The Australian Institute of Architects has voiced its support for Sydney Opera House chief executive Louise Herron in upholding the policy of her organisation and opposing the use of the sails of the World Heritage listed Opera House in a manner contrary to that policy.

‘The management of the Opera House has a duty to the people of New South Wales to protect the Opera House from exploitation. We are disappointed that the NSW Government has intervened and instructed them, against their policy, to allow its sails to be lit up with commercially driven material,’ NSW Chapter President Andrew Nimmo said today.

‘The Sydney Opera House is Australia’s greatest building and recognised around the world as perhaps the greatest building of the 20th century. That is why it has World Heritage listing. With that listing comes a responsibility to treat the building with respect and dignity. It is not an advertising billboard.

‘The commercial benefit of projecting onto the Opera House is undeniable, and we understand that as a major tourist icon, the Opera House will be expected to lend its prestige in the support of tourism from time to time,’ Mr Nimmo continued. ‘However, this must be done with the utmost care to ensure that community expectations are met, and the integrity of the Opera House as a cultural icon is maintained and not trashed.

‘It seems we are continually seeing the commercialisation of major public spaces for the benefit of private commercial gain. We fear that a new precedent has been set where exclusive commercial interests have been supported by government over public benefit.’

 

In the news:

Sydney Morning Herald, 8/10/18 

The New Daily, 8/10/18 

ArchitectureAU, 8/10/18 

Architecture & Design 9/10/18 

 

Follow the conversation:

Twitter – @NSWChapterPres and @architectureNSW

 

For media enquiries and interviews contact:

Kate Concannon

NSW Advocacy & Communications Lead

Australian Institute of Architects

m +61 (0) 406 306 447

e kate.concannon@architecture.com.au

VIEW 2018 WINNERS LIST    DOWNLOAD THE CATALOGUE

A cellar door built for a boutique winery in Orange, Montoro Wines, has taken out the top prize at this year’s prestigious Australian Institute of Architects’ NSW Country Division Awards, the James Barnet Award. Designed by Orange-based practice Source Architects, the building was conceived as a broad platform where inside and outside bleed together to form a continuous space that encourages patrons to linger on the terrace and be a part of the stunning landscape that provides the building’s context and vistas.

The jury of experts, led by Dunn & Hillam Architects’ Ashley Dunn, also awarded the project the gong for Commercial Architecture, noting that: ‘The design is simple and elegant. Small yet robust, it sits neatly in its setting of native grasses and open fields, providing a vantage point to survey the surrounding landscape. [It is] an intelligent, exacting and considered building that responds cleverly to its context, constraints and setting.’

Dominic Finlay Jones Architects took out no less than five awards and three commendations. These honours included the award for Residential Architecture – Multiple Housing presented for the Habitat Live Work project, which provides a new building prototype featuring basic, good-quality, lower-cost housing with articulated home-office workspaces and is set within a sustainable development encouraging collective creativity.

The jury said: ‘This is an excellent prototype development, which is imaginatively conceived and beautifully executed, and deserving of a multiple housing award.’

Aspect Architecture’s Elanora House, a flexible beach home suitable for multi-generational living, was crowned winner of the Residential Architecture – Houses (New) category, with the jury noting the project ‘does a number of small but significant things very well’. Virginia Wong-See of architecture@altitude took out the Small Project Award and Termimesh Timber Award for her ‘small and perfectly formed’ Armidale – Refuge/Prospect garden pavilion.

The award for Urban Design went to Coffs Harbour’s Jetty4Shores Revitalisation project by Fisher Design and Architecture with Mackenzie Pronk Architects and Coffs Harbour City Council. ‘The project effectively communicates the spirit of place and the genuine community affection for this site,’ the jury noted. ‘The cultural and environmental meanings of the site have been enshrined within the design.’

In addition to the nine awards and two prizes, the jury awarded 13 commendations.

The final award in the program, the People’s Choice Award, was also announced at the Awards presentation night, held at the NSW Regional Architecture Conference on Thursday 4 October. This year the honour went to a project in the newly introduced Interior category: the Byron Shire Council Foyer, Mullumbimby, by SPACEstudio.

Mr Dunn said: ‘This year’s Awards entries ranged from finely crafted small scale projects to large, complex commercial and public buildings. This highlighted the range of thoughtful work that is being done outside of the major cities in NSW. The Jury had a tough but enjoyable challenge deliberating over the many high calibre entries.’

