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EMBARGOED MEDIA RELEASE
Thursday 29 Oct 2009
Editors Note:
Embargo: 8pm Thursday 29 Oct 2009
Winners not to be notified in advance
Australian Institute of Architects 2009 National
Architecture Awards announced
Australia’s major new arts, theatre and ‘culture palaces’
from Canberra to Melbourne to New York, and the architects
who designed them, are among major winners at this year’s
top architecture awards.
The Australian Institute of Architects’ National Architecture Awards are
the country’s most prestigious annual architecture prizes. The 2009 awards were
presented to the nation’s most inspiring recent architectural projects and
architects, at a special ceremony tonight (Thursday 29 October) in
Melbourne. A total 32 awards and commendations across 12 categories
were awarded to projects in Queensland, Victoria, Tasmania, the ACT, NSW,
Western Australia, South Australia, the United Arab Emirates and the
United States.
Presenting the awards and commenting on this year’s winners, Jury Chair and
award-winning architect Howard Tanner said: “2009 represented a strong year
for architecture, with new benchmarks set in a number of key categories – such
as commercial architecture. In public architecture, educational projects spanning
primary to tertiary facilities were also outstanding, with many Australian
universities now comprehending the need for world class facilities to attract
students.”
Topping the list of winners, is the recipient of Australia’s top annual national
architecture award - the 2009 Sir Zelman Cowen Award for Public
Architecture, awarded this year to the National Portrait Gallery in the ACT by
Sydney-based practice Johnson Pilton Walker (JPW). In a double win for the
firm, the gallery also received a National Architecture Award for Interior
Architecture. The gallery is the most recent in a long list of major arts facilities
designed by JPW, including the New Asian Galleries at the AGNSW and the
Museum of Sydney, and is their first Sir Zelman Cowen Award.
Mr Tanner said: “The monumental concrete edifices of the National Gallery and
the High Court dominate this precinct, to which the National Portrait Gallery is the
new family member. Smaller, more precious, it seeks to resolve a public
presence and public gallery with the intimate, often domestic-scaled nature of
portraiture. He added: “The building, while a triumph in cultural terms and
popular appreciation, is clearly too small for its public role and purpose – a
reflection of contemporary governments’ aspirations and budgets. Government
probably never foresaw that this would be an attraction to rival the National
Gallery and the War Memorial.” Accordingly, the architects have designed the
building for extension to the west in a series of pavilions.
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National Awards for Public Architecture were also presented to educational
facilities in Sydney and Melbourne - the All Saints Primary School at Belmore
in NSW by Angelo Candalepas Associates and the Monash Centre for
Electron Microscopy by Architectus Melbourne.
Melbourne’s newest and iconic centre for the performing arts – the Melbourne
Recital Centre and MTC Theatre Project by ARM – was awarded the Emil
Sodersten Award for Interior Architecture, with the jury saying “all three
performing arts venues achieve a very high standard of architecture in terms of
excellent functionality within distinctive and memorable interiors”. They said the
complex contains the most significant new performing arts venues in Melbourne,
with easy access and effective egress being givens, along with sizeable lobbies
and public areas, and a functional back of house. “The most important aspect of
the development is the performing arts spaces, their adequacy, sightlines and
acoustics. All three are effectively boxes within boxes, isolated from the outside
world and the ground to minimise noise and vibration transfer.”
Australia’s top award for international architecture, the Jorn Utzøn Award for
International Architecture, was awarded to a small project in one of the
‘largest’, most iconic theatre locations in the world, New York’s Times Square –
being awarded to the ‘red steps’ TKTS Booth/Redevelopment of Duffy
Square, New York by young Sydney firm Choi Ropiha, with Perkins
Eastman, PKSB. (see separate media release)
The jury noted the particular strength of this year’s Commercial Architecture,
which set new benchmarks in terms of providing exemplary ‘social’ spaces,
adaptive re-use, regional architecture and staff accommodation where ‘happiness’
is acknowledged as a business asset. The Harry Seidler Award for
Commercial Architecture was presented to ivy on Sydney’s busy George Street
by Woods Bagot, in collaboration with Merivale Group and Hecker Phelan
& Guthrie. In a double win, the project also received a National Award for
Urban Design, with the jury saying: “The popular palaces of culture – the
cinemas, stadia, and pubs and clubs – have, in recent years, rarely presented
themselves as high architecture. ivy is a remarkable exception. Part Roman
baths, part smart restaurants, part urbane gathering place, it has been fused into
the city’s fabric in a presentable and ingenious way.” They added: “Ash Street
and Palings Lane (now relocated to advantage) have become vibrant pedestrian
thoroughfares, lined with shops, bars and cafes.”
National Awards for Commercial Architecture were also presented to
Headquarter Sussan Sportsgirl in Melbourne’s Cremorne by Sydney practice
Durbach Block Architects and Bendigo Bank Headquarters in regional
Victoria by BVN Architecture + Gray Puksand – with the jury noting that both
achieved new benchmarks. Sussan Sportsgirl set new precedents for workplaces,
being designed to provide “one place for the client’s family of businesses, her art
collection and her love of gardens, where happiness is a business asset, gained
through a combination of light, openness, views, art and gardens”.
