2013 National Architecture Awards: Interior

Jury citation

The Translational Research Institute is a vast complex of exceptional interior architecture that honours the work of scientific researchers.

The building is arranged around an enormous, shaded, lush garden. The cool, indoor–outdoor room of domestic Queensland architecture is supersized with great success to create a working facility that has some of the richness, intimacy, tactility and garden outlook of a bespoke house. Generous circulation is organized around this transparent core of the facility, enabling casual encounters and visual connections across the entire scheme. Corridors are wide and lined in casual bespoke seating. Ceiling heights step up from periphery to void, and clear views of the length and breadth of the building are maintained.

The interior has a strong material language and hierarchy, making its program incredibly legible in spite of the scale. Public and collaborative spaces have a warm materiality and density of fine detailing. Collaborative workspaces transition to the cool, clinical rationality of the laboratories in a finely considered and humane way. A preponderance of striking lamps enlivens the spaces with an unexpected whimsicality and reinforces the legibility of the organization.

There is a high level of consideration and custom design throughout the interiors – custom-designed furniture and joinery feature throughout. Motifs are repeated throughout the building, appearing as reliefs, and at multiple scales, creating a satisfying sense of richness and unity as the whole.

The resounding success of the interior architecture is that it has achieved such clear hierarchical legibility at a monumental scale without any sense of monotony. Across every part, the detail is rich, considered, intelligent and rigorous and it is a completely delightful place to be.

Read the project review by Brit Andresen for Architecture Australia.