NSW Chapter President, Andrew Nimmo, congratulated all of this year’s award winners and noted the important contribution the profession as a whole was making to deliver more sustainable, cohesive communities.

‘Architects apply design thinking to everything they do in order to do more with less and help clients realise opportunities that they did not know existed,’ said Mr Nimmo. ‘This is just part of the value we describe when we speak of the design dividend, and each year we see the bar raised when it comes to the innovative design solutions and practices architects are implementing across regional NSW.’

High resolution images are available for download from Google Drive at https://nationalarchitecture.awardsplatform.com/register/NpVKBVjQ

Images are provided only for use in articles relating to the NSW Country Division Architecture Awards program run by the Australian Institute of Architects. Use in any other context is strictly prohibited without written permission from the submitting architect. All images must credit the architect, photographer and the Australian Institute of Architects.

For media enquiries contact:

Kate Concannon
Advocacy & Communications, NSW
Australian Institute of Architects
M. +61 (0) 406 306 447
kate.concannon@architecture.com.au

Full list of winning projects by award category below:

James Barnet Award

Winner – Montoro Cellar Door, Orange, by Source Architects

Public Architecture

Commendation – Lismore Regional Gallery, by Dominic Finlay Jones Architects

Educational Architecture

Commendation – CSU Barraameilinga Indigenous Student Centre, Dubbo, by Havenhand and Mather Architects

Residential Architecture – Houses (New)

Winner – Elanora House, Pottsville, by Aspect Architecture

Commendation – Great Granny House, Coopers Shoot, by Cocks Carmichael with Harley Graham Architects

Commendation – Natural Lane House, Broken Head, by Dominic Finlay Jones Architects

Commendation – The Eclipse House, Casuarina Beach, by Create Architecture

Residential Architecture – Houses (Alterations & Additions)

Commendation – Southern House, Orange, by Source Architects

Residential Architecture – Multiple Housing

Winner – Habitat Live Work, Byron Arts + Industry Estate, by Dominic Finlay Jones Architects

Commendation – two@twoseventwo, Coopers Shoot, by SPACEstudio

Residential Architecture – Affordable Housing (under $350,000)

Commendation – William Street Lane House, Bellingen, by Tricia Helyar Architect

Commercial Architecture Award

Winner – Habitat Commercial, Byron Arts + Industry Estate, by Dominic Finlay Jones Architects

Winner – Montoro Cellar Door, Orange, by Source Architects

Heritage

Winner – Lismore Regional Gallery, by Dominic Finlay Architects

Interior Architecture

Winner – Barrio, Byron Bay, by Dominic Finlay Jones Architects

Commendation – Byron Shire Council Foyer, Mullumbimby, by SPACEstudio

Commendation – DUK, Byron Bay, by Dominic Finlay Jones Architects

Urban Design

Winner – Jetty4Shores Revitalisation Project, Coffs Harbour Jetty, by Fisher Design and Architecture with Mackenzie Pronk Architects and Coffs Harbour City Council

Small Projects

Winner – Armidale – Refuge/Prospect, Armidale, by Virginia Wong See architecture@altitude

Commendation – Habitat Recreation, Byron Arts + Industry Estate, by Dominic Finlay Jones Architects

Commendation – Jetty4Shores Stage, Coffs Harbour Jetty, by Fisher Design and Architecture with Mackenzie Pronk Architects

Commendation – Marvell Studio, Byron Bay, by Harley Graham Architects

Termimesh Timber Award

Winner – Armidale Refuge/Prospect, Armidale, by Virginia Wong See architecture@altitude

Vision Award

Award – C.A.L.M, Byron Bay, by Dominic Finlay Jones Architects

People’s Choice Award

Winner – Byron Shire Council Foyer, Mullumbimby, by SPACEstudio

The Australian Institute of Architects has announced the winners of the prestigious NSW Architecture Awards, including the first ever recipient of the NSW Architecture Medallion for ‘best in show’. Winning projects demonstrate design excellence, innovative thinking and among them are highly sensitive responses to the past as well as new visions of how we can live well, work well, learn and play well.