For the first time in four years, Australia’s most prestigious residential award
returned to the nation’s biggest housing market – with the Robin Boyd Award
for Residential Architecture - Houses, going to an innovative house on
Sydney’s northern beaches – the Freshwater House by young Sydney husband
and wife team Tony Chenchow and Stephanie Little of Chenchow Little
Architects. In describing the project, a four-bedroom home for a young family of
five on a small 332 sq m site, the jury said: “The design provides an outstanding
solution for an elevated site, and achieves a private compound, screened from
the neighbours, yet open and expansive towards an outdoor lawn terrace, the
beach and sea.” In a second major win for the couple, Chenchow Little
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Architects shared the National Award for Small Project Architecture for the
Ang House in Sydney’s Mosman, with young Victorian firm Bellemo & Cat for
their Polygreen House in the Melbourne suburb of Northcote.
In a double scoop for fellow young Sydney-based husband and wife team Rachel
Neeson and Nick Murcutt of Neeson Murcutt Architecture, the couple received
National Awards for Residential Architecture for two strikingly unique
houses in NSW and Victoria - the Whale Beach House at Whale Beach in
Sydney and Zac’s House at Sorrento on the Mornington Peninsular.
The Frederick Romberg Award for Residential Architecture - Multiple
Housing was presented to Melbourne-based practice Wood Marsh for the 22-
storey Balencia Apartments on St Kilda Road in Melbourne. The jury said: “St
Kilda Road, conceived as Melbourne’s grand boulevarde, was once lined by
imposing houses, now largely replaced by dull high rise buildings. Balencea
counters this trend, recognising the importance of its position on a corner site,
and the opportunity to achieve intrigue through its fluted form and slenderness,
when viewed from certain positions. The architects have demonstrated sensitivity,
skill and experience in negotiating an impressive balance between the commercial
interests of the client, the comfort and amenity of the occupants and
architecture’s responsibility to the public domain. They have created an
exemplary model for sophisticated multiple housing in an urban setting.”
The prestigious Lachlan Macquarie Award for Heritage was this year awarded
to the St.Paul’s Cathedral, Conservation of the Fabric, by Falkinger and
Andronas, Architects, Heritage Consultants. The jury said: “Gothic cathedrals
are complex structures and constructions, requiring careful management and
maintenance if they are to survive in good order and serve changing patterns of
use. Falkinger and Andronas have been responsible for the conservation of both
of Melbourne’s major cathedrals, and at St Paul’s have been involved for over
nine years. The decay of the building has been slowed, stormwater failures have
been addressed and the building surfaces cleansed, so that we can more readily
appreciate the visual qualities of the cathedral as its designers intended.”
An iconic venue in Melbourne, The Sidney Myer Music Bowl by Yuncken,
Freeman Brothers, Griffiths and Simpson, received the National 25 Year
Award for Enduring Architecture, being described by the jury as “one of the
great tent-like suspension structures of the world”, and “a clear indicator of the
vibrant creative forces active in Australia circa 1960, that were allowed realisation
to great acclaim”. Conserved and upgraded in 2000 by Gregory Burgess
Architects, the venue is a “much-loved icon, and part of the social fabric of
Melbourne and the nation”.
The Walter Burley Griffin Award for Urban Design has been awarded to the
Armory Wharf Precinct at Sydney Olympic Park by Hargreaves Associates,
Lahz Nimmo Architects and Lacoste + Stevenson Architects. “The Armory
Wharf Precinct is a remarkably attractive park precinct with much-enjoyed, well-
designed public facilities. It is a most agreeable place to visit, uncluttered, well
resolved, and in harmony with the natural and man-modified landscape.”
The new headquarters for a state water agency in Adelaide - VS1/SA Water
Head Office by HASSELL – has received the National Award for Sustainable
Architecture. “VS1/SA Water is the first building in South Australia to achieve a
GBCA 6 Star Green Star design rating, delivered at competitive market rental. It
sets a new benchmark in ESD, promoting best practice for a healthy office
environment, with reduced energy usage, waste, and harmful emissions.”
The Colorbond® Award for Steel Architecture was presented to young
Sydney-based architect James Stockwell for the Snowy Mountains House
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overlooking Lake Jindabyne. “James Stockwell’s commission to create a robust,
economical house for an extended family carefully addresses issues of climatic
extremes, simple maintenance, and sustainable objectives. It has its origins in
alpine huts and ski lodges, but here delivered with a straightforward finesse. The
house combines autonomy with reasonable construction cost, minimum
maintenance, and good longevity, achieving excellent sustainable credentials.”
