A swirl of grace and style. Hundreds of architecture and design professionals gathered at the Ritz-Carlton, Melbourne, on Thursday night to share a few Veuve Clicquot flutes and to celebrate the winning and shortlisted projects of the Indo-Pacific region, all outstanding in their own way.

In her opening speech, Master of Ceremony (and much more), Jan Henderson sets the tone: All these projects, people and objects are diverse, unique and all winners in their own right. Reaching a decision must have been a tough job for the jury, committed to celebrate and recognise the Indo-Pacific region’s most progressive design and architecture.

Kicking off with the Work Space category, sponsored by MillerKnoll, which honours a workspace design that meets the demands of work and the needs of people. Honorary mention was awarded to Studio RYTE for its Esquel Innovation and Incubation Village, while Intermain, by BVN in collaboration Intermain was recognised winner, a Sydney-based project representing a sharing of ideas between organisations with similarly ambitious sustainability goals and a passion for workplace design.

The Living Space – what’s more important than our safe havens, where we gather with friends and family? Sponsored by Gaggenau, this category celebrates the region’s most inspiring home, the architecture, interior and exterior, that dwells thoughtfully and sensitively within its site and place and responds with intelligence to its local context and culture. Honorary mention went to Peak House by Emma Tulloch Architects and India-based Zen Spaces by Sanjay Puri Architects came out winner.

Learning spaces are where the magic happens, when and where one learns and acquires knowledge. A spectrum of formal and informal spaces is emerging in the education context. Sponsored by Autex Acoustics, the Learning Space category celebrates and honours an environment that promotes connection and learning in the ways it needs to happen today. Honorary mention was awarded to Where Wonder Dwells by Studiobird. Darlington Public School by fjcstudio (Australia) and Waimarie – Lincoln University Science Facility (New Zealand) both came out winner in this category.

The idea of living together and community is at the heart of the Multi-Residential Building category, sponsored by Cult. No surprises when Upper House by Koichi Takada Architects came out as the winner: Not only is Sydney Upper House a paragon of multi-residential design, but it also includes multiple sustainability initiatives and outstanding amenity for its residents.

“This project seeks to achieve so much in terms of sustainability, not just environmental, but social as well and we are proud of the massive five storey indigenous art work on the facade,” says the Koichi Takada Architects team upon accepting the award.

Honorary mention went to Nightingale Marrickville by SJB for the Multi-Residential Building category.

The grand prize for the region’s most progressive architecture, The Building – sponsored by Verosol - is awarded to the project that marks a new direction in the future of architecture as well as its capacity to respond to its local place and culture. Surat Diamond Bourse by Morphogenesis was awarded with the honorary mention of the jury while Lasalle Church by CAZA in collaboration with NSI Architecture Planner Consultancy was grand winner of this award.

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Next in line, the Object, sponsored by American Hardwood Export Council. Not all objects are created equal. Lo-Hi Tech: Terra-Cool System by Studio SKLIM received an honorary mention, and the outstanding collaboration between Tanya Singer, Errol Evans and Trent Jansen won the award. Kurunpa Kunpu - Strong Spirit is a work of love, understanding and the result of three years of hard work.

Other winners on the night, Kurunpa Kunpu - Strong Spirit by Singer, Evans and Jansen also won the Influencer award of the night (sponsored by K5 Furniture) while Yutjuwala Djiwarr - Nhulunbuy Flexible Aged Care by Kaunitz Yeung Architecture was the honorary mentioned project.

Kurunpa Kunpu - Strong Spirit came first and foremost from a connection between its creators.

“Being together, meeting each other and getting to know each other's background and family brought us closer and that's why the project worked really well for us,” Singer says.

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This friendship is for life, according to Singer. “We actually adopted Trent into our families as my little brother,” she says.

The cross-cultural design collaboration came to fruition after Evans, Singer and Jansen spent time in each other’s communities, learnt from unique relationships with Country.