The winner of the Medallion is selected from recipients of the named award in each category. ‘There were several very strong contenders for the Medallion,’ said Andrew Nimmo, NSW Chapter President. ‘Ultimately, the jury chose a very worthy project, The Joynton Avenue Creative Precinct by Peter Stutchbury Architecture in association with Design 5 – Architects for the City of Sydney, which also took out the Greenway Prize for Heritage.’

A beautifully rounded project, The Joynton Avenue Creative Precinct is the result both of a potent collaboration between its architect and heritage architect, and of a client-architect relationship that allowed the investigation of the brief to deliver a memorable public facility and a suite of community buildings as part of the City’s wider urban program of place making.

Sulman Medal winner Punchbowl Mosque by Candalepas Associates emerged as another outstanding public architecture project. In its remarkable, sensuous ensemble of spaces, sound reflects and light and shadow play against the mosque’s concrete and timber forms to create a compelling sense of the sacred.

Residential awards and commendations this year demonstrated achievements of design excellence at modest scales across diverse housing types, through careful integration with the existing landscape and through explorations of how we might live with comfort and amenity in densely populated urban areas.

The small footprint of Peter Stutchbury Architecture’s Cabbage Tree House is a commentary on distended dwelling size, while the reminiscence of a forgotten Australian suburbia distilled in TRIAS’s first house project, Three Piece House, is a reminder that architecture is not dependent on large budgets or contextual appeal to be successful. Similarly, careful rethinking of small lots and compact apartment living distinguished winners in the additions and alterations and multiple housing categories.

The Aboriginal-owned and run Biripi Clinic in regional Purfleet was another modest project with a minimal budget that highlighted how architecture can be transformative at any scale. Cleverly stitching together a campus of buildings into a coherent precinct with a public presence, this important symbol of accomplishment and self-determination earned an Award for Commercial Architecture, the COLORBOND® Award for Steel Architecture and the NSW Premier’s Prize.

New approaches also featured among winning projects in educational architecture, which interpreted and responded to contemporary educational briefs with designs that facilitate flexible, collaborative teaching and learning environments.

‘The NSW Architecture Awards are a celebration of design excellence. Although they are unquestionably essential to its emergence, the realisation of design excellence depends on more than the architect’s talent and industry,’ said Andrew Nimmo. ‘Procurement – the ways in which and conditions under which an architect is engaged – plays a critical part in ensuring design excellence is brought to life.’

‘In recognising many of the winners tonight we are celebrating what good procurement practice can mean for architects, clients and for the wider community: beautiful, functional, holistically sustainable environments for living, working, learning, healing and culture.’

In total the jury bestowed 69 awards and commendations. Projects that received a Named Award or Award at the NSW Architecture Awards will now progress to the National Architecture Awards to be announced in Melbourne on Thursday 1 November.

The Institute congratulates all the practices that participated in the 2018 NSW Awards program and thanks this year’s jurors, who contributed their time and expertise with great generosity.

High resolution images and promotional summaries are available for download by registering at –

https://nationalarchitecture.awardsplatform.com/register/pLmXvznA

Download the Awards catalogue including jury citations

 Full list of winners:

NSW Architecture Medallion – Joynton Avenue Creative Precinct by Peter Stutchbury Architecture in association with Design 5 – Architects for City of Sydney

Commercial Architecture

The Sir Arthur G. Stephenson Award for Commercial Architecture – International House Sydney by Tzannes

Award – Barangaroo House by Collins and Turner

Award – Biripi Clinic by Kaunitz Yeung Architecture

Commendation – The Beehive by Raffaello Rosselli Architect with Luigi Rosselli Architects

Commendation – 333 George Street by Grimshaw with Crone Architects

Educational Architecture

The William E. Kemp Award for Educational Architecture – Macquarie University Incubator by Architectus

Award – St Patrick’s Primary School, Lochinvar – Stage 1 by SHAC

Award – UTS Blackfriars Children’s Centre by DJRD with Lacoste +Stevenson Architects

Commendation – The Waranara Early Learning Centre for the City of Sydney by Fox Johnston

Commendation – Bellevue Hill Public School by GroupGSA

Heritage

Greenway Award for Heritage – Joynton Avenue Creative Precinct by Peter Stutchbury Architecture in association with Design 5 – Architects for City of Sydney

Award for Heritage Creative Adaptation – O’Connell Public by Tonkin Zulaikha Greer Architects

