The iconic Grampians Peaks Trail Stage 2 by Noxon Giffen Architects with McGregor Coxall led the honours’ list at the 2022 Victorian Architecture Awards announced Friday last, taking home the award for the most outstanding project across all categories.

Sixty-six projects drawn from a pool of 125 shortlisted projects were granted named awards, architecture awards and commendations across 14 categories at this year’s awards. The 2022 shortlist was one of the largest ever selected for the Victorian Chapter of the Australian Institute of Architects’ awards program, with the winners highlighting the integral role architects play in empowering communities and driving the evolution of the built environment.

Grampians Peaks Trail Stage 2 won the Victorian Architecture Medal, the highest honour awarded each year to the most outstanding project across all categories. The Grampians Peaks Trail covers spectacular peaks, stunning scenery and rich cultural heritage to provide one of Victoria’s most breath-taking walking experiences. Stage 2 of the project offers a series of diverse hiker shelters lining 160km of track situated in the pristine Gariwerd wilderness of the Grampians National Park.

Also the winner of the Regional Prize, the project was commended for its 18-year process of consultation and site selection by an empowered Traditional Owners group.

Commenting on the Grampians Peaks Trail Stage 2 project, Victorian Chapter president Bill Krotiris FRAIA said: “Demonstrating an extraordinary level of sensitivity, commitment and collaboration, the project serves as a catalyst for the sensitive exploration of the Gariwerd region and reflects the rich possibilities of architecture in the ongoing development of our collective understanding of Country.”

The Enduring Architecture Award was awarded to St Kilda’s distinctive and recently refurbished Crigan House, announced at the ceremony by Melbourne Lord Mayor Sally Capp. Designed in the late 1980s by reputed architect Allan Powell (1945-2022), the Jury praised the project as an exemplar for Victorian residential design – a model of how to build cleverly within a relatively dense urban context, without compromising views, sunlight, air and landscape.

Brearley Architects & Urbanists (BAU) and Grant Amon Architects, the team behind the Victorian Pride Centre, said that their award-winning design for Australia’s first purpose-built LGBTIQ+ community hub was strongly informed by Powell’s work, demonstrating the broad influence of the architect’s work within the industry.

Queen & Collins, KTA and BVN’s commercial adaptive reuse project in Melbourne was this year’s most recognised project with four awards: the prestigious Melbourne Prize as well as Architecture Awards in the Commercial Architecture, Interior Architecture, and Urban Design categories.

The project, which unlocked a series of interconnected urban spaces to invite a sense of discovery within a busy CBD precinct, was praised by the Jury for its masterfully orchestrated use of light, space, colours and texture to create a surprising new urban space for Melbourne.

Kerstin Thompson Architects’ Balfe Park Lane received the top award in the multi-residential category, setting a gold standard for designing healthy communities and embedding genuine liveability among a list of winners that highlighted the importance of housing as an essential social infrastructure.

Showcasing the potential of bespoke residential architecture when combined with adventurous client aspirations, Corner House, Autumn House, and Arcadia also received top awards in the residential categories.

“This year’s winners stand as a testament to the vitality of Melbourne’s cultural life, providing world-class venues for sport, the arts, education, community, faith and commerce – it is hugely buoying to see these new additions to our city that will serve their communities for generations to come,” Victorian state manager, Tim Leslie FRAIA said.

Projects that received an Architecture Award or a named award will now progress to the National Architecture Awards program, with the shortlist to be announced by the Australian Institute of Architects in the coming months.

2022 Victorian Architecture Awards – Winners

Victorian Architecture Medal

Grampians Peaks Trail Stage 2 | Noxon Giffen Architects with McGregor Coxall

Melbourne Prize

Queen & Collins | KTA + BVN

Regional Prize

Grampians Peaks Trail Stage 2 | Noxon Giffen Architects with McGregor Coxall

Enduring Architecture

Enduring Architecture Award

Crigan House | Allan Powell

Public Architecture

The William Wardell Award for Public Architecture

Victorian Pride Centre | Brearley Architects + Urbanists & Grant Amon Architects

Architecture Award

Point Lonsdale Surf Life Saving Club | Jackson Clements Burrows Architects

Shepparton Art Museum | Denton Corker Marshall

Commendations

Puffing Billy Lakeside Visitor Centre | TERROIR

Residential Architecture – Houses (Alterations and additions)

The John and Phyllis Murphy Award for Residential Architecture – Houses (Alterations and Additions)

