A cellar door in Mudgee and a lakeside leisure centre in Urana are among the projects celebrated in the Australian Institute of Architects’ 2021 NSW Country Division Architecture Awards.
The jury said the award winners stood out for their broader contribution to their communities.
Winning the highest honour, the James Barnet Award, was Rosby Wines Cellar Door and Gallery in Mudgee by Cameron Anderson Architects, which also won a Commercial Architecture Award. The jury praised the project’s social, environmental and economic contribution to the region and its meaningful connection to Country.
“The holistic site response brings together the drought-resistant landscape design, impressive sustainable infrastructure and sympathetic built form interventions within a coherent masterplan vision,” the jury said.
Gawthorne’s Hut by Cameron Anderson Architects.
Image: Amber Hooper
Cameron Anderson Architects also won the Small Project Architecture Award for Gawthorne’s Hut, a two-person off-grid tourism experience within a working rural property 10 minutes from the centre of Mudgee.
The jury said the hut’s 42 square metres create “an inviting cocoon-like retreat providing a sustainable, cosy and a calm escape for its guests from day-to-day life.
“Gawthorne’s Hut rises from the earth in a dramatic soaring form and yet has a profound sense of calm and tranquillity providing counterpoint and retreat in its earthy-toned backdrop.”
The Urana Aquatic Leisure Centre by Regional Design Service won the Vision Award and a Public Architecture Commendation. The jury said that its “built form articulates an example of modest building typology into an outcome that offers so much more for the public than is normally delivered for community buildings of this type.”
In the residential sector, Aphora Architecture won awards for multiple projects: The Caretaker’s in Byron Bay received both the Timber Award and the Residential Architecture – Houses (Alterations and Additions) Award and Banksia House in Casuarina won the Residential Architecture – Houses (New) Award.
Urana Aquatic Leisure Centre by Regional Design Service.
Image: Nicholas Aylward
Jury chair Jasmine Richardson of Ekah Studio said it was exciting to see the calibre of work being undertaken throughout regional NSW, especially as more people move to the regions.
“The increased demand for housing, and associated infrastructure, rising construction prices and demand [means] now is a pertinent time for a discussion of how architects engage with the community and help shape an equitable built future,” she said.
“The jury felt that the winning and commended entries were a positive contribution to regional NSW, in this context.”
Also on the jury were Drew Heath, Ashley Dennis, Noel Thomson and Tina Perinotto.
The winners are:
James Barnet Award
Rosby Wines Cellar Door and Gallery – Cameron Anderson Architects
Public Architecture
Commendation
Urana Aquatic Leisure Centre – Regional Design Service
Commercial Architecture
Award
Rosby Wines Cellar Door and Gallery – Cameron Anderson Architects
Residential Architecture – Houses (Alterations and Additions)
Award
The Caretaker’s – Aphora Architecture
Residential Architecture – Houses (New)
Award
Banksia House – Aphora Architecture
Commendation
Wollumbin House – Harley Graham Architects
Small Project Architecture
Award
Gawthorne’s Hut – Cameron Anderson Architects
Timber Award
The Caretaker’s – Aphora Architecture
Vision Award
Urana Aquatic Leisure Centre – Regional Design Service
