“You talk about architecture in a way that no one understands… It’s great!” Tim ‘Rosso’ Ross proclaimed, lightening the mood, as lightning brought moments of its own comic relief from outside. In contrast to the historically significant setting of the NSW Awards, set inside Sydney’s Town Hall, the modern Advanced Engineering Building (Richard Kirk Architect/Hassell) at the University of Queensland was an appropriate setting to celebrate some of Australia’s most significant contemporary talent. Highlighting the best architectural design by Australian architects in Australian and abroad.
After a tireless year, accessing the best projects the Australian architectural community had to offer, the esteemed awards jury (David Karotin (chair), Shelley Indyk, Peta Heffernan, Steve Grieve and Phillip Goad) could finally sit back and watch their selections receive the accolades they had worked so hard for. With an array of both new and established architects being commended for their efforts in the industry, it was truly inspiring to see the support and collective pride that was shared by everyone in the room.
Awarding excellence across health, education, culture, urban design, residential and heritage, a truly eclectic collection of architecture was displayed by some of Australia’s most brilliant and innovative minds. Each project in it’s respective category had a core theme that defined their success; collaboration… Collaboration between the architects, builders & clients was evident in all projects but it’s success was most evident in the large-scale projects such as 50 Martin Place & The Adelaide Oval Re-development, where the projects relied on a harmonious relationship between client, builder and architect to ensure the success of the project. While these larger projects more evidently exhibited the success of collaboration within the industry, the smaller projects similarly harnessed collaboration to extract excellence in their designs. The Planchonella House by architect/builder Jesse Bennett & Anne-Marie Bennett & #thebarntas by ‘workbylizandalex’, illustrated how youth and inspirational collaboration within a tightknit practice has the potential to produce architecture equally as inspiring as the largest firms in Australia.
The National Wwards shone a bright light on the future of Australian architecture while reminding the rest of the world of the sheer talent and passion abundant among Australian architects. Jury Chair, David Karotkin, summed up the nominees best in his article for this months ‘Architecture Australia’ p.25 vol 106 no.6, “These architects have demonstrated the benefits of embracing risk as a necessary ingredient in achieving genuine design innovation”.
To all award winners and to those nominated, your dedication to innovation and excellence in design inspires the youth of Australia to continue in this tradition of excellence, while continually pushing your fellow architects to greater heights within their own practice. All the nominees and winners have made us proud to be Australian, to be Architects, for that we must commend you.
Written by: Ben Cohen of Studio GL (New South Wales Event Correspondent for AWS)
Ben is a Sydney based Graduate Architect, who graduated from Sydney University with a Masters in Architecture. He recently begun work at Studio GL where he has been developing his interest in urban design; his role has involved developing graphic information, design and research for civic master planning and development of design principles for a range of projects relating to master planning and urban design.