Commendation for Heritage, Adaptive re-use – Goonoo Goonoo Station by TKD Architects

Commendation for Heritage, Adaptive re-use – Macaria Gallery by Dunn & Hillam Architects

Award for Heritage Conservation – The Westpac Long Gallery by Design 5 – Architects

Commendation for Conservation – Emmett Residence by Orwell & Peter Phillips

Interior Architecture

John Verge Award for Interior Architecture – 75 Myrtle Street Chippendale by Tonkin Zulaikha Greer Architects

Award – The Waranara Early Learning Centre for the City of Sydney by Fox Johnston

Award – NeW Space, University of Newcastle by Lyons + EJE Architecture

Commendation – Frasers Property Australia Head Office by BVN

Commendation – All Hands Brewing House by Maddison Architects

Commendation – Wine Cave by McGregor Westlake Architecture

Commendation – Grimshaw Architects Office Fit Out by Grimshaw

Public Architecture

Sulman Medal for Public Architecture – Punchbowl Mosque by Candalepas Associates

Award – Joynton Avenue Creative Precinct by Peter Stutchbury Architecture for City of Sydney

Commendation – Barangaroo Ferry Wharf by Cox Architecture

Commendation – Coogee Beach Centre by Brewster Hjorth Architects

Residential Architecture – Houses (Alterations & Additions)

Hugh and Eva Buhrich Award for Residential Architecture – Laneway House by Jon Jacka Architects

Award – Bolt Hole by panovscott

Commendation – Italianate House by Renato D’Ettorre Architects

Residential Architecture – Houses (New)

Wilkinson Award for Residential Architecture – Cabbage Tree House by Peter Stutchbury Architecture

Award – Coastal Garden House by Neeson Murcutt Architects

Award – Three Piece House by TRIAS

Commendation – Killcare Beach Bush House by MORA – James Fraser Architect

Residential Architecture – Multiple Housing

Aaron Bolot Award for Residential Architecture – The Rochford by Fox Johnston

Award – The Triplex Apartments by Luigi Rosselli Architects

Award – Griffiths Teas by PopovBass

Award – Short Lane by Woods Bagot

Commendation – Inkmakers Place by Jensen Young

Small Project Architecture

Robert Woodward Award for Small Project Architecture – Treetop Studio by Aileen Sage Architects

Award – Montoro Wines Cellar Door by Source Architects

Award – The Beehive by Raffaello Rosselli Architect with Luigi Rosselli Architects

Commendation – Paper Bird by Plus Minus Design

Commendation – Laneway Studio by McGregor Westlake Architecture

Commendation – Islington Park by Curious Practice

Sustainable Architecture

Milo Dunphy Award for Sustainable Architecture – International House Sydney by Tzannes

Award – The Beehive by Raffaello Rosselli Architect with Luigi Rosselli Architects

Award – Joynton Avenue Creative Precinct by Peter Stutchbury Architecture for City of Sydney

Commendation – Coogee Beach Centre by Brewster Hjorth Architects

Commendation – Macquarie University Incubator by Architectus

Commendation – Cabbage Tree House by Peter Stutchbury Architecture

Commendation – Paper Bird by Plus Minus Design

Urban Design

The Lloyd Rees Award for Urban Design – Darling Harbour Transformation by HASSELL / HASSELL + Populous

Award – East Sydney Community and Arts Centre and Albert Sloss Reserve by lahznimmo architects with Spackman Mossop Michaels Landscape Architects

Award – The Connection – Rhodes by Crone Architects

Award – Day Street Apartments by Tzannes and Loftex

Enduring Architecture

Award – Sirius by Tao Gofers, NSW Department of Housing with Alexander & Lloyd Architects

COLORBOND® Award for Steel Architecture

Award – Biripi Clinic by Kaunitz Yeung Architecture

Commendation – North Avoca Studio by Matt Thitchener Architect

Commendation – Barangaroo Ferry Wharf by Cox Architecture

NSW Chapter Prizes

NSW Premier’s Prize – Biripi Clinic by Kaunitz Yeung Architecture

City of Sydney Lord Mayor’s Prize – Barangaroo Ferry Wharf by Cox Architecture

Commendation – 333 George Street by Grimshaw with Crone

Commendation – ‘Reflection’ Memorial by Johnson Pilton Walker and Jess Dare

The Blacket Prize – St Patrick’s Primary School, Lochinvar – Stage 1 by SHAC

NSW Chapter President’s Prize – Deborah Dearing, President of the NSW Architects Registration Board

