42 entries have been honoured at the Australian Institute of Architects’ 2013 Victorian Architecture Awards, with the top prize, the Victorian Architecture Medal, awarded to the RMIT Design Hub by Sean Godsell Architects in association with Peddle Thorp Architects.
The jury praised the Design Hub’s elegant and harmonised composition, claiming that it adds great value to the diversity of Melbourne’s reputation of fostering strong and individualistic design.
Home to RMIT’s diverse range of design research and post graduate education, the Design Hub was also awarded two Named Awards by the juries, the COLORBOND® Award for Steel Architecture and the top public architecture honour, the William Wardell Award for Public Architecture.
It joins 11 other Named Awards, 20 Architecture Awards and 21 Commendations presented during the ceremony, in addition to the Melbourne Prize, Regional Prize and the Bates Smart Awards for Architecture in the Media.
RMIT Design Hub. Image by Earl Carter.
Sean Godsell Architects was furthermore awarded the highest accolade in the Residential Architecture – Houses category, the Harold Desbrowe-Annear Award for Residential Architecture, for its Edward Street House.
Edward Street House. Image by Earl Carter.
“The property has been sliced and divided into exquisitely proportioned interior and garden spaces. Each extends into the other, creating a seamless amenity and high degree of privacy and transparency. As poetic as it is rational, this house is beautifully robust.”
A sensitive redevelopment of one of Melbourne’s unique heritage performance venues, Hamer Hall by ARM Architecture was also praised by the Interior Architecture jury for “skilfully accentuating the heritage qualities of the building while at the same time creating a stunning landmark addition to the Yarra River precinct.”
Hamer Hall. Image by John Gollings.
Hamer Hall’s revitalisation was recognised with the Marion Mahony Award for Interior Architecture and the John George Knight Award for Heritage Architecture. The heritage jury commended Hamer Hall’s restrained strategy of using bronze to express the new works, saying that this offers legibility between old and new fabric and reflects the original architect Sir Roy Grounds’ approach to an enduring materiality.
Crofthouse by James Stockwell Architect stood out from the field of 420 entries and was awarded the Allan and Beth Coldicutt Award for Sustainable Architecture for presenting new design ideas which offer a more sustainable future.
The jury notes that this breathtaking project remained a unanimous winner from start to finish of the selection process.
Crofthouse. Image by James Archibald.
Rebuilt following the 2009 bushfires, the Marysville 16 Hour Police Station by Kerstin Thompson Architects forms part of the re-establishment of the town centre, ‘The Marysville Heart’ and was the recipient of the 2013 Regional Prize.
Marysville 16 Hour Police Station. Image by Trevor Mein.
“The combination of mature composition, clever planning and geometry, along with a soaring spirit, make this building a wonderful addition to a town that deserves great architecture.”
Full list of winning projects:
Public Architecture (New)
William Wardell Award for Public Architecture - RMIT Design Hub – Sean Godsell Architects in association with Peddle Thorp Architects
Award - Penleigh and Essendon Grammar Senior School– McBride Charles Ryan
Award - South Morang Rail Extension – Cox Architecture
Award - Swanston Academic Building – Lyons
Commendation - Bayside Police Station, Sandringham – fmjt (Francis-Jones Morehen Thorp)
Commendation - La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science - Lyons
Commendation - The Richard & Elizabeth Tudor Centre for Contemporary Learning, Trinity Grammar – McIntyre Partnership
Public Architecture (Alterations & Additions)
Award - Hamer Hall – ARM Architecture
Award - Institute of Koorie Education, Deakin University – Gregory Burgess Architects
Urban Design
Joseph Reed Award for Urban Design - Revitalising Central Dandenong: Lonsdale Street Redevelopment – BKK/TCL Partnership
Award - Serrata Docklands – Hayball Pty Ltd
Award - South Morang Rail Extension – Cox Architecture
Commendation - Langtree Mall Pavilion – Bellemo & Cat
Commercial Architecture
Sir Osborn McCutcheon Award for Commercial Architecture - Crown Mahogany Room Expansion – Bates Smart
Award - National Centre for Synchrotron Science – Bates Smart
Commendation - South Melbourne Market Roof – Paul Morgan Architects
Commendation - Spring Street Grocer – KGA Architecture
Interior Architecture
Marion Mahony Award for Interior Architecture - Hamer Hall – ARM Architecture
Award - Footscray Nicholson Learning Commons – Cox Architecture
Award - Move-In – Elenberg Fraser Architects
Commendation - Captain Melville – Breathe Architecture
Commendation - National Centre for Synchrotron Science – Bates Smart
Heritage Architecture
John George Knight Award for Heritage - Hamer Hall – ARM Architecture
Award - Good Shepherd Chapel, Abbotsford – Robert Simeoni Architects
Award - Maryborough Railway Station Conservation works – RBA Architects + Conservation Consultants
Commendation - Ormond College, Main Building Gables – Lovell Chen
Residential Architecture – Houses (New)
Harold Desbrowe-Annear Award for Residential Architecture - Edward Street House – Sean Godsell Architects
Award - Fairhaven Residence – John Wardle Architects
Award - Merricks Beach House – Kennedy Nolan
Award - Sorrento Blue House – Neeson Murcutt Architects
Commendation - Crofthouse – James Stockwell Architect
Commendation - Merricks House – Robson Rak Architects Pty Ltd
Residential Architecture – Houses (Alterations & Additions)
Award - HOUSE House – Andrew Maynard Architects
Award - The Mullet – March Studio
Commendation - Ferrars Place – antarctica
Commendation - shelter shed – multiplicity
Commendation - Victoria Road House – Fiona Winzar Architects
Residential Architecture – Multiple Housing
Best Overend Award for Residential Architecture – Multiple Housing - McIntyre Drive Social Housing, Altona – MGS Architects
Award - Serrata Docklands – Hayball Pty Ltd
Commendation - Aerial Apartments – Wood/Marsh Pty Ltd Architecture
Commendation - Leopold – SJB Architects & Fender Katsalidis Architects
Commendation - Malvern Hill – SJB Architects
Small Project Architecture
Kevin Borland Award for Small Project Architecture - Seventh Heaven – Nest Architects
Award - Abbotsford Convent Breezeway – Jackson Clements Burrows
Award - Third Wave Kiosk – Tony Hobba Architects
Commendation - Move-In – Elenberg Fraser Architects
Commendation - Penny Wise – Marc Dixon Architect
Commendation - The Purple Rose of Cairo – Architecture Architecture
COLORBOND® Award for Steel Architecture
COLORBOND® Award for Steel Architecture - RMIT Design Hub – Sean Godsell Architects in association with Peddle Thorp Architects
Commendation - shelter shed – multiplicity
Sustainable Architecture
Allan and Beth Coldicutt Award for Sustainable Architecture - Crofthouse – James Stockwell Architect
Melbourne Prize
Winner - Revitalising Central Dandenong: Lonsdale Street Redevelopment – BKK/TCL Partnership
Regional Prize
Winner - Marysville 16 Hour Police Station – Kerstin Thompson Architects
Bates Smart Award for Architecture in the Media
Award – Dream Build – ABC TV (National)
Award – Future Practice: Conversations from the Edge of Architecture – Rory Hyde (National)
Award – Parlour: women, architecture, equity – Justine Clark (State)
Commendation – Cities of Hope: Remembered/Rehearsed – Conrad Hamann
Commendation – Designer Suburbs: Architects and Affordable Homes in Australia – Judith O’Callaghan and Charles Pickett