Pimpama Sports Hub, a multi-use sports facility designed by Liquid Blu and Place Design Group, won the Phillip Follent Award for Building of the Year at the 2023 Australian Institute of Architects’ Gold Coast and Northern Rivers Regional Architecture Awards.

The project also received a Regional Commendation in the Urban Architecture Design category and a Regional Commendation in the Sustainable Architecture category.

Pimpama Sports Hub features a state-of-the-art aquatic centre housing five pools (including a 50-metre pool), eight tennis courts, 12 netball courts, a community playground, an outdoor event space with a natural amphitheatre, a community centre, and a fitness centre. A walking trail, extensive landscaping and a café are also part of the precinct. The facility also has the capacity to be a self-sufficient disaster shelter and recovery centre.

“Pimpama Sports Hub has become its community’s backyard. The project provides an inspirational and aspirational template for community infrastructure,” the jury said.

“The project considers both the climate change impacts it must respond to and those it creates in great depth, with a design that integrates climatic response, energy, and water systems with the building form and fabric. The resulting building dramatically reduces the energy and water demands typical of this type of usage.”

Also honoured at the Regional Architecture Awards was Justin Humphrey Architects’ The Cottage, which won the House of the Year award. The project also received the Regional Project of the Year Award and a Regional Commendation in the Residential Architecture – Alterations and Additions category.

The jury celebrated the renovated Burleigh Waters family home for its “modesty”, noting that the project “stands out in a city that has long favoured more muscular forms of development and the erasure of older houses”.

Four new houses showcasing the best in Gold Coast and Northern Rivers living received Regional Commendations in the Residential Architecture – New category: Kingfisher House GC by ptma Architecture, Cloudview by Paul Uhlmann Architects, Cypreś by Shane Denman Architects, and Alcheringa by Robin Spenser Architects. Kingfisher House GC also received a Regional Commendation in the Sustainable Architecture category.

Medium density projects Mali Residences by BDA Architecture and Labrador Social Housing by Cox Architecture received Regional Commendations in the Residential Architecture – Multiple Housing category.

272 Hedges Avenue Pedestal by Contreras Earl Architecture was awarded a Regional Commendation in the Interior Architecture category. The jury described the two-storey sculptural base of the 40-storey Mermaid Beach residential building as “architectural couture”.

A Regional Commendation in the Public Architecture category went to the Gold Coast Recreation Centre by Cox Architecture for its “thrifty extension to a well-loved local sports hub” that demonstrates architectural “bang for buck”.

Cloudview by Paul Uhlmann Architects was named the winner of the Ken Newton and Brian Mossop People’s Choice Award.

Branko Miletic

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