Complete list of winners
A
record 893 projects vied for Australian Institute of Architects state and
territory Architecture Awards, with 144 rewarded. Of these, 32 projects and
practices have been awarded 2009 National Architecture Awards or
Commendations. This year’s winners are:
Public Architecture
The Sir Zelman Cowen Award for Public Architecture
National Portrait Gallery, Canberra, ACT - Johnson Pilton Walker
National Award for Public Architecture
All Saints Primary School, Belmore, NSW - Candalepas Associates
National Award for Public Architecture
Monash Centre for Electron Microscopy, Monash Uni, VIC – Architectus Melbourne
National Commendation for Public Architecture
Faculty of Law, Library and Teaching Complex, University of Sydney, NSW -
Francis-Jones Morehen Thorp (fjmt)
Residential Architecture - Houses
The Robin Boyd Award for Residential Architecture - Houses
Freshwater House, Harbord, NSW - Chenchow Little Architects
National Architecture Award for Residential Architecture – Houses
Zac’s House, Sorrento, Victoria - Neeson Murcutt Architects
National Architecture Award for Residential Architecture – Houses
Whale Beach House, Whale Beach, NSW - Neeson Murcutt Architects
National Commendation for Residential Architecture – Houses
Arm End House, Opossum Bay, Tasmania - Stuart Tanner Architects
Residential Architecture – Multiple Housing
The Frederick Romberg Award for Residential Architecture - Multiple Housing
Balencea Apartments, St Kilda Road, Melbourne, Victoria - Wood Marsh
Architecture in association with Sunland Design
National Architecture Award for Residential Architecture – Multiple Housing
Pindari, Kensington, NSW - Candalepas Associates
National Commendation for Residential Architecture – Multiple Housing
Apartments in Cottesloe, Cottesloe, Western Australia - Blane Brackenridge
Commercial Architecture
The Harry Seidler Award for Commercial Architecture
ivy, George Street, Sydney, NSW - Woods Bagot, in collaboration with Merivale
Group and Hecker Phelan & Guthrie
National Award for Commercial Architecture
Headquarter Sussan Sportsgirl, Cremorne, Victoria - Durbach Block Architects
National Award for Commercial Architecture
Bendigo Bank Headquarters, Bendigo, Victoria - BVN Architecture + Gray Puksand
National Commendation for Commercial Architecture
HASSELL Warry Street Studio, Fortitude Valley, Queensland - HASSELL
International Architecture
The Jorn Utzøn Award for International Architecture
TKTS Booth/Redevelopment of Duffy Square, New York - Choi Ropiha, Perkins
Eastman, PKSB
Award for International Architecture
Qatar Science and Technology Park, Qatar, United Arab Emirates - Woods Bagot
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Sustainable Architecture
National Award for Sustainable Architecture
VS1/SA Water Head Office, Adelaide, South Australia - HASSELL
National Commendation for Sustainable Architecture
Bendigo Bank Headquarters, Bendigo, Victoria - BVN Architecture + Gray Puksand
National Commendation for Sustainable Architecture
Australasian Performing Rights Association (APRA) Headquarters, Ultimo, NSW -
Smart Design Studio
Heritage Architecture
The Lachlan Macquarie Award for Heritage
St Paul’s Cathedral, Conservation of the Fabric, Melbourne, VIC - Falkinger
Andronas Architects Heritage Consultants
National Award for Heritage
Wiston Gardens House, Double Bay, NSW - Luigi Rosselli
Urban Design
The Walter Burley Griffin Award for Urban Design
Armory Wharf Precinct, Sydney Olympic Park, NSW – Hargreaves Associates,
Lahz Nimmo Architects and Lacoste + Stevenson Architects
National Architecture Award for Urban Design
ivy, Sydney - Woods Bagot in collaboration with Merivale Group and Hecker
Phelan & Guthrie
National Commendation for Urban Design
Rundle Lantern, Adelaide, South Australia - BB Architects
Small Project Architecture
National Award for Small Project Architecture
Polygreen, Northcote, Victoria - Bellemo & Cat
National Award for Small Project Architecture
Ang House, Mosman, NSW - Chenchow Little Architects
Interior Architecture
The Emil Sodersten Award for Interior Architecture
Melbourne Recital Centre and MTC Theatre Project, Southbank, Victoria - ARM
National Award for Interior Architecture
National Portrait Gallery, Canberra, ACT - Johnson Pilton Walker
National Commendation for Interior Architecture
Jane Foss Russell Building, University of Sydney, NSW - John Wardle Architects in
association with Wilson Architects and GHD
National 25 Year Award for Enduring Architecture
Sidney Myer Music Bowl, Melbourne, Victoria - Yuncken, Freeman Brothers,
Griffiths and Simpson
Colorbond Award for Steel Architecture
Snowy Mountains House, Snowy Mountains, NSW - James Stockwell Architect
For embargoed media kits, high resolution images and interviews contact:
Trish Croaker,
National Media/PR Advisor
Mobile 0408 756 163
trish.croaker@raia.com.au
Kirsten Trengove,
National Media/PR Assistant
Mobile 0439 555 427
kirsten.trengove@raia.com.au
The Australian Institute of Architects is the peak body for the architectural profession, representing more
than 8000 members across Australia and overseas. The Institute actively works to improve the quality
of our built environment by promoting quality, responsible and sustainable design.
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