The highest honour for any nominee within the Sustainability Awards is the Best of the Best category, as the winning project is selected from among all category winners. The project that is afforded the Best of the Best demonstrates outstanding sustainable outcomes and innovative design principles as well as exceptional aesthetics to be an exemplar in its field.

While straightforward in its requirement, the fact is that all winners (let alone countless nominees) are eligible for the award and so in judging, the esteemed jury requires all the experience and professionalism available in choosing the winning project. To attain the accolade of Best of the Best means that the project is of the highest quality and an elite sustainable entity.

burwood brickworks entrance

2020’s edition of the Sustainability Awards recognised NH Architecture’s Burwood Brickworks Shopping Centre as the Best of the Best. As the world’s most sustainable shopping centre, Burwood Brickworks is an exercise in sustainable practice excellence, setting a precedent for retail developments of the future. The project bucks the 21st century mega-mall trend and compresses its plan into a far smaller, 360-degree building. Its roof is home to an urban farm run on a shopping centre rooftop with up to 1,100 plants as well as a quail coop, the first of its kind in Australia. Other features of the centre include rows of lemon trees in the carpark, skylights and operable windows in each tenancy and the building generates 40 per cent of the energy required and recycles its own water.

A break in the circuitry of stereotypical retail centres, Burwood Brickworks has set a precedent in its field and that is what is required of the winner of the Best of the Best. The project that wins this award sets a new agenda and questions the values and characteristics of projects that have come before it. It is to be a leader and will have a long lasting legacy as a flagship in sustainable design.

Event Partner and sponsor of the Best of the Best category, Alspec®, is no stranger as a leader in its field. As an Australian-owned, forward looking company, Alspec works in-house to design, develop and bring to market reliable aluminium systems, hardware and accessories to meet evolving market needs.

Alspec® continues to invest heavily in Research and Development to ensure the latest technologies and design principles are applied to their ever-increasing range of advanced systems. This provides the customer with fully tested systems that meet and/or exceed current and relevant Australian standards but also deliver on trend and aesthetics.

“Alspec is an industry leader in all things, we like to acknowledge and recognise the very best of what our industry has to offer. The Best of Best category is selected for Sustainability, Innovation and Aesthetics, all of the things that Alspec also tries to achieve,” says Alspec’s National Specification Manager, Ross Baynham.

burwood brickworks

Quite often, parallels are drawn between the qualities of a Best of the Best award winner and the core values of Alspec. It reflects the want to rise to the top, be the cream of the crop, continue to improve and have a positive impact on the wider society.

The Best of the Best award is decided by a jury of eminent industry experts, and will be announced at the Sustainability Awards Gala and Summit, that will take place on Thursday 11 November in Sydney. To submit your project for the opportunity to be awarded Best of the Best at the 2021 Sustainability Awards, click here.

Architecture News & Editorial Desk

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