National Gallery. The building combines off-form and precast concrete, terrazzo panels, metal roofs, stone and timber flooring, rich timber accents, and relatively plain plaster backdrops for the display of art. A complex vocabulary is layered and understated, and the internal volumes are suitably varied. Considerable effort was made to resolve spaces and heights, and the acceptable admission of natural light – all to suit the various mediums of portraiture. Kahn’s top-lit Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth is a given reference. The entry and the galleries are a well resolved s equence of carefully modulated spaces, and provide a calm backdrop for the display of art.Visitors are unaware of the vast basement, which enables deliveries, parking and art storage to occur out of sight, the latter served by a cleverly unobtrusive goods lift. The building, while a triumph in cultural terms and popular appreciation, is clearly too small for its public role and purpose, a reflection of contemporary governments’ aspirations and budgets. Government probably never foresaw that this would be an attraction to rival the National Gallery and the War Memorial. The Portrait Gallery has been designed for extension to the west in a series of pavilions, and through this initiative may achieve a more substantial and permanent dimension, and better integration with the park setting. Nonetheless the building is an important and worthwhile addition to the national capital, and reaffirms the traditional and necessary role of government to lead the way in the provision of worthy public buildings.”

National Commendation for Interior Architecture

Jane Foss Russell Building, University of Sydney, NSW

Architect - John Wardle Architects in association with Wilson Architects and GHD

Jury Citation: “The Jane Foss Russell Building and its walkway over City Road are part of the University of Sydney’s scheme to upgrade and enhance the artery linking the historic campus and the Darlington campus. This development was seen as an important pivot entity along the route, and was the subject of a major competition. In essence, Wardle’s winning design featured an active student square along the route, a major library taking up the slope under the square, and an array of university offices overlooking the square. Budget constraints and value management appear to have somewhat compromised the original vision.The library is the most successful element of the project, a huge undercroft with a sloping terrain of stepped terraces and ramps, the various areas separated by sculptural ‘hillocks’ formed of sheet linoleum in different colours. The ramps ensure disabled access to all areas. At the top edge of the space is an angled window, an eye-lidded opening onto City Road. At the lowest level is a generous ‘valley floor’ with an outlook through trees to parkland. Seating is varied and comfortable, bookcases are open and accessible. Meeting rooms and other enclosures edge the volume, separated from the main library space by glass walls, with individual sheets in subtle muted colours. The library interior represents a new age of free form, free expression study, all at a vast remove from the formal libraries of old, with their galleried rectilinear interiors, secure books and deathly hush. It provides an interesting new model for libraries, and one worthy of further review and refinement.”

National 25 Year Award for Enduring Architecture

Sidney Myer Music Bowl, Melbourne, Victoria

Architect - Yuncken, Freeman Brothers, Griffiths and Simpson

Jury Citation: “One of the great tent-like suspension structures of the world, the Myer Music Bowl is a clear indicator of the vibrant creative forces active in Australia circa 1960, that were allowed realisation to great acclaim. Conserved and upgraded in 2000, the Myer Music Bowl is a much-loved icon, and part of the social fabric of Melbourne and the nation. Inspired by the highly successful public role of the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, the Myer family decided to fund an equivalent facility for Melbourne. The resulting structure, set in established parkland, was both revolutionary and remarkable. Design, led by architect Barry Patten, commenced in 1956 and construction was completed in 1959. The Myer Music Bowl’s suspension system and general form is said to have inspired German designer Frei Otto’s subsequent career, most notably the stadia structures of the 1972 Munich Olympics. In essence the landforms of the site were amplified to create a sloping grassed valley leading to seating sheltered by a draped canopy supported on two giant masts. The canopy comprises a grid of tensioned cables supporting rectangular panels of aluminium – clad plywood. The design owes much to the input of structural engineers W.L. Irwin and Associates. An extraordinary act of philanthropy, the Myer Music Bowl has permanent seating for 2150 people, with larger events spreading up the grassed embankment and into the parkland and attracting as many as 200,000 persons. It truly brings popular culture to the people. The Myer Music Bowl continues to amaze and intrigue as a major sculptural form beautifully integrated with its site and the surrounding landscape. It remains an architectural engineering triumph perhaps without equal in Australia.”

Colorbond Award for Steel Architecture

Snowy Mountains House, Snowy Mountains, NSW

Architect - James Stockwell Architect

Jury Citation: “Rugged – bleak – windswept – alpine: the Snowy Mountains is one extremity of Australia, favoured for skiing in winter, and enjoyed as pristine wooded wilderness in summer. Generous sites overlooking Lake Eucumbene with views towards the main range have long been favoured for second homes. James Stockwell’s commission to create a robust, economical house for an extended family, carefully addresses issues of climatic extremes, simple maintenance, and sustainable objectives. It has its origins in simple alpine huts and basic ski lodges, but here delivered with a straight-forward finesse. The fundamental concept of a Nissan-hut is literally elevated to a new plane with angular buttresses bracing (and strapping down) the building to a shaped concrete base. Construction and appearance is reduced to fundamentals: externally, off-form concrete, corrugated and sheet galvanised steel; and internally, polished concrete floors, plywood-clad walls and ripple-iron ceilings in colorbond. The curved vault defines the living space and the major views between splayed buttresses to the west, with basic, yet attractive, service areas and bedrooms along a spine to the east. The house responds appropriately to the extreme factors of wind, snow, and ground chill. Rainwater is collected and stored for household use and fire fighting, a very effective fuel stove warms the living room and provides both hot water and underfloor heating, and solar panels cleverly positioned in the external wall plane generate electricity. The house combines autonomy with reasonable construction cost, minimum maintenance, and good longevity, achieving excellent sustainable credentials.”