The Australian Institute of Architects and the Northern Territory Government are seeking Expressions of Interest (EOI) to nominate for the Northern Territory Architects Board.
The Northern Territory Architects Board is a statutory authority established under section 5 of the Northern Territory Architects Act.
The Board’s functions include:
the establishment and maintenance of registers for registering architects, architectural companies and architectural partnerships;
accepting applications for registration in these categories; and
dealing with complaints under the Act in relation to registered architects.
Are you an suitably qualified Architect and interested in assisting with the Architectural Practice Exams?
The NT Chapter are seeking architects who would like to contribute as an Examiner for the Architectural Practice Exams held by the Northern Territory Architects Board / Architects Accreditation Council of Australia twice each year.
Application criteria:
a registered Architect in the Northern Territory
five years minimum continual post-registration experience
currently working in practice or academia
available for the examination process in April and / or October.
For further information, please contact Raquel Nicholls-Skene Executive Director AIANT or call (08) 7969 6000 or mobile +61 (0) 403 023 425.
The winners of the Australian Institute of Architects’ 2016 NT Architecture Awards were announced in Darwin on Friday 24 June.
Community engagement was a strong theme across the winning projects particularly the overall winner of the night, Anbinik Kakadu Resort by Troppo Architects which received the Tracy Memorial Award and the Peter Dermoudy Award for Commercial Architecture.
Djabulukgu Association owns and manages the resort, which provides sustainable employment opportunities for the local Indigenous development team, and have worked with Troppo Architects since they purchased the site in 1996. Built on a shoestring and incorporating recycled and scavenged materials, this project forms stage two of the resort’s expansion, providing a more distinctive visitor experience for tourists and a strong return on investment to support the owners ongoing community development initiatives.
The Tracy Memorial Award – Anbinik Kakadu Resort by Troppo Architects. Photo by David Haigh.
The Michael Long Learning & Leadership Centre by Hames Sharley, another example of a project focused on community benefit, received the Indigenous Community Award and an Award for Educational Architecture.
‘Michael Long’s vision to use the power of AFL to provide young Indigenous Territorians the same opportunities as their non-Indigenous peers has certainly been realised in the Michael Long Learning and Leadership Centre, with the architect taking the concept “to educate and elevate students to positive pathways in life” to drive the form and interior of the design,’ the jury noted.
The iconic 1984 Raffles Plaza by Graeme Whitford for KROMA was recognised with the Enduring Architecture Award, as a trailblazing multi-residential development in the Territory.
‘With the plethora of apartment buildings recently completed or underway in Darwin, it’s easy to take for granted the notion of high density living within the city. In fact the early prototypes for this way of living were trailblazers – the opposite of the ubiquitous “product” now feeding the market,’ the jury said.
NT Chapter President, Andrew Broffman, congratulated the award winners and entrants on their commitment to design quality, while urging the broader industry to invest more in the areas of multi-residential housing and remote Indigenous communities.
‘Architecture at its best depends upon well considered briefs, open conversations with clients and occupants, and the time necessary to achieve quality design. This year’s entrants have demonstrated the possibilities of good architecture, with exemplary work in the commercial sector, in research and education, in sport and recreation, and in community development and residential renovations.
‘A number of this year’s winners have proved the importance of community engagement, but more needs to be done to widen the reach of quality design in Indigenous communities and in inner-city multi-residential areas. The enduring architecture award to the Raffles Plaza illustrates the timeless nature of quality design. Indeed all of our work should be worthy of enduring recognition in generations to come.’
The Indigenous Community Award – Michael Long Learning and Leadership Centre by Hames Sharley. Photo by Studio McNaught.
Full list of winners:
Commercial Architecture
Peter Dermoudy Award – Anbinik Kakadu Resort by Troppo Architects Award – Charles Darwin Centre by dwp|suters + Pei Cobb Freed
Educational Architecture
Award – Michael Long Learning & Leadership Centre by Hames Sharley
Enduring Architecture
Award – Raffles Plaza by Graeme Whitford for KROMA (1984)
Interior Architecture
George Chaloupka Award – Paspalis Business Centre, Darwin by Georgina Wilson Architect
Interior Architecture George Chaloupka Award – Paspalis Business Centre, Darwin by Georgina Wilson Architect. Photo by Noel McLaughlin.
