Education and public architecture projects stood out among the winners at the 40th Australian Institute of Architects National Architecture Awards. The 2021 edition of Australia’s most prestigious, peer-reviewed architecture awards highlighted the immense value architects add to their communities through truly exceptional design.

Among projects described by the jury as ‘increasingly rare’ public architecture of great standing, was the Monash Woodside Building for Technology and Design by Grimshaw in collaboration with Monash University.

Currently the largest Passive House-certified project in the southern hemisphere that sets Monash on a path to net-zero by 2030, this building received both The Sir Zelman Cowen Award for Public Architecture and The David Oppenheim Award for Sustainable Architecture.

“The universality provided to this building through structure, daylight and amenity, through order in the plan and poetry in the whole, brings to light the architectural discipline like no other building noted by the jury this year,” the jury observed.

Another educational facility, the Barker College Rosewood Centre by Neeson Murcutt + Neille, won The Daryl Jackson Award for Educational Architecture for successfully meeting the ‘oft-ignored’ challenge for large sports buildings of ‘humanising the space’.

The Bendigo Former Mining Exchange by Williams Boag Architects, which won The Lachlan Macquarie Award for Heritage, was applauded by the jury, which said it “displays both an enormous affection for the building, its meaning and story, and an intense desire to envision its ability to be useful for the future while enabling a deep and caring interpretation of the past.”

Similarly, the adaptive reuse of Sub Base Platypus, executed through a collaboration with lahznimmo architects and Aspect Studios, gave new life to the HMAS Platypus precinct in Sydney, and was acknowledged with The Walter Burley Griffin Award for Urban Design.

Two public swimming pool projects were also among the winners this year, highlighting their enduring value as “public spaces at the cultural and community heart of Australian post-war society”.

Kevin Borland, John and Phyllis Murphy and Peter McIntyre, with engineer Bill Irwin’s work on the Olympic Swimming Pool stadium from the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne won a National Award for Enduring Architecture.

The Gunyama Park Aquatic and Recreation Centre by Andrew Burges Architects and Grimshaw with TCL in collaboration with the City of Sydney received a National Award for Public Architecture, with the jury describing the project as “playful work that inspires a consideration of how the enjoyment of water-based environments has developed the psyche of an entire culture”.

The Robin Boyd Award for Residential Architecture - Houses (New) was won by Peter Stutchbury Architecture for Night Sky. “The potentially deeply problematic choices, deftly orchestrated, develop into a priority that is singular; a priority that is about the subject of the work, the desires of a disabled person to connect to the universe and galaxy,” the jury noted.

Kerry Hill Architects’ design of the One & Only Desaru Coast resort in Malaysia won The Jørn Utzon Award for International Architecture. BVN’s work for the Australian Defence Force at the Lavarack Barracks as part of the Land 121 Facilities Project received this year’s COLORBOND Award for Steel Architecture as well as a National Award for Commercial Architecture.

The most-awarded project of the year – Smart Design Studio’s work on their own new office in Sydney’s industrial periphery of Alexandria – won The Harry Seidler Award for Commercial Architecture, The Emil Sodersten Award for Interior Architecture and a National Award for Sustainable Architecture.

“Collectively, this year’s awarded works exhibit the richness, intelligence, viscerality, complexity, individuality and delight of which Australian architecture is capable,” Jury chair and immediate past national president Alice Hampson said.

