2020 National Architecture Awards: The Sir Zelman Cowen Award for Public Architecture

Jury citation

The Anzac Memorial Centenary Extension has provided the Anzac Memorial with much-needed exhibition and education facilities, and reasserted its prominence in Sydney’s Hyde Park with a new forecourt and water cascade, a tribute to the 1930s vision of the memorial’s architect, C. Bruce Dellit. The memorial is an admired landmark but the original vision of cascading fountains to the south of the memorial had remained unrealized, until now.

The Centenary Extension looks beyond the brief to transform a subterranean extension into an integrated visitor experience. It takes the visitor on a journey from the bustling street down to a new formal court, the Hall of Service, the new facilities, and the original memorial halls beyond. This is a processional journey of the senses. The water cascade progressively dampens the city noise to focus the visitor on the essential nature of the memorial; the daylight through the courtyard oculus transforms the space throughout the days and seasons of the year; and the textural qualities achieved through the interplay of a refined palette of materials result in a respectful conversation with the original memorial.

In deference to the original pairing of Dellit and artist George Rayner Hoff, a collaboration between artist Fiona Hall and design architect Richard Johnson results in a singular experience of art and architecture. Collaboration between Johnson Pilton Walker and the Government Architect NSW made the project possible, including the adept execution of the enormous community project to gather earth from all corners of New South Wales and battle sites overseas to complete the artist’s vision. The Anzac Memorial Centenary Extension fulfils both traditional and contemporary architectural demands, artfully reinterpreting Dellit’s vision and reconnecting visitors with the Anzac spirit of collaboration and community in a living memorial fit for the twenty-first century.

Project credits

Architect Johnson Pilton Walker with the Government Architect NSW; Project team Richard Johnson, Paul van Ratingen, Matteo Salval, Kiong Lee, Peter Blome, Victor Au, Emma van Lint, Timothy Clare, Daniel Wainwright, Alex Prichard, Clemens Delheid, Lorenzo Mauloni, Heinrich Hoop, Riccardo Cola, Maria Rigoli, Josh Harrold, Oliver Ju, Jan Adcock, Peter Poulet, Paulo Macchia, Olivia Hyde, Bruce Pettman, Matthew Devine; Builder Built Holdings; Project manager Cadence; Building surveyor AAM; Engineer Taylor Thomson Whitting; BCA consultant and fire engineer AED; Hydraulic consultant Leisure Engineering; Services and lighting consultant Arup; Town planner MG Planning; Heritage consultants NSW Department of Finance, Services and Innovation – Heritage Asset Advisory, and Matt Devine and Co.; Acoustic consultant Marshall Day Acoustics; Aboriginal cultural impact assessment Australian Museum Consulting; Remediation and waterproofing consultant Diagnostech; Geotechnical consultant Douglas Partners; Accessibility consultant Morris Goding Access Consulting; Vertical transportation NDY; Kitchen design The Mack Group; Quantity surveyor WT Partnership; Construction management Time Planning; Arboriculture consultant Tree IQ; Artist Fiona Hall; Exhibition designer X Squared Design; Industrial designer Schremmer Crick Associates

Anzac Memorial Centenary Extension is located in Sydney, New South Wales, on the land of the Gadigal and Darug peoples of the Eora nation.