The Helix Bridge is the primary connector between the old and new parts of Singapore. It crosses the Singapore River as its opening to Marina Bay, a large man-made harbour that is the city’s recreational harbour. The international competition for the pedestrian bridge sought a link that inspired Singaporeans to walk rather than drive as the core to the brief. Our solution of double helix tube was an outcome of analysis of the most delicate and human-scaled way to structure a bridge that curves in plan and integrates its roof canopy and lighting. The curved plan was devised for three reasons – one to continuously link perpendicular shorelines, two to enable the pedestrians to walk apart from the adjoining straight vehicular bridge, and three to embrace the harbour as a viewing arena of many water events. The first application of this type of structure to a bridge worldwide, it entails stainless steel tubes spiralling opposite directions, and diagonally threaded. The inherent strength supports the deck and canopy of glass and mesh, and a series of cantilevering viewing pods. The experience of crossing it has become renowned as a ‘must-do’ for all Singaporeans and tourists.

Photos by Christopher Frederick Jones

Platinum Sentral, is an active retail and commercial development at the heart of Kuala Lumpur Sentral. The development upon an existing desolate concrete deck over Kuala Lumpur’s busiest railway interchange has created a green oasis of pocket parks, green walls and water features, in an otherwise extremely dense urban precinct dominated by vehicular traffic. The campus of buildings constrained by the existing structure was designed to weave a landscape of parks activated by food and beverage outlets around a central internal retail atrium whilst providing a campus of individual office buildings above. The internal public atrium is entirely naturally ventilated, a first for Malaysia, bringing office workers and public together with a sense of containment and discovery. Key the client brief was the desire to create a green heart for this portion of the KL Sentral development as well as that of a national benchmark in terms of Environmentally Sustainable Design. The design response to these objectives was to create a series of open pocket parks that engage a circuitous linear internal street activated by retail and food and beverage outlets to enable movement through the site as well as to make connections to key linkages to surrounding developments.

Photos by David Yeow

Nestled in the bustling commercial area of SS15 Subang Town Centre, No. 19 is the reincarnation of a late 1970’s 3-storey shop house refurbished into a green rated modern flexible-use studio gallery. The brief called for the rejuvenation of an old shop house in an aging and generally dilapidated part of the town centre. It was decided that the new building should incorporate green sustainable features and also be flexible to suit multiple future uses. The architectural language sought to lift the aesthetic quality of the street whilst maintaining the scale and bohemian feel of the area. The poorly maintained 22 feet x 80 feet intermediate shop building was stripped to its original structure and retrofitted for green certification. In the sea of concrete and terracotta roof tiles, the steel vertical fins of the new facade become a contemporary respite. The project employed an array of green features including solar PV, wind turbines and solar screening.

Photos by LinHo

The S11 house is a new green tropical house located in an established older suburb of Petaling Jaya, planned for the site and conceptualized along the lines of a tree. The large tree canopy would cover and shelter the living spaces underneath it. The S11 house is Malaysia’s first GBI Platinum (DA) rated building. Much of the demolished old house materials were re-used. The S11 house has a clear north-south orientation for all its openings and windows. The east and west walls were deliberately void of any significant glazed openings and were constructed of better insulated aerated light weight concrete blocks. In addition they were coated in heat-reflecting paint in camouflage motif and also shaded by a wire netting screen wall of fruit and vegetable climbers. These would help to reduce much of the heat gain through the east and west walls. The majority of the house has bare natural finishes – raw off-form concrete walls and ceilings, cement plastered walls without paint and natural fair-faced common red clay brickwork. Limited surfaces are painted with Low VOC paints. The swimming pool and koi pond are located at the two extreme north-south ends and provide evaporative cooling for the house.

Photos by LinHo

Australia House is located in the ‘snow country’, approximately three hours north of Tokyo and inland from the Japan Sea. The region experiences the heaviest snow falls for the location closest to the equator, receiving up to 1.5 metres of snowfall per night. The project was initiated by the Australian Embassy Tokyo, Art Front Gallery and Tokomachi City as part of the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale, following the collapse of the original ‘Australia House’; a traditional Japanese ‘minka’ farmhouse. As such, it stands as a statement of resilience and healing following the disaster of the quake known as 3/11. The building is a compact triangular form, providing a range of gallery volumes and living spaces within a tight volume. The primary gallery space, known as the ‘wide gallery’ is triangular, and has a large sliding glazed wall facing a steep embankment. In this way, the landscape wall becomes the third wall of the gallery, engaging the works within the space with the landscape and community.

Photos by Brett Boardman Photography.

The 2014 Australian Awards for International Architecture winners have now been announced!

Small Project Architecture

Award: Shelter@Rainforest by Marra + Yeh Architects

Commendation: Kunshan Modular Pavilions by Brearley Architects + Urbanists (B.A.U.)

Commercial Architecture

Award: PARKROYAL on Pickering, Singapore by WOHA

Commendation: Asia Square by Denton Corker Marshall

Interior Architecture

Award: ASB North Wharf by BVN Donovan Hill

Commendation: Regional Terminal at Christchurch Airport, a joint development between Air New Zealand and Christchurch International Airport by BVN Donovan Hill in association with Jasmax

Residential Architecture

Award: The Sukhothai Residences by Kerry Hill Architects

Commendation: Urban Suites by Kerry Hill Architects

Public Architecture

Award: Stonehenge Exhibition + Visitor Centre by Denton Corker Marshall

Commendation: Phoenix Valley Youth Palace & Grand Theatre by studio505

Commendation: Binus Kindergarten and Primary School by Denton Corker Marshall Jakarta (PT Duta Cermat Mandiri)

About the Awards

The National Architecture Awards International Architecture category acknowledges the work of Institute members resident outside Australia and local members undertaking commissions overseas. It is given only at the National level and not at Chapter or Region level.

Entries will initially be considered by the Australian Awards for International Architecture Jury, which will develop a short list of entries to be considered by the National Jury.

Projects in this category must be located outside of Australia.