Sydney's 1 Bligh high rise by Australian firm Architectus and German firm ingenhoven architects, is the first Australian building to win the International Highrise Award.

The jury, chaired by Frankfurt-based architect Professor Albert Speer, commented:

“The overall quality of the building is outstanding. With their design the architects avoid the iconic, and instead place the emphasis on the needs of the users – say the view from all the offices.”

The building has achieved a 6 Star Green Star rating for a myriad of features including a double glazed double skin façade which enables daylight and reduces heating costs and losses as well as accentuating the building’s overall, crystalline shape.

The facade system includes an inner skin of performance glass, automated venetian blinds and an outer skin of clear glass separated by a naturally ventilated, externally accessible cavity.

The building is slightly out of line with the street, so that all the offices have a direct view of Sydney Harbour and Harbour Bridge.

In honour of the award, a prize in sustainable commercial high rise architecture will be established in the name of 1 Bligh for final year Master of Architecture students at the University of NSW Faculty of the Built Environment.

Architectus Managing Director and UNSW architecture alumnus Ray Brown said:

“It is an honour to receive the award and to have the opportunity to establish a student prize that will recognise the study of sustainable commercial high rise architecture."

The architects Ray Brown and Christoph Ingenhoven (ingenhoven architects) together with Tony Gulliver, the General Manager Development of developer DEXUS, accepted the statuette and 50 000 euros prize money during a ceremony in Frankfurt.

Architecture & Design Team

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