Aiden Murphy and Aaron Peters from Cox Rayner Architects and Kerry Hill Architects have taken top honours at the 2010 Boral Design Awards.
They won the professional category of the 2010 conceptual residential design award program, which is open to architects, building designers and architectural students.
The brief was to design a detached residential dwelling with a floor area of 125 sqm, along with its landscape.
Entrants were challenged to respond to Australia’s changing housing needs and reduced land sizes by taking into consideration adaptability, sustainability and affordability.
The award is the company’s way of fostering new ideas for the suburban built environment and for designers to use clay, concrete and timber products in a creative and sustainable context.
To meet the competition requirements entrants were asked to specify from a range of selected Boral products including timber, bricks, pavers, decorative concrete, roof tiles, windows and bi-fold doors.
Judge Tone Wheeler described the winning submission, by Murphy and Peters, as “modest and delightful”, adding that “the judges all wanted to move in”.
The runners up - Justin Wight, Paul Townsin and Michael Schaple from Whatever Studio - were commended for their inclusion of a central courtyard in their aptly named ‘Lithe’ house that offered clever ideas about adapting to weather and a variety of uses.
Wheeler comments: “Sustainability is no longer about whacking green bling all over the box … Sustainability in architecture is now in two key areas: the footprint of the project and its ability to adapt to future changes, either in use or in technology.”
“It comes down to size and sustainability - getting the most out of the least in lots of different ways into the future.”
The winning student entry was Manus Leung of the University of New South Wales.
