Bunjil Placeby FJMT & TTW

Winning Project Details -

Structural Engineer: Taylor Thomson Whitting

Fabricator: Hess Timber

Builder: Multiplex Global

Photographer: John Gollings, Andrew Chung, Trevor Mein

Location: Casey, Victoria

Award sponsor:

Project description:

Bunjil Place is a new form of community and civic building used as a library, a performance theatre, a public gathering space, a place of exhibition, gallery and display. The entrance foyer houses an impressive Glulam timber grid shell that dominates and defines the central atrium.
The use of wood defines a warm and innovative design emphasises the lightness of the roof through a fluid, organic geometry while reinforcing the open and welcoming nature of the complex to reach out to the public open space. The architectural intent was for the timber grid shell to appear weightless as it touched the ground at two points, as a form of wings, protecting and sheltering the community. The central theme was the interpretation of the land in the culture of Wurundjeri, Bunurong and Boon Wurrung people, the traditional owners and inhabitants of this land. The two stories inspired the architects ‘The Meeting of Many Paths’ and ‘Bunjil’ the eagle.
The non-load bearing shell design was made from geometrically complex 3D forms which required a detailed form-finding investigation to optimise the spatial model. As architecture, the building embraces new construction technology and innovation to express eternal and timeless themes true to the unique nature of this place.

Krakani Lumiby Mat Hinds - Taylor and Hinds Architects

Winning Project Details -

Builder: AJR Construct

Structural and Hydraulic Engineering: Aldanmark Consulting Engineers

Fabricator: Tasman Windows and Doors

Photographer: Adam Gibson

Location: Mount William, TAS

Award sponsor:

Project description:

This Standing Camp - krakani lumi (‘place of rest’), located in the Mount William National Park - wukalina is for the Aboriginal Land Council of Tasmania.
It serves as accommodation for a guided walk through the cultural landscape, from wukalina – Mt William, to larapuna - Eddystone Point.
The language of the project is derived from the siting, form and qualities of the traditional seasonal shelters of Tasmania’s first peoples. The project uses predominantly Tasmanian timber species, and rigorously deploys timber detailing, and finishing to achieve a consistent material palette throughout the project. Used as a story-telling device, the materiality of timber is used to support a spatial narrative of concealing and revealing a cultural interior, making architecture an agent to the Aboriginal community in the telling of their story.

All Hands Brewing Houseby Maddison Architects

Award Finalists:

Gordon Street Pavilion, Heyfield by Katz Architecture

Mac 01 Hotel by Circa Morris-Nunn Architects

Winning Project Details -

Structural Engineer: Perrett Simpson Builder: Erilyan

Fabricator: Erilyan

Photographer: DL Photography

Location: Sydney, NSW

Award sponsor:

Project description:

The rich maritime heritage of the location and the utility of the venue as a place to brew beer have influenced the design form and function. The design results in a mixture of production factory with references to maritime and shipbuilding techniques.
Most areas were stripped back to their raw shell and honestly expressed resulting in a palette of materials which are cold and harsh. The inclusion of wood was crucial in making this venue warm and inviting. Solid timber ‘planking’ treatments, more akin to traditional boatbuilding techniques, have been used to reinforce the robust factory-like nature of the place and its surrounding.
100 per cent of the timber used was from a certified source.

Northshore Pavilionby Anna O'Gorman Architect

Award Finalists:

Foredune House by Peter Stutchbury Architecture

Project Nymph by Zen Architects

Winning Project Details -

Structural Engineer: A.D. Structure

Fabricator: Kennedy’s Timbers

Builder: Charles Warren Construction

Photographer: Christopher Frederick Jones

Location: Brisbane, Queensland

Award sponsor:

Project description:

The Northshore Pavilion is a small public information and amenities building overlooking the Brisbane River and used to engage with the community to share future plans for Hamilton Reach, Queensland’s largest waterfront urban renewal precinct.
The structure incorporates a simple pitched roof shade structure that covers the information and amenities pods. The primary structure is made from recycled Grey Ironbark reused from the nearby demolished Hamilton wharves, providing some material continuity with the 19th-century piers and maritime context. The structure has been designed so that it can be unbolted and disassembled in panels and the ‘pods’ craned out by a truck.

Strongbuild Head Office by Fitzpatrick + Partners and Strongbuild

Award Finalists:

Banksia Apartments, NewQuay by McBride Charles Ryan

House MT by Kart Projects

Winning Project Details -

Structural Engineer: AECOM

Builder: Strongbuild

Fabricator: Strongbuild

Photographer: John Gollings

Location: Sydney, NSW

Award sponsor:

Project description:

A unique, architecturally designed head office building for Strongbuild at their Bella Vista factory. The fitout of the two storeys, 600m office space leverages off the exposed CLT and Glulam structure with a visual grade finish to minimise the requirements of internal finishes. This commercial office space also doubles as a showroom for what can be achieved by utilising CLT and Glulam.
A feature staircase made from CLT and Glulam on solid Tasmanian Blackwood hangers along with blacked out services contrast to the white colouring of the European Spruce timber. Tasmanian Blackwood timbers are also utilised throughout, including the reception desk, boardroom cabinetry, the bathroom fitout for wall panels and toilet partitions.
All the timber elements within the building, including finished structure, acoustic treatments, feature staircase and batons, joinery, workstations and cabinetry were designed, documented and processed within their manufacturing facility on site.

Barangaroo Houseby Collins and Turner Architects

Award Finalists:

Foredune House by KPeter Stutchbury Architecture

Hatherlie by Andrew Simpson Architects

Winning Project Details -

Structural Engineer: Arcadis

Builder: Lendlease

Fabricator: Onsite Group

Photographer: Rory Gardiner Studio

Location: Sydney, NSW

Award sponsor:

Project description:

102 The Millby Carter Williamson Architects

Award Finalists:

Banksia Apartments, NewQuay by McBride Charles Ryan

House MT by Kart Projects

Winning Project Details -

Structural Engineer: Cardno

Builder: Andrew Burton Constructions

Photographer: Brett Boardman

Location: Sydney, NSW

Award sponsor:

Project description:

An old and well-used timber mill warehouse has been transforming into a generous, spatially interesting, and sophisticated home. 102 The Mill preserves and celebrates the industrial and varied character of Balmain, by showcasing the original, recycled and new timber used throughout the house to pay both homages to the buildings initial use and to set an example for the adaptive reuse of an existing building into a warm, character-filled home.
The floor is in two parts; a new tongue and grooved Grey Ironbark floor installed on the lower level while the existing timber floor has been retained on the upper levels of the house. The Grey Ironbark flooring adds to the warm character of the home. Part of the original flooring was damaged in a fire in the 1980’s, and the fire-damaged timber flooring was reused as feature fencing in the first level courtyard.

Freycinet Lodge Coastal Pavilionsby Liminal Architecture

Award Finalists:

Strongbuild Head Office by Fitzpatrick & Partners and Strongbuild

The Arena by Himmelzimmer

Winning Project Details -

Structural Engineer: Gandy and Roberts Consulting Engineers

Builder: Cordwell Lane Building

Fabricator: Mint Joinery

Photographer: Dianna Snape and Alastair Bett

Location: Freycinet National Park, Tasmania

Award sponsor:

Project description:

The inspiration for the architecture and interiors of the nine pavilions is influenced by the unique coastal setting in Freycinet National Park. The siting and form-making take its cue from the fluidity and interplay of the coastal rock formations, while the materiality responds to context and place.
The designer intended to be discreet and present a quiet response to its immediate context. Timber was selected as the most appropriate material for the structure and for the external and internal coverings. The pavilions reveal themselves on approach with charred Red Ironbark cladding forming a protective envelope, selected for its ember proofing, durable, natural and textural qualities.
The interior walls are lined with Tasmanian Oak offcuts or differing thickness, and locally produced plywood was used for the floor and ceiling, bathing the interiors with the warmth from the Tasmanian timbers used.

Bunjil Placeby fjmt

Award Finalists:

Ol Be-al by FMD Architects

Strongbuild Head Office by Fitzpatrick + Partners and Strongbuild

Winning Project Details -

Structural Engineer: Taylor Thomson Whitting

Fabricator: Hess Timber

Builder: Multiplex Global

Photographer: John Gollings, Andrew Chung, Trevor Mein

Location: Casey, Victoria

Award sponsor:

Project description:

Bunjil Place is a new form of community and civic building used as a library, a performance theatre, a public gathering space, a place of exhibition, gallery and display. The entrance foyer houses an impressive Glulam timber grid shell that dominates and defines the central atrium.
The use of wood defines a warm and innovative design emphasises the lightness of the roof through a fluid, organic geometry while reinforcing the open and welcoming nature of the complex to reach out to the public open space. The architectural intent was for the timber grid shell to appear weightless as it touched the ground at two points, as a form of wings, protecting and sheltering the community. The central theme was the interpretation of the land in the culture of Wurundjeri, Bunurong and Boon Wurrung people, the traditional owners and inhabitants of this land. The two stories inspired the architects ‘The Meeting of Many Paths’ and ‘Bunjil’ the eagle.
The non-load bearing shell design was made from geometrically complex 3D forms which required a detailed form-finding investigation to optimise the spatial model. As architecture, the building embraces new construction technology and innovation to express eternal and timeless themes true to the unique nature of this place.

Cabarita Park Conservatoryby Sam Crawford Architects

Award Finalists:

Kihilla by James Thomas Barclay

Somers Beach House by Adrian Bonomi Architect

Winning Project Details -

Structural Engineer: Northrop Consulting

Builder: Rapid Construction

Fabricator: Artarmon Joinery

Photographer: Brett Boardman

Location: Sydney, NSW

Award sponsor:

Project description:

Extensive glazing is a distinguishing feature of the Cabarita Conservatory and forms the light feel of the ‘pavilion in the park’. Sitting lightly amongst the trees and providing generous gathering spaces within and between adjoining the buildings. A spectacular Moreton Bay Fig tree frames an outdoor gathering space to the west while the elevated public hall enjoys glimpses of the Parramatta River to the east.
The conservatory is designed to be used as a real community space bringing together diverse groups of residents, interest groups and visitors. Utilising robust and straightforward materials of timber, steel and glass, the real language of the building references the park and community buildings local to Sydney’s waters edges. The fixed and sliding door and window joinery are made from Spotted Gum and 6.25mm laminated glass. This glazing system was specified for its transparent appearance, strength and ease of replacement if necessary.

Foredune Houseby Peter Stutchbury Architecture

Award Finalists:

Eaglemont House by Pleysier Perkinis

House A by Walter and Walter

House MT by Kart Projects

Shrouded House by BKK Architects

The Shed by Anderson Architecture

Winning Project Details -

Structural Engineer: Halcrow and Associates

Builder: Gecko Homes

Photographer: Michael Nicholson

Location: McMasters Beach, NSW

Award sponsor:

Project description:

The house located at the meeting of two waterways amongst the sand dunes of a central NSW surf beach. The location inspired the building’s forms, accommodating the forces of the natural landscape, the building becomes an extension of the dune that it sits in. The design of the house is an honest timber post-and-beam structure, once a common form of construction in Australia. Blackbutt, as it is ready availability and durability timber, has been chosen for the post-beam structure.
Spotted Gum screens are used to express a box that sits within the structure. Dressed Spotted Gum is used internally while rough sawn is applied externally, giving a variation in colour and texture that produces a conscious, inside and outside of the building.
The exterior timber cladding consists of an exposed Blackbutt primary structure with a Spotted Gum batten screen fixed to the exterior of level two, forming the cocooned sleeping box. For softness, the flooring and joinery are produced from recycled Oregon (Douglas Fir), contrasting with the Blackbutt and Spotted Gum.

Hatherlieby Andrew Simpson Architects

Award Finalists:

102 The Mill by Carter Williamson Architects

Blue Magnolia by MGArchitecture.Interiors

Charred Wood House by Jane Riddell Architects

Limerick House by Solomon Troup Architects

Winning Project Details -

Structural Engineer: 4Site Engineers

Builder: Overend Constructions

Fabricator: Overend Constructions

Photographer: Shannon McGrath

Location: SNorth Fitzroy, Victoria

Award sponsor:

Project description:

Hatherlie is a late 19th-century terrace house of heritage significance, located in the inner city suburb of North Fitzroy. The additions include new living, kitchen, meals, laundry and study areas, while the front portion of the house was fully restored.
The built interventions incorporate a formal geometry that creates varied spatial experiences, expansion and contraction horizontally and vertically, reinforced by a series of stepped courtyards. The new living room extension mirrors the roof profile of the gabled roof of the front façade and becomes a raised platform, analogous to a hill, offering extended views to the garden.
Charred Silvertop Ash was used as the external cladding system for the new extensions to the existing, heritage listed, brick residence. The Silvertop Ash was charred to reduce the maintenance and to gently age over time. Fixed with handmade copper nails that allowed to patina with age. Contrasting this light coloured Western Red Cedar, and American Oak was used in the interior of the ceiling, wall linings and joinery.

Mac 01 Hotelby Circa Morris-Nunn Architects

Award Finalists:

Aveo Norwest by Jackson Teece, TTW and Strongbuild

Krakani Lumi by Taylor and Hinds Architects

Lake Tahune Hut by Green Design Architects

No Two The Same by Melbourne Design Studios

Winning Project Details -

Structural Engineer: Gandy & Roberts Consulting Engineers

Builder: VOS constructions

Photographer: Adam Gibson

Location: Hobart, Tasmania

Award sponsor:

Project description:

A new 114 suite hotel constructed occupies