Community-centred projects have won the top honours at the Australian Institute of Architects’ 2013 NSW Architecture Awards, with the Waterloo Youth Family Community Centre taking home the Institute’s most prestigious award, the Sulman Medal for Public Architecture.
Designed by Collins and Turner (with City of Sydney), the youth centre is home to WEAVE (Working to Educate, Advocate, Voice and Empower), a local association that aims to support young people in Waterloo.
WEAVE's staff initially operated out of the boot of a car, then from a public toilet block on the site before the City of Sydney commissioned this facility. The slab and walls of the original amenities block remain in Collin and Turner's design of the new centre.
Praised for its exemplary convergence of public leadership, community initiative and design talent, the project also received an Architecture Award for Sustainable Architecture.
Waterloo Youth Family Community Centre. Photography by Richard Glover.
During the ceremony, which was held at the historic Jones Bay Wharf, Francis-Jones Morehen Thorp’s (fjmt) Darling Quarter swept the floor by winning several major awards: the Lloyd Rees Award for Urban Design, the Sir Arthur G. Stephenson Award for Commercial Architecture, the Milo Dunphy Award for Sustainable Architecture and the inaugural City of Sydney Lord Mayor’s Prize.
While Darling Quarter is mainly home to the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, the Urban Design jury also noted that this urban project has significantly revitalised Darling Harbour in Sydney. They say that Darling Quarter has set a new benchmark in intelligent place making by transforming the public domain through delivering a series of defined public spaces.
This includes a pedestrian linkage from the city, a generous public promenade and parkland, and a dynamic playground.
Darling Quarter. Photography by Florian Groehn.
City of Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore, in awarding her inaugural prize, adds that the project “revives the quarter with urbanity, flair and credibility, and provides an exemplary integration of work and recreation spaces”.
The Art Gallery of New South Wales Forecourt Upgrade by Johnson Pilton Walker was chosen by the Small Project Architecture jury to receive the Robert Woodward Award.
Combining discrete landscape adjustments with a sculptural ramp, the upgrade has effectively resolved the problem of providing equitable access to the Gallery.
The Art Gallery of New South Wales Forecourt Upgrade. Photography by Brett Boardman.
The NSW Premier’s Prize went to Martian Embassy by LAVA (Laboratory for Visionary Architecture) – the home of not-for-profit creative writing centre, the Sydney Story Factory.
It was commended for demonstrating the possibility of creating more with less while providing a space that inspires and engages the next generation of creative writers and thinkers.
Martian Embassy. Photography by Peter Murphy.
Out of the 170 entries received from across New South Wales, a total of 27 awards, 8 prizes and 14 commendations were presented during the Awards Ceremony. All named award and architecture award winners will now progress to the AIA’s National Architecture Awards to be announced on Thursday 7 November 2013 at the Sydney Opera House.
Full list of winners:
Public Architecture
Sulman Medal
Waterloo Youth Family Community Centre by Collins and Turner with City of Sydney
Commendation
Museum of Contemporary Art Redevelopment by Architect Marshall in association with the Government Architect’s Office
Urban Design
Lloyd Rees Award
Darling Darling Quarter – Francis‐Jones Morehen Thorp (fjmt) with Aspect Studios and Lend Lease
Architecture Award
Pitt Street Mall Public Domain Upgrade – Tony Caro Architecture
Commercial Architecture
Sir Arthur G. Stephenson Award
Darling Quarter – Francis‐Jones Morehen Thorp (fjmt)
Interior Architecture
John Verge Award
The Kinghorn Cancer Centre – BVN Donovan Hill
Architecture Award
Lilyfield Warehouse– Virginia Kerridge Architect
Commendations
85 Castlereagh St Sky Lobby & Entry – John Wardle Architects and Westfield Design and Construction
Woods Bagot Sydney Studio – Woods Bagot
Sustainable Architecture
Milo Dunphy Award
Darling Quarter –Francis‐Jones Morehen Thorp (fjmt) with Aspect Studios, Lend Lease, E.G.O. Group and Davenport Campbell
Architecture Awards
Waterloo Youth Family Community Centre –Collins and Turner with City of Sydney
Cowshed House – Carterwilliamson Architects
Residential Architecture – Houses
Wilkinson Award
Tír na nÓg – Drew Heath Architects (Alterations & Additions)
ALTERATIONS & ADDITIONS
Architecture Awards
Cowshed House– Carterwilliamson Architects
Balmain House – Fox Johnston
Commendations
Bellevue Hill Residence – Tzannes Associates
Lavender Bay Boatshed – Stephen Collier Architects
NEW
Architecture Awards
St Albans House – Rory Brooks Architects
Flipped House – Marsh Cashman Koolloos Architects
Stewart House – Chenchow Little Architects
Gordons Bay Residence – Madeleine Blanchfield Architects
Commendation
Angophora House – Richard Cole Architecture
Residential Architecture – Multiple Housing
Aaron Bolot Award
29–35 Prince Street Cronulla – Candalepas Associates
Architecture Awards
Iglu Central – Bates Smart
Silk Apartments – Tony Caro Architecture
Telopea Social Housing – Turner
Commendations
Little Bay – Francis‐Jones Morehen Thorp (fjmt)
The Majestic – Hill Thalis Architecture + Urban Projects
Small Project Architecture
Robert Woodward Award
Art Gallery of NSW Forecourt Upgrade – Johnson Pilton Walker
Architecture Award
Yurong Public Amenities – Government Architect’s Office
Commendations
Cook Park Amenities – Fox Johnston
Martian Embassy – LAVA (Laboratory for Visionary Architecture)
Crescent House – Andrew Burns Architect
Heritage
Greenway Award
Gowings and State Theatre Buildings Restoration and Hotel Conversion – Woodhead and Graham Brooks and Associates, Sydney
(Creative Adaptation)
CREATIVE ADAPTATION
Commendations
The Majestic – Hill Thalis Architecture + Urban Projects
Lavender Bay Boatshed – Stephen Collier Architects
CONSERVATION
Architecture Awards
Hyde Park Barracks – Reconstruction of Gate Lodge Domes –Clive Lucas Stapleton & Partners
Conservation of the Convict Superintendent’s House Cockatoo Island –Sydney Harbour Federation Trust
Award For Enduring Architecture
The AMP Building Sydney Cove – PTW Architects
COLORBOND® Award for Steel Architecture
Iglu Central –Bates Smart
Commendation
Cowshed House –Carterwilliamson Architects
Blacket Prize
Charles Sturt University National Life Sciences Hub– BVN Donovan Hill
NSW Premier’s Prize
Martian Embassy – LAVA (Laboratory for Visionary Architecture)
City of Sydney Lord Mayor’s Prize
Darling Quarter –Francis‐Jones Morehen Thorp (fjmt) with Aspect Studios and Lend Lease
NSW President’s Prize
Sean O’Toole – UrbanGrowth NSW
Emerging Architect Prize
Andrew Burns – Andrew Burns Architect
SPONSORED BY GEBERIT
Marion Mahony Griffin Prize
Helen Lochhead –Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority
Adrian Ashton Prize For Writing And Criticism
Laura Harding – Architecture Australia/Hill Thalis Architecture + Urban Projects
SPONSORED BY BATES SMART
David Lindner Prize
Nathan Etherington – Scale Architecture/University of Sydney