Emerging Architect Prize sponsored by AWS – Amelia Holliday and Isabelle Toland, Aileen Sage Architects

David Lindner Prize – Passive Security in Schools: Investigating alternative methods of achieving secure environments in schools by Jamileh Jahangiri, TKD Architects

Marion Mahony Griffin Prize sponsored by Bespoke Careers – Oi Choong, Context Landscape Design

NOTES TO EDITOR:

High resolution images and promotional summaries are available for download by registering at –

https://nationalarchitecture.awardsplatform.com/register/pLmXvznA

The National Architecture Awards and respective state and territory Architecture Awards programs are run by the Australian Institute of Architects. Images and information are provided only for use in articles relating to the Institute’s Architecture Awards. The Awards program must be attributed as the Australian Institute of Architects’ National/State/Territory Architecture Awards.

All images must credit the Institute, the architect and photographer. Use in any other context is strictly prohibited without written permission from the submitting architect.

For media enquiries contact:

Kate Concannon

Advocacy and Communications Lead, NSW Chapter

Australian Institute of Architects

P. + 61 (2) 9246 4017  |  M. +61 (0) 406 306 447

kate.concannon@architecture.com.au

Communities need schools, health care and transport – but what about housing?

The Australian Institute of Architects is pleased to see yesterday’s budget announcement includes spending on built infrastructure for health and education, as well as an undertaking to engage community on small projects, but asks ‘what about the housing for the people of NSW to live in?’

NSW Treasurer, The Hon. Mr Perrottet yesterday announced $6 billion over four years to build and upgrade 170 schools and $8 billion over four years to build and upgrade 40 hospitals. This funding is welcome, however, it needs to be rolled out in a considered way to ensure the best outcomes and value for money for the people of NSW.

‘Architects will lead the design of spaces for education and health that best support teachers, students, patients, health professionals and the public,’ said the Australian Institute of Architects’ NSW Chapter President, Mr Andrew Nimmo. ‘However, they need to work to a well-developed brief, with a shared commitment to design excellence and be supported by a fair procurement process that recognises both the real cost and value of design. That has not always been the case.’

In announcing the My Community Dividend, Mr Perrottet explained that: ‘Governments don’t always have the best solutions, particularly on smaller projects that make a difference to people’s lives.’ The Institute recognises the key role community plays in providing input for planning and projects, and our experience shows that ‘better places’ are achieved when architects are brought into a design-led process as collaborative partners.

‘Architects’ involvement helps ensure ideas and requirements arising from the community are developed into highly considered built forms that realise greatest community benefit and connect well with their broader context,’ explained Mr Nimmo. ‘We look forward to learning further about this initiative and receiving more detail with which to form a clearer view about how the initiative can be made to work most effectively for the people of NSW.’

The Institute is also pleased to note that the announcement of this program indicates a counterpoint to previous budgets, in which a greater emphasis has been placed on major infrastructure. ‘Strong communities are brought together and supported by quality design, which relies as much on the broader infrastructure as it does the local places in which people live, and the facilities they share.’

From schools and hospitals to housing and community amenities, development of our built environments needs to be responsive to climate change. It must also support sustainable practices, from procurement and construction right through to the way these environments enable people to operate and move within them. It is therefore disappointing to see the low priority given to environmental issues in this budget, particularly against the backdrop of a significant underspending of money allocated in the previous budget to the Climate Change Fund.

Despite housing affordability being described as ‘the biggest issue’ for people across NSW, the budget is strangely quiet on measures to address this directly. Given the NSW population is set to jump more than 40 per cent to more than 11 million by 2056 it is clear that a highly considered and committed strategy needs to be developed to ensure high quality, diverse housing options in all areas to accommodate the variously configured households that do – and will – make up our population.

Mr Nimmo stated: ‘We trust that in the coming twelve months in the lead up to the election we will be able to have a frank conversation about the need for greater housing diversity – crises rarely dissipate in the space of 12 months.’

Download this media release in PDF

For media enquiries and interviews contact:
Kate Concannon
NSW Advocacy & Communications Lead
Australian Institute of Architects
M. +61 (0) 406 306 447
kate.concannon@architecture.com.au