Innehållsförteckning för November 2020 från Architecture Australia

Built on the land of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation Albert Park, Victoria Jury citation This project has transformed a utilitarian parks depot into an engaging public building. Located in Melbourne’s Albert Park, the building is organized around a central courtyard, providing a welcoming orientation space for park visitors while accommodating depot functions behind. Airy and light-filled office spaces on the level above enjoy a green outlook from every window. A stacked program has enabled a minimal-footprint building that delivers high amenity and low impact. The exposed concrete and timber structure is lean, yet carefully composed to maximum effect, with upturned perimeter beams doubling as window seats internally and planters on the outside face. With the adept integration of greenery to shade, cool and screen spaces, structures and…

Built on the land of the Whadjuk people of the Nyoongar nation Midland, Western Australia Jury citation Curtin University’s Midland Campus sits within a culturally rich area of pre- and post-colonial histories on traditional Whadjuk country and among heritage rail workshops. Both ancient and recent histories inform the design, which is conceived as a solid object selectively carved out to announce entry and reveal activity. Importantly, the solidity of the bold red brick facade dematerializes and opens to outdoor spaces that clearly relate to the surrounding Centennial Place, Blacksmith Lane and Helena River. The new Health Sciences building successfully strengthens the campus’s connection to place through the seamless confluence of public realm, architecture and art. The building steps slightly forward of the rail workshops in Blacksmith Lane and the inner…

Built on the land of the Gadigal people of the Eora nation Chippendale, New South Wales Jury citation Phoenix Central Park, the vision of prominent philanthropist Judith Neilson, is a project that has risen from the ashes of a vacant warehouse site in Chippendale, a gritty inner-Sydney neighbourhood surrounded by three of Sydney’s major universities. This project adds yet another gem to the revitalization of the precinct. Architecture and interior are forged as one under a superb collaboration between Durbach Block Jaggers and John Wardle Architects. The project comprises two intertwined and complementary buildings, each with its own character. Similarly, the program mixes and blurs visual and performing arts for a totally immersive experience. The John Wardle Architects–designed art gallery to the east has a most intriguing and rich carcanet…

“The National Awards represents one of the Institute’s most important advocacy programs, in which we acknowledge and celebrate the creative capacities of our profession and the enduring value that outstanding architecture brings to people’s lives.”Helen Lochhead, Jury Chair, 2020 National Architecture Awards Built on the land of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation Cremorne, Victoria Jury citation Located on a corner site with a remnant heritage structure, this office building is contained and defined by a precision metal screen. The screen both mediates the interior experience and, with the opening and closing of the shutters, enacts a playful animation of the building’s facade as office occupants modify their interior environment for views and sun control. This fresh aesthetic offers an antidote to the predominance of bland glass office buildings…

Built on the land of the Gadigal and Darug peoples of the Eora nation Glebe, New South Wales Jury citation Glebe House is simply a delight. Sandwiched between a large dwelling to the south and tall planting to the north that screens the public housing beyond, the linear site runs east–west, limiting access to light. A series of grand, upturned-arch windows innovatively solves this challenge by drawing light into the spaces where it is most needed. The judicious placement of voids, along with opaque glazing in places, affords the light a quality both restive and ethereal. This new take on the timber-lined bungalow is enhanced by sculptural white interior spaces. A sinuous spiral staircase leads to the upper floor, which incorporates four bedrooms and two bathrooms. The ground floor orientates…

Built on the land of the Kaurna people Goodwood, South Australia Jury citation This small but thoughtful addition has transformed the way its site is occupied. A new pavilion, carefully sited to create a garden court, as well as an entry and gallery space for the existing house, has met the challenge of a house facing south onto a much-loved garden. The pavilion lets the house sit in the garden, rather than look onto it. The language of the pavilion – lightness, slenderness and warmth – is filtered back into the existing villa, which has undergone minimal change to its footprint but a judicious reworking of living areas and openings. This addition has changed the way the site is occupied diurnally and seasonally, and shows us the transformative value of…