“The whole collection is now on a ship on its way to London Design Festival, and then from there, it will go to Design Miami in December,” Jansen says.

“We are very grateful for our sponsors, for being here tonight, for Chris Nicholson and Mast Furniture in charge of the design development – it’s been a great journey.”

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For the Retail Space, sponsored by Alspec, it was about awarding a space with mastery over retail’s shifting ground. The jury awarded Fortune Farm by MuseLAB with an honorary mention while the Dion Lee Flagship by PTID and Stamuli came out winner for this space celebrating product and creating the experiential for customers.

Maxton Fox was the sponsor of the Social Space, recognising a hospitality or F&B space that tells a relevant story, captures the imagination, and brings people together. Capella Sydney by BAR Studio in collaboration with Make Architects received the jury’s honorary mention and Thailand-based Harudot Chon Buri by Nana Coffee Roasters by IDIN Architects came out winner with their picturesque and biophilic project.

The Health & Wellbeing Space trophy, sponsored by Milliken, was awarded to Total Fusion Platinum by ACME and Cavcorp Design while Hooroo by CoLAB Design Studio was commended by the jury.

Vessel, by Madeleine Blanchfield Architects, was this year’s winner in the Interior Space category, sponsored by Tongue and Groove. Shakespeare Grove by B.E. Architecture received the jury’s honorary mention.

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“Congratulations to all the other shortlisted projects, all are really beautiful,” Madeleine Blanchfield says.

“And thank you to the jury. That must have been very hard decision. We had a fantastic, astute and really bold claim on this project, and it's just been a pleasure from start to finish.”

The Graduate award, sponsored by Colorbond, recognises, and celebrates a final year architecture student who shows outstanding promise in their chosen course. Ian Chung Enzhi of the Singapore University of Technology and Design was commended, while Mingxun (Gary) Ma from the University of Melbourne took the prestigious award home.

“I’m very surprised, in shock,” Ma says. “I would like to thank Indesign for this award, my family as well as my partner, who has been supporting me throughout the whole semester.”

It takes a skilled eye to capture architecture and design on film. The Photographer – Residential category, sponsored by Image Maker's Australia, recognises the crucial role photographers play in the industry. Honorary mention was awarded to Jade Cantwell for her images of Harry Passive House while the winner of the night was Cieran Murphy for his work on Sandringham House.

David Chatfield received the jury’s honorary mention in the Photographer – Commercial category for Gerard’s Restaurant, and Katherine Lu took the award home for her outstanding shots of the South East Centre for Contemporary Art, based in Sydney.

The Luminary award recognises excellence in a career in design and celebrates the contribution of industry icons. Sponsored by Woven Image, the award was given to Brit Andresen from Andresen O’Gorman Architects, Colin Seah from Ministry of Design (MOD), Vince Frost from Frost*collective, and to Shimul Javeri Kadri from SJK Architects.

“Design is a team sport, and it takes a village,” Seah says. “I want to thank my partner in crime, Joy, who is the backbone - she's not the architect, so she keeps us afloat. While we spend countless hours designing, she keeps everything else going.

“I was a jury member last year, and it’s been fantastic to see to see this wonderful array of projects tonight.

“It was very gratifying to be able to be recognised for this body of work, rather than just a single project: I'm very thankful.”

The Prodigy, sponsored by Steelcase, is a celebration of the trendsetters of the industry. Evelyn Jingjie Wong of JUJURWORK came all the way from Malaysia to receive this well-deserved recognition.

“Thank you, Indesign, thank you to my mum who's there tonight, it has been a short but exciting journey so far and it's just the start,” Wong says.

There is no better way to finish the award ceremony than with the Best of the Best category, sponsored by Zenith Interiors. Grand winner of the prestigious award was Darlington Public School by fjcstudio.

“This all goes to our beautiful, beautiful team, and beautiful client,” says the fjcstudio team upon accepting the trophy. “Such a beautiful project, such a beautiful campus and such beautiful people. Thank you, everybody.”

Clémence Carayol

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