Public Architecture
Award – Menzies School of Health Research Royal Darwin Hospital by Hames Sharley
Small Project Architecture
Commendation – Hardiman Residence Reworked by in4d
Sustainable Architecture
Award – Charles Darwin University Trade Training Centre by MODE
Sustainable Architecture Award – Charles Darwin University Trade Training Centre by MODE. Photo by Shaana McNaught.
COLORBOND® Award for Steel Architecture
Award – Menzies School of Health Royal Darwin Hospital by Hames Sharley
*Projects listed above that received an Award or Named Award will now progress to the National Architecture Awards to be announced in November.
Additional Prizes The Tracy Memorial Award – Anbinik Kakadu Resort by Troppo Architects The Indigenous Community Award – Michael Long Learning and Leadership Centre by Hames Sharley
The NT Chapter gratefully acknowledges the support of the NT Architecture Awards sponsors: Brilliant Kitchens & Interiors, QS Services, Gerflor, Department of Infrastructure, Northern Territory Government, AWS, irwinconsult and BlueScope Steel.
In response to the NT Planning Commission’s invitation for public feedback on the Holtze Area Plan, the NT Chapter is in the process of preparing a submission. Any members interested in contributing to the formulation of the Institute’s response are invited to register their interest via email: nt@architecture.com.au
The Chapter will convene a workshop discussion for those interested in the coming weeks. Submissions are due Friday 26 June, 2015.
More information about the plan can be found here.
NT Architecture Awards
With the annual awards night drawing near, it is time to purchase your tickets, if you haven’t already! This year the awards will be held at Cornucopia Museum Café, Friday 12 June. 6.30pm pre-dinner drinks for 7.30pm dinner.
The annual gazetting of the people’s choice award is also now complete; this year attracting nearly 200 votes, from Yeperenye Shopping Centre in Alice, to Palmerston and Casuarina Square.
SONA Tour de Arch
Student members from Charles Darwin University will visit a number of local Darwin practices on Friday 29th May. Small groups of students will venture out into the world of real architectural practice, to get a taste of what it might be like to be a ‘real’ architect. Over an hour or so, and perchance a beverage, students will have the opportunity into a practice’s work, methodology, philosophy, and ethos. If you’re one of the practices – be kind!
Updated citation for winning project 2014 NT Architecture Awards. The Australian Institute of Architects Architecture Commendation for Residential Architecture – Houses – New – Desert House
Please see below updated citation for above project in the NT Architecture Awards. There was a misprint in the Awards magazine.
Commendation for Residential Architecture – Houses – New
Winning Project: Desert House
Architect: Dunn & Hillam Architect
Alice Springs is sighted in ancient landscape – the opportunity to design in response to this place is both a challenge and a potential delight for any architect.
Desert House was a respectful collaboration between long-term friends and a building project that sought to integrate environmental initiatives with architecture.
The house integrates directly with existing site benching. Entry is adjacent to the garage along a colonnade overlooking the garden. The entry room is a collage of uses. Cool air emanates from the lower level.
Upstairs is delightful; accommodation is arranged around a centralised northern courtyard. The freedom of the living space and connection with the courtyard and landscape are interactive and the physical space created by the architects, serving in part as an air movement strategy, is relaxing and moody.
Assimilating climatic management and creative architectural mood is a demanding preferential decision-making process. Many of the outcomes were reflective of the former consideration. The house prompted the jury to question the ‘character’ that is emerging in modern houses. The competent and mindful detailing was accompanied by bright, stark interiors in contrast to the desert surrounds.
Desert House was recognised for its journey toward a new outcome for inland Australia house type.
