The Steel Institute has announced the winners of the NSW-ACT round of the Steel Design Awards program.
Winners include the new School of Dentistry building at the Wagga Wagga campus of Charles Sturt University, which won for Buildings - Large Projects and was equal winner in the Steel Clad Structures category, sharing that accolade with the owners-designed Killen Falls House in northern NSW.
The Dentistry School was designed by Brewster Hjorth Architects who chose to prefabricate off-site and chose a steel structural and cladding system which reduced the construction time and reduced costs.
It was designed to incorporate advanced sustainability strategies to achieve a 5-Star Green Star rating (without certification) including a double skin ventilated roof, layered envelope with enhanced insulation, double glazing and sun shading.
Light steel framed structures support large steel trussed roofs over free standing component buildings clad in bright corrugated steel panels.
Killen Falls House from owners Peter and Stephanie Lane of Jackson Lane architecture employed use of steel for building elements including the primary structural framing, bathroom roof and as cladding material with many of the components prefabricated to ease construction issues on its hill location.
Killen Falls House. Photograph courtesy of the Steel Institute
The project and materials were described by the Steel Institute:
"Steel framing and cladding systems were selected for their low life cycle cost. All steel framing elements are either galvanised or inorganic zinc coated for long life and low maintenance. Similarly all external steel cladding is either Colorbond Ultra or Lyten 350 weathering steel. The use of steel also prevented the development of fungus and mould which is a major maintenance problem in such sub-tropical regions. It was constructed within the budgeted cost and timeframe."
The Milson Island Indoor Sports Stadium won the Small Projects Award for the design of a modular space that is able to be reduced in size and extended. This feature was particularly important to the building process as it meant a lot of the work could be completed off-site and barged to the site in pieces and bolted together.
Milson Island Sport and Recreation Centre. Photograph courtesy of Nic Bailey
The asymmetrical curve of the hall arose from practical considerations of wind load, bushfire protection and maintenance. The main curve directs wind over the roof, while the indented curves at the base scoop wind inside to naturally ventilate the hall. The continuous wall/roof shape dispenses with gutters, reducing maintenance and removing a bush-fire hazard.
The awards are organised every two years by the nation’s peak body representing the complete local steel supply chain the Australian Steel Institute (ASI), the winners of which go on to vie for national honours to be announced in Canberra this September.