National Architecture Awards Winners

COLORBOND® Award for Steel Architecture

COLORBOND® Award for Steel Architecture | QLD | Land 121 Facilities Project, Lavarack Barracks | BVN

Commercial Architecture

The Harry Seidler Award for Commercial Architecture | NSW | Smart Design Studio | Smart Design Studio

National Award for Commercial Architecture | QLD | Land 121 Facilities Project, Lavarack Barracks | BVN

National Award for Commercial Architecture | VIC | Wangaratta Street | MAArchitects

Educational Architecture

The Daryl Jackson Award for Educational Architecture | NSW | Barker College Rosewood Centre | Neeson Murcutt + Neille

National Award for Educational Architecture | VIC | Penleigh Essendon Grammar School Music House | McBride Charles Ryan

National Commendation for Educational Architecture | VIC | Geelong College Junior School | John Wardle Architects

Enduring Architecture

National Award for Enduring Architecture | VIC | Olympic Swimming Pool | Kevin Borland, John and Phyllis Murphy and Peter McIntyre, with engineer Bill Irwin

Heritage

The Lachlan Macquarie Award for Heritage | VIC | Bendigo Former Mining Exchange | Williams Boag Architects

National Award for Heritage | NSW | Australian Museum Project Discover | Cox Architecture with Neeson Murcutt + Neille

Interior Architecture

The Emil Sodersten Award for Interior Architecture | NSW | Smart Design Studio | Smart Design Studio

National Commendation for Interior Architecture | VIC | Divided House | Jackson Clements Burrows Architects

International Architecture

The Jørn Utzon Award for International Architecture | International | One & Only Desaru Coast, Malaysia | Kerry Hill Architects

Public Architecture

The Sir Zelman Cowen Award for Public Architecture | VIC | Monash Woodside Building for Technology and Design | Grimshaw in collaboration with Monash University

National Award for Public Architecture | NSW | Australian Museum Project Discover | Cox Architecture with Neeson Murcutt + Neille

National Award for Public Architecture | NSW | Gunyama Park Aquatic and Recreation Centre | Andrew Burges Architects and Grimshaw with TCL in collaboration with the City of Sydney

Residential Architecture - Houses (Alterations and Additions)

The Eleanor Cullis-Hill Award for Residential Architecture - Houses (Alterations and Additions) | WA | Beaconsfield House | Simon Pendal Architect

National Award for Residential Architecture - Houses (Alterations and Additions) | QLD | Beck Street | LineburgWang

National Commendation for Residential Architecture - Houses (Alterations and Additions) | NSW | The Hat Factory | Welsh + Major Architects

Residential Architecture - Houses (New)

The Robin Boyd Award for Residential Architecture - Houses (New) | NSW | Night Sky | Peter Stutchbury Architecture

National Award for Residential Architecture - Houses (New) | NSW | Bunkeren | James Stockwell Architect

National Award for Residential Architecture - Houses (New) | NSW | Pearl Beach House | Polly Harbison Design

Residential Architecture Multiple Housing

The Frederick Romberg Award for Residential Architecture - Multiple Housing | VIC | The Lothian | Kennedy Nolan

Small Project Architecture

National Commendation for Small Project Architecture | TAS | Floating Sauna Derby | Licht Architecture

National Commendation for Small Project Architecture | VIC | Jackalope Pavilion | March Studio

National Commendation for Small Project Architecture | NSW | Plastic Palace | Raffaello Rosselli Architects

Sustainable Architecture

The David Oppenheim Award for Sustainable Architecture | VIC | Monash Woodside Building for Technology and Design | Grimshaw in collaboration with Monash University

National Award for Sustainable Architecture | NSW | Smart Design Studio | Smart Design Studio

Urban Design

The Walter Burley Griffin Award for Urban Design | NSW | Sub Base Platypus | lahznimmo architects and Aspect Studios

National Commendation for Urban Design | QLD | QUT Campus to Country | BVN

Image credits:

The Harry Seidler Award for Commercial Architecture | NSW | Smart Design Studio | Smart Design Studio | Photographer: Romello Pereira

The Lachlan Macquarie Award for Heritage | VIC | Bendigo Former Mining Exchange | Williams Boag Architects | Photographer: Fred Kroh

The Sir Zelman Cowen Award for Public Architecture | VIC | Monash Woodside Building for Technology and Design | Grimshaw in collaboration with Monash University | Photographer: Rory Gardiner

Architecture News & Editorial Desk

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