Updated citation for winning project 2014 NT Architecture Awards. The Australian Institute of Architects Architecture Award for Sustainable Architecture – Desert House
This is the updated citation for above winning project in the NT Architecture Awards. There was a misprint in the Awards magazine.
Desert House
Desert House sits on a small rock ridge looking westward toward the magnificent McDonnell ranges. The site had previously been benched for the construction of a dwelling at the time of an earlier subdivision. The architects chose appropriately to integrate with the existing site profiles and to excavate a small amount in the central courtyard for the management of subsurface water and to encourage cool air.
Sitting the lower entry level into the site provided the cumulative effect of significant thermal mass that was used to temper the air as it was drawn via the stairwell into the upper spaces. Similarly, the recessed central courtyard with rock and moisture infill provides additional cool air drawn by convection through hopper windows at floor level to upper level cross vents.
A fly roof amplifies the sensibility of this project – parasol rooves make sense in a climate consistently loaded by sun. Independent wall insulated wall and ceiling panels (R5.66) assist purposefully in both the retention of heat (for purging) or the ability to keep heat from egressing the building. Roof orientation is well considered and the ability to hold air captive in the ceiling void to be used to reduce internal demand volumes or assist in the convection purge of the space is good practice.
There is a sensible use of low embodied energy materials. The roof framing is thermally broken and is made up of widely spaced hot rolled steel 180 UB rafters with light gauge, cold form purlins with wide spacings. Custom Blueorb roof sheeting is used as it can span further unsupported than standard custom orb and is therefore a more efficient use of material. The roof was specifically engineered to significantly reduce the amount of steel required. All of the steel in the roof is working very hard. Timber was not an option in this environment due to the sun and the ferocious termites. Both the engineer and us believe that this clearly supports a sustainable approach to design by reducing the amount of material required and thus reducing the embodied energy.
Floor heating is reticulated around an 18°C temperature which can be easily raised with instantaneous gas as required in cooler months – the majority of hot water is generated by solar catchment. With a knowledge of the systems and operations that manage this project it is reasonable to expect a reduction of energy requirements by up to 35% depending upon the willingness of clients to accept managed but not controlled environments.
Desert House offers a genuine sensibility to environmental management in this specific climate. Traditional techniques have been assimilated into a contemporary response with a reduction in regional expression.
The year of Troppo Architects has continued. Following Adrian Welke and Phil Harris’ Australian Institute of Architects Gold Medal win earlier in the year, the firm was a big winner at the 2014 NT Architecture Awards announced on Friday night ahead of the pair’s Gold Medal Talk on Saturday at Charles Darwin University.
Taking home four awards including the Territory’s top honour, the Tracy Memorial Award, Troppo Architects were successful in COLORBOND®, Enduring and Residential categories for two projects.
Strohmayr House was presented with an Award for Residential Architecture – Houses (Alterations and Additions). The project also received the Tracy Memorial Award, the jury pointing to Troppo’s ‘clever management of new and old and the variety of spatial events is reflective of use and location’.
Troppo’s eight nominated residences known as Troppoville received the COLORBOND® Award for Steel Architecture for its ‘early examples of innovative and recycled steel use’ along with the Enduring Architecture Award which the jury noted was ‘not for a single piece of mastery – it is for the bravery, talent and exploration that began a trend in our architectural history.’
Mode Design won the George Chaloupka Award for Interior Architecture for their Innovative Media Production Studio Fitout which the jury ‘couldn’t help but be impressed with upon entering this delightful and fresh fit out within Charles Darwin University’.
An Award for Small Project Architecture went to Neeson Murcutt Architects for the Larapinta Campsites which, ‘provide the ideal solution to shelter and comfort for visiting trekkers and would surely enhance visitor experience,’ the jury said.
Desert House by Dunn & Hillam Architects took home an Award for Sustainable Architecture for its ‘genuine sensibility to environmental management in this specific climate’, in addition to a Commendation for Residential Architecture – Houses (New).