Built on the land of the Wurundjeri-willam people of the Kulin Nation Fitzroy, Victoria Jury citation Napier Street for Milieu, a small, speculative apartment building for a boutique development company, represents a clever, contextually responsive design with unusually fine-grained detail for a project of its type. The mass of the five-storey block is split by an open-air atrium in the centre of the lot. This intimate yet dramatic communal space allows each dwelling to have a dual aspect and, with generous bridges spanning the atrium, also serves as the vestibule to all front doors. Planters integrated into balustrades and a warm materiality of timber and face brick immediately give this multi-layered space a domestic feel. The brickwork is an ingenious combination of as-found and sawn-finish, laid in a variety of…

Built on the land of the Gooreng Gooreng and Gurang peoples Bargara, Queensland Jury citation Mon Repos Conservation Park on Queensland’s coast, which is part of the larger community of Bargara, is the most important turtle nesting ground in Australia for the endangered loggerhead turtle. The new visitor centre and research office needed to fulfil the opposing requirements of highly restricted light-spill at night and natural light in the daytime. The design achieves this through ingenuity in the planning arrangement, construction and building fabric design. The clever structural system – a glulam timber diagrid – was prefabricated locally using local timbers. Environmental responses include the compact building footprint, removal of onsite parking, reduced construction time to suit the turtle season calendar, minimization of waste and site disruption, mixed-mode ventilation and…

“It was the projects that could demonstrate their value beyond the limits of the brief or the confines of the site that were selected for national recognition.”Helen Lochhead, Jury Chair, 2020 National Architecture Awards Built on the land of the muwinina people, part of the palawa people Hobart, Tasmania Jury citation Denton Corker Marshall’s Bridge of Remembrance has seamlessly reconnected two of Hobart’s most significant public spaces: the Cenotaph and the Soldiers Memorial Avenue on the Queens Domain. An elegant, twisting plane, the 200-metre-long bridge spans a broad highway at a key threshold to the city, providing a distinctive entry portal. While a dramatic gesture from various vantage points, the design is also nuanced, respecting the cultural heritage and environmental values of the site. This approach enables people to engage…

Built on the land of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation Carlton, Victoria Jury citation Law Architects made a significant move to unlock the potential of this humble yet transformative project by choosing to create an open-air, multipurpose court (rather than a fully enclosed gymnasium). Through clever design and the considered use of steel, the Carlton Learning Precinct COLA (covered outdoor learning area) delivered much more than the brief. The deceptively simple structure – of steel columns supporting open-web steel trusses and an Aramax roof slung below – delivers a clean, uninterrupted ceiling to this outdoor room. A veil of green climbers on a woven steel mesh gives back to the public realm while enabling diffused light to penetrate the courts below. The contrasting use of decorative brick amenity…

Built on the land of the Boon Wurrung and Wurundjeri peoples of the Kulin nation Melbourne, Victoria Jury citation The State Library Victoria is Australia’s oldest and busiest public library. The Vision 2020 redevelopment addressed ageing buildings, changing needs and confusing circulation through a skilful and sound design framework that will expand the library’s reach and relevance for many generations to come. The redevelopment has brought together and clarified a conglomeration of 23 buildings, unlocking and transforming 15 spaces for public use. It has created new connections and reinstated the through-block link and Russell Street entry to enhance legibility and access. Public space has been increased by 40 percent, expanding the possibilities of the library’s functions. Interiors have been stripped of years of building clutter to reveal their original character,…

Built on the land of the Gadigal and Darug peoples of the Eora nation Surry Hills, New South Wales Jury citation In the spirit of architectural design as a continuum, Virginia Kerridge has recalibrated Graham Jahn’s 1999 Robin Boyd Award-winning project for the same client. The original house had itself been a repurposed timber warehouse; this latest version was to accommodate a new chapter in the client’s life. The alteration – which is tuned by their intimate knowledge of the house over more than two decades of living in this inner-Sydney location – was made possible by the architect’s skill at sophisticated transformation. Through the intuitive working over of the design between the original house and the client’s new focus, a smoothly connected set of spaces has evolved – some…

