The largest Passive House-certified building in the southern hemisphere was awarded Australia’s highest honour for public architecture at the Australian Institute of Architects 2021 National Architecture Awards.
Marking the 40th anniversary of the awards program, jury chair Alice Hampson said, “These awards attest to our profession’s inventiveness, imagination, pulchritude and multiplicity.
“Collectively, this year’s awarded works exhibit the richness, intelligence, viscerality, complexity, individuality and delight of which Australian architecture is capable.”
The Monash Woodside Building for Technology and Design by Grimshaw in collaboration with Monash University was one of the most awarded projects on the night, receiving both the Sir Zelman Cowen Award for Public Architecture and the David Oppenheim Award for Sustainable Architecture. The project sets Monash University on a path towards net-zero carbon emissions by 2030.
“The universality provided to this building through structure, daylight and amenity, through order in the plan and poetry in the whole, brings to light the architectural discipline like no other building […] this year,” the jury noted.
Elsewhere in the awards, Smart Design Studio’s own office also took home double accolades of the Harry Seidler Award for Commercial Architecture and the Emil Sodersten Award for Interior Architecture, as well as a national award for sustainable architecture.
The awards were announced in The 2021 jury comprised Alice Hampson (chair, immediate past president of the Australian Institute of Architects, and director at Alice Hampson Architect), Angelo Candalepas (director at Candalepas Associates), Cameron Bruhn (head of school and dean at the School of Architecture, The University of Queensland), Ingrid Richards (director at Richards and Spence), and Robert Nation (director at Nation Architects).
The winners are:
Public Architecture
The Sir Zelman Cowen Award
Monash Woodside Building for Technology and Design – Grimshaw in collaboration with Monash University
National Awards
Australian Museum Project Discover – Cox Architecture with Neeson Murcutt and Neille
Gunyama Park Aquatic and Recreation Centre – Andrew Burges Architects and Grimshaw with TCL in collaboration with the City of Sydney
Residential Architecture – Houses (New)
The Robin Boyd Award
Night Sky – Peter Stutchbury Architecture
The Robin Boyd Award for Residential Architecture - Houses (New): Night Sky by Peter Stutchbury Architecture
Image: Michael Nicholson
National Awards
Bunkeren– James Stockwell Architect
Pearl Beach House–Polly Harbison Design
Residential Architecture – Houses (Alterations and Additions)
The Eleanor Cullis-Hill Award
Beaconsfield House – Simon Pendal Architect
The Eleanor Cullis-Hill Award for Residential Architecture - Houses (Alterations and Additions): Beaconsfield House by Simon Pendal Architect.
Image: Robert Frith
National Award
Beck Street – Lineburg Wang
National Commendation
The Hat Factory – Welsh and Major Architects
Residential Architecture – Multiple Housing
The Frederick Romberg Award
The Lothian – Kennedy Nolan
The Frederick Romberg Award for Residential Architecture - Multiple Housing: The Lothian by Kennedy Nolan
Image: Derek Swalwell
Educational Architecture
The Daryl Jackson Award
Barker College Rosewood Centre – Neeson Murcutt and Neille
The Daryl Jackson Award for Educational Architecture: Barker College Rosewood Centre by Neeson Murcutt and Neille
Image: Rory Gardiner
National Award
Penleigh and Essendon Grammar School Music House – McBride Charles Ryan
National Commendation
Geelong College Junior School – John Wardle Architects
Interior Architecture
The Emil Sodersten Award
Smart Design Studio – Smart Design Studio
The Emil Sodersten Award for Interior Architecture: Smart Design Studio by Smart Design Studio
Image: Romello Pereira
National Commendation
Divided House – Jackson Clements Burrows Architects
Commercial Architecture
The Harry Seidler Award
Smart Design Studio – Smart Design Studio
National Awards
Land 121 Facilities Project, Lavarack Barracks – BVN
Wangaratta Street – MA Architects
Sustainable Architecture
The David Oppenheim Award
Monash Woodside Building for Technology and Design – Grimshaw in collaboration with Monash University
The David Oppenheim Award for Sustainable Architecture: Monash Woodside Building for Technology and Design by Grimshaw in collaboration with Monash University
Image: Rory Gardiner
National Award
Smart Design Studio – Smart Design Studio
Heritage
The Lachlan Macquarie Award
Bendigo Former Mining Exchange – Williams Boag Architects
The Lachlan Macquarie Award for Heritage: Bendigo Former Mining Exchange by Williams Boag Architects
Image: Fred Kroh
National Award
Australian Museum Project Discover – Cox Architecture with Neeson Murcutt and Neille
Urban Design
The Walter Burley Griffin Award
Sub Base Platypus – Lahznimmo Architects and Aspect Studios
The Walter Burley Griffin Award for Urban Design: Sub Base Platypus by Lahznimmo Architects and Aspect Studios
Image: Ben Guthrie
National Commendation
QUT Campus to Country – BVN
Small Project Architecture
National Commendations
Floating Sauna Derby – Licht Architecture
Jackalope Pavilion – March Studio
Plastic Palace – Raffaello Rosselli Architect
International Architecture
The Jørn Utzon Award
One and Only Desaru Coast, Malaysia – Kerry Hill Architects
The Jørn Utzon Award for International Architecture: One and Only Desaru Coast, Malaysia by Kerry Hill Architects
Image: Nick Puah
Colorbond Award for Steel Architecture
Land 121 Facilities Project, Lavarack Barracks – BVN
Enduring Architecture
Olympic Swimming Pool – Kevin Borland, John and Phyllis Murphy and Peter McIntryre, with engineer Bill Irwin
National Emerging Architect Prize
People’s Choice Award
Federal House – Edition Office