Arcadia | Architecture architecture

Architecture Award

Arthur | Oscar Sainsbury Architects

Autumn House | Studio Bright

Stable & Cart House | Clare Cousins Architects

Commendations

Brunswick House | Placement

Eastham Street | MUIR Architecture

Residential Architecture – Houses (New)

The Harold Desbrowe-Annear Award for Residential Architecture – Houses (New)

Corner House | Archier

Architecture Award

Always | Kennedy Nolan

Jan Juc Studio | Eldridge Anderson Architects

The Arndt Residence and Artbarn | CHROFI

Commendations

Erskine River House | Kerstin Thompson Architects

Esplanade House | Clare Cousins Architects

music box | multiplicity

The Hütt 01 Passivhaus | Melbourne Design Studios (MDS)

Residential Architecture – Multiple Housing

The Best Overend Award for Residential Architecture - Multiple Housing

Balfe Park Lane | Kerstin Thompson Architects

Architecture Award

231 Napier Street | Edition Office

St Albans Housing | NMBW Architecture Studio in association with Monash Art, Design & Architecture (MADA)

Commendation

Terrace House | Austin Maynard Architects

Women's Property Initiatives Older Women's Housing | Studio Bright

Educational Architecture

The Henry Bastow Award for Educational Architecture

The Clendon Centre | Architectus

Architecture Award

Deakin Law School Building | Woods Bagot

Myer Music Centre Melbourne Grammar School | Peter Elliott Architecture + Urban Design

Commendation

Monash Robotics Lab | Studio Bright

Commercial Architecture

The Sir Osborn McCutcheon Award for Commercial Architecture

405 Bourke Street | Woods Bagot

Architecture Award

Ballarat Gov Hub | John Wardle Architects

Queen & Collins | KTA + BVN

SEEK HQ | Hassell

Commendations

Wesley Place, 130 Lonsdale Street | COX Architecture

Cubitt Street Tower | Pandolfini Architects

Interior Architecture

The Marion Mahony Award for Interior Architecture

Yakimono & Society | Russell & George

Architecture Award

Always | Kennedy Nolan

Gatwick Private Hotel | Kosloff Architecture

Penleigh and Essendon Grammar School Gymnasium | McBride Charles Ryan

Queen & Collins | KTA + BVN

Commendations

Deeds Brewery and Taproom | Splinter Society Architecture

Sculptform Design Studio | Woods Bagot

Heritage Architecture

The John George Knight Award for Heritage

Wesley Place – 130 Lonsdale | Lovell Chen with COX Architecture

Award for Heritage – Creative Adaptation

Hilton Melbourne Little Queen Street | Lovell Chen with Bates Smart

Myer Music Centre Melbourne Grammar School | Peter Elliott Architecture + Urban Design

Award for Heritage – Conservation

Keilor Police Hut | Andronas Conservation Architecture

Commendations

Stable & Cart House | Clare Cousins Architects

Small Project Architecture

The Kevin Borland Award for Small Project Architecture

The Dentist | Rob Kennon Architects

Architecture Award

pond[er] | Taylor Knights and James Carey

Commendations

Arts Project Australia | Sibling Architecture

Ngargee Djeembana | Jackson Clements Burrows Architects with N’arweet Carolyn Briggs AM

Urban Design

The Joseph Reed Award for Urban Design

Bendigo TAFE City Campus Revitalisation | Architectus with Six Degrees Architects and SBLA Landscape Architects

Architecture Award

Collingwood Yards | Fieldwork

Queen & Collins | KTA + BVN

Sustainable Architecture

The Allan and Beth Coldicutt Award for Sustainable Architecture

ANZ Breathe | Breathe

Architecture Award

Terrace House | Austin Maynard Architects

The Hütt 01 Passivhaus | Melbourne Design Studios (MDS)

Commendation

Ballarat Gov Hub | John Wardle Architects

COLORBOND® Award for Steel Architecture

Autumn House | Studio Bright

Commendation

Monash Robotics Lab | Studio Bright

EmAGN Project Award

Object 07 | Prior Barraclough

Bates Smart Award for Architecture in Media

Bates Smart Award for Architecture in Media - National Award

Union magazine | Gemma Savio (editor)

Bates Smart Award for Architecture in Media - State Award

Inflection Vol.08: Presence | Michaela Prunotto, Kate Donaldson, Manning McBride (editors)

Bates Smart Award for Architecture in Media - Advocacy Award

Robin Boyd Foundation Virtual Tour Collection – Walsh Street, Greg Burgess Studio & Manning Clark House | Robin Boyd Foundation

Architecture News & Editorial Desk

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