The Wirliyatjarrayi Adult Learning and Early Childhood Centre by Susan Dugdale and Associates ‘represents an important step forward for this small community and will serve the community well – strong practical and flexible,’ and was honoured with the Indigenous Community Award – Commendation.
Commendations were also given in Commercial, Public, Residential Architecture – Multiple Housing and Urban Design categories (see full list of winning projects below).
In addition to the awards presented for projects of excellence, the night saw two additional prizes announced. The Emerging Architect Prize went to Rossi Kourounis while the Student Award was given to Ruth Brown.
Projects that received a Named Award or an Architecture Award now progress to the 2014 National Architecture Awards to be announced in Darwin on 6 November.
Full list of winning projects
COLORBOND® Award for Steel Architecture
Award – Troppoville by Troppo Architects
Commercial Architecture
Commendation – Cicada Lodge by Mode Design
Enduring Architecture
Award – Troppoville by Troppo Architects
Interior Architecture
George Chaloupka Award for Interior Architecture – Innovative Media Production Studio Fitout by Mode Design
Public Architecture
Commendation – Berrimah Fire & Emergency Services Facility by ASHFORD GROUP ARCHITECTS in Association with DKJ projects architecture
Residential Architecture – Houses (Alterations and Additions)
Award – Strohmayr House by Troppo Architects
Residential Architecture – Houses (New)
Commendation – Desert House by Dunn & Hillam Architects
Residential Architecture – Multiple Housing
Commendation – Hue 5 by ASHFORD GROUP ARCHITECTS
Small Project Architecture
Award – Larapinta Campsites by Neeson Murcutt Architects
Sustainable Architecture
Award – Desert House by Dunn & Hillam Architects
Urban Design
Commendation – Manigurr-ma Village Centre by AECOM
Additional Prizes
The Tracy Memorial Award – Strohmayr House by Troppo Architects
The Indigenous Community Award – Commendation – Wirliyatjarrayi Adult Learning and Early Childhood Centre by Susan Dugdale and Associates
Emerging Architect Prize – Rossi Kourounis
Student Award – Ruth Brown
The 2014 awards program is in full swing. Last week saw the presentations of the NSW Architecture Awards in Sydney and the NT Architecture Awards in Darwin.
Presented at the historic Jones Bay Wharf on Thursday 26 June, a total of forty-two awards, nine prizes and eighteen commendations were given to recognise the very best in NSW architecture. Read more.
Meanwhile, a weekend of architectural celebration kicked off with NT Awards, held on Fri 27 June. Read more.
As you may be aware, the NT Planning Commission released a public consultation paper, Towards a Katherine Land Use Plan, in June 2013 to guide discussion and generate comment around future land uses for the Katherine region. A series of Land Use Forums were held in July and public comments were sought.
A draft Katherine Land Use Plan will be presented at the next Commission meeting in October 2013.
Recommendations will then be made to the Minister for Lands, Planning and the Environment, who will determine the next steps, including further opportunity for community and stakeholder feedback.
Chapter councils, state practice committees and individuals are asked to nominate members to the Acumen Content Review Panel which was established at National Council’s last meeting.
The Review Panel, comprising five member representatives, will provide advice to the Institute on managing Acumen content.
The panel will be selected by the Acumen Content Review Working Group, chaired by Bryan Miller. The Panel will be tasked with reviewing existing Acumen content, identifying any gaps, locating appropriate authors and approving the development of new content. National and state practice committees will have an opportunity to comment on draft content via a shared wiki, whereupon the Review Panel will evaluate the feedback and incorporate as appropriate before publication. National Council will be asked to approve membership of the Panel at its December meeting, following which the Panel will convene.
Nominations can be sent to carmel.mccormack@architecture.com.au and must be received by Thursday 10 October. Nominations are asked to address the following questions:
What practice experience do you have that would make you a suitable member of the Acumen Content Review Panel?
What skills and expertise would you bring to the panel?
Are you able to commit approximately 8 hours per month to carry out the work of the panel?