Built on the land of the Paredarerme people Tasman Peninsula, Tasmania Jury citation Situated on remote and ancient sites in the Tasman National Park, the Three Capes Lodges challenged the architect to operate in the broadest capacities of our profession. The challenge has been successfully met: the visual simplicity of the project is underpinned by an impressive ability to solve complex problems, from services logistics to weight constraints to ensure the structure was transportable by helicopter. The buildings have been sensitively arranged to reveal selected parts of the site and distant landscape views as guests move between buildings, and also to reduce the lodge’s visual impact from afar. The predominantly timber prefabricated structures have an igneous undercarriage that conceals myriad services, all wrapped in subtly toned timber. — Three Capes…

Built on the land of the Boon Wurrung people of the Kulin nation Blackburn, Victoria Jury citation Salisbury Townhouses is a remarkable adaptive reuse project in which a set of tired, one-bedroom 1960s units with little amenity has been skilfully reconfigured into an ensemble of contemporary townhouses and given a new lease of life. This canny transformation of dormant housing stock has been achieved by adding a lightweight second storey to existing dwellings, reconfiguring plans, forming larger openings in existing brick walls and creating private outdoor living spaces in setbacks adjacent to each house. This is careful architectural work – the work of adaptation rather than erasure, potent work that is increasingly important in the renovation of the Australian suburbs.…

Built on the land of the Gadigal and Wangal peoples of the Eora nation Marrickville, New South Wales Jury citation Sustainability, in its most broad sense, is central to the design intent for the Marrickville Library project. The building positively addresses environmental imperatives as well as community, education, heritage and cultural concerns in a most uplifting way. By incorporating an old hospital building, thereby retaining both history and embodied energy, the building embraces adaptive reuse and respects the site’s heritage. The design uses an abundance of natural light and maintains comfortable conditions for the occupants using a mixed-mode ventilation system in which natural ventilation strategies are supplemented by heating and cooling when external temperatures are less moderate. The ease of connection between interior and exterior uses is supported by this…

Built on the land of the Bidjigal and Cammeraygal peoples Sydney, New South Wales Jury citation Sydney’s Metro Northwest is an urban transit project at the metropolitan scale, integrating eight new stations and their surrounding public spaces through architecture, landscape and art. The urban strategy is a pattern book of elements unifying the stations along the 36-kilometre corridor, with subtle shifts of scale, form, colour and landscape. Each station precinct is uniquely adjusted in response to the local alignment, topography and history, giving meaningful identity to each centre. The art concept further refines this identity by referencing the past to shape the future paradigm. Orchards that historically populated the city’s north-west are reinterpreted through a fruity colour palette that defines the train journey and signals each station, starting with cherry-red…

Santa Monica, California, United States of America Jury citation The Arroyo is an affordable housing project in Santa Monica, California, created for low-income residents and with a particular focus on families. Koning Eizenberg has designed an exceptional project that balances efficiency with delight, supports its community, optimizes environmental performance and offers amenity to its urban context. Two five-storey parallel blocks frame a courtyard that is conceived as a big backyard – a social hub with generous community spaces opening onto and contained within it. The courtyard is a reminder of the arroyo (from the Spanish for “creek”) that once ran through the site, and this informs its spatial and ecological qualities. Planted with undulating pockets of drought-tolerant native species, the courtyard is open-ended, tempering the urban edge and lending landscape…

Built on the land of the Boon Wurrung and Woiwurrung peoples of the Kulin nation Melbourne, Victoria Jury citation Protagonist, a small cafe pavilion by Cumulus Studio, is a clever solution to a Rubik’s Cube of a problem, including an inability to penetrate the ground plane and the need to declutter the forecourt of the Arts Centre Melbourne. The result – an inventive, whimsical and carefully detailed concept – appears effortless. A drapery of operable polycarbonate chain mesh provides a veil for the compact, pop-up cafe; although inspired, it was not easy to execute. The contextual theatrical references, coupled with a stripping back of the superfluous, results in a highly functional yet delightful set piece, with both industrial and interior design flair. The kinetic quality of the light playing on…

Built on the land of the Burramattagal people of the Darug nation Parramatta, New South Wales Jury citation Bankwest Stadium draws upon a rich history of steel use in the area. The project is a clear and honest expression of steel, including recycled and re-smelted local steel. The attention to detail in showcasing how elements come together is best exemplified by the careful layout of exposed bolts in key locations. From the raw expression of the heroic spans supporting the seating terraces to the pleated, metal-clad screen facade shielding the west, the qualities of steel have been put on show for all to see. Effective yet understated, the project was seen as worthy of commendation.…

Architecture is a cyclical industry. So too, it seems, is the AA Prize for Unbuilt Work. These things are not unrelated – there is a long-established pattern of speculative work and architectural polemic flourishing in tough economic times. And here we find ourselves, yet again. When Katelin Butler invited me to write a reflection on the AA Prize on the occasion of its third iteration, I went back and reread the articles and jury statements I had written during the second version. (The prize was first awarded in the years 1993 to 1998 and was revived between 2008 and 2012.) And there, in words I had since forgotten, were many of the things I was anticipating saying this time – already thought, already written. Then, as now, I started by…

Built on the land of the Gadigal and Wangal peoples of the Eora nation Marrickville, New South Wales Jury citation Marrickville Library has breathed new life into a disused building, catalyzing the transformation of an old hospital campus into a new civic hub at the centre of this suburban community. The library, in form and program, epitomizes this diverse community. The heritage-listed hospital building has been carefully refurbished internally and externally, with a new extension defined by a generous colonnade and a playful sawtooth roof that references both the existing building and the typologies of Marrickville Road. Internally, a variety of spaces cater to the diverse range of uses and people invited into this contemporary library setting. Places for activity and retreat are woven throughout the complex. In the old…

Built on the land of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation Carlton, Victoria Jury citation The Carlton Learning Precinct COLA (covered outdoor learning area) is an outstanding success story born out of perceptive and sensitive problem-solving. This small project clearly punches above its weight and demonstrates by example the value of good design. A small school gymnasium project became a much larger urban solution – a welcoming front door to the school and an open invitation to the community. The strength of collaboration between Law Architects and the stakeholders is clearly evident. The brief was to raise the school’s profile, increase student enrolment and stem the “white flight” within the broader geographic area. Existing buildings were extensively reconfigured to support Carlton Learning Precinct’s leadership in combining early learning, family…

Built on the land of the Wurundjeri-willam people of the Kulin nation Fitzroy, Victoria Jury citation This project in an inner-Melbourne suburb has departed from the often-prescribed apartment building typology by developing at its centre – where typically there is a double-loaded corridor – a surprising circulation space, open to the sky. The day-lit, naturally ventilated heart of the building separates two banks of apartments, creating a dramatic central communal space where all of the front doors are visible from all levels. In place of an imposing foyer is a finely detailed, gated breezeway entry. This leads to the lofty centre, where strategically located bridges and landscape playfully punctuate the space. This strategy, along with a renegotiation of the fire-safety code, allows each apartment to have cross-ventilation – unusual for…

Built on the land of the Wiradjuri people East Albury, New South Wales Jury citation The outskirts of our major regional centres aren’t often the places we think of for compelling architecture. East Street is a clear exception. This modest single-storey dwelling is both evocative and finely crafted. Responsive to its sloping site, which falls away from the street toward the north, the design builds on a long legacy of modernist traditions, yet with a twist. A series of carefully configured cellular volumetric elements offers both refuge and connectedness to adjacent spaces through cleverly organized sliding doors. These warm and restful spaces are enhanced by a restrained palette of darkly stained plywood, raked cement-sheet ceilings and matt sheened concrete floors. The antithesis of the “big is better” credo, the efficient…

Built on the land of the Gadigal and Wangal peoples of the Eora nation Marrickville, New South Wales Jury citation On a tight triangular site opposite Dulwich Hill Station in Sydney’s Inner West, Studio Apartments introduces unexpected amenity, dignity and quality to an affordable housing project – a housing type that is so often typified by meagre design outcomes. The design exploits every opportunity the site allows. Four storeys of apartments fan across the broad northern face, above a shopfront and an entry porch, while a detached, sculptural stair tower anchors the open galleries at the rear in a terraced garden open to the sky. While bare at the moment, east and west flanks anticipate future development on adjacent sites. The top of the building is shaped by differing height…

Built on the land of the Boon Wurrung people of the Kulin nation Frankston, Victoria Jury citation Gillies Hall is a striking new student housing project that advances environmental performance and mass timber construction. Within these highly deterministic frameworks, Jackson Clements Burrows Architects has designed comfortable and thoughtful student spaces. At each level, banks of rooms have been pulled apart to widen the double-loaded, day-lit corridors and transform them into central gathering spaces. Between the two primary blocks are other more sticky spaces for cooking and socializing. Cross-laminated timber, exposed wherever possible, is used confidently for joinery as well as structure, making warm, inviting spaces. Expressive steel sunshading, redolent of bark, wraps the project and responds to the scale of the campus. In Gillies Hall, the architect has given strong…

National Commendation Built on the land of the Noongar people of the Gnaala Karla Boodja region Pingelly, Western Australia Jury citation In addition to being a beautifully designed sports facility with a generous disposition, the much-loved Pingelly Recreation and Cultural Centre uses innovative sustainable timber design solutions for low environmental impact and high aesthetic value. One thousand tonnes of local plantation yellow stringybark was harvested, milled and used as cladding and flooring, jarrah was salvaged from the original sports hall, and all other timbers were from sustainable sources. An ingenious structural design using certified engineered timber and offsite prefabrication resulted in the reduced consumption of precious resources. Natural ventilation and fans cool the sports hall, limiting conditioned spaces to the function centre, gymnasium and club rooms. A high level of…

Built on the land of the palawa/pakana people of lutruwita Hollow Tree, Tasmania Jury citation A significant commitment to Tasmania’s heritage has been made with the restoration of Hollow Tree House and its stables. The informed and artful peeling back of building layers reveals the original fabric, constructed at various times in the house’s history. This award honours the shared vision of an inspired client and an adept architect. They have revealed the early settler spirit of “making do” in the isolation of the Central Highlands, while enacting the Burra Charter principle of doing “as much as necessary but as little as possible”1 in preparing the homestead for the future. While the architects of the new Hollow Tree House have been respectful of its past and maintained the character of…

Built on the land of the Ngunnawal and Ngambri peoples of the Ngunnawal nation Campbell, Australian Capital Territory Jury citation Campbell Section 5 Master Plan occupies a pivotal six-hectare site at the junction of two major Griffin axes – Constitution Avenue and Anzac Parade. This ambitious urban project, encompassing five new streets and blocks, landscaped squares and a major new three-hectare green space, Hassett Park, has transformed this previously degraded corner of Campbell into a vibrant urban neighbourhood. Characterized by its generosity, with broad streets framing vistas to Anzac Parade’s memorials and the distant landscape, the project has the public domain at its heart. Hassett Park is the centrepiece, calmly uniting the new precinct and the existing fabric of Campbell. Built-form controls carefully mediate between the smaller suburban scale and…

Built on the land of the Darug people of the Eora nation Marsden Park, New South Wales Jury citation Chrofi’s Marsden Park Amenities continues a renewed interest in providing civic facilities within emerging suburbs. The value of this work is the seriousness with which Chrofi has applied its skills to provide a design quality seldom seen in new subdivisions. A forest of galvanized steel trees holds up a light and diaphanous roof of metallic mesh. Within, a series of change rooms, toilets and showers is housed in sinuous, fluted concrete. The project raises the bar in terms of how the profession can give dignity to these utilitarian interventions while advocating for the value and importance of well designed public buildings wherever they are needed. — Marsden Park Amenities was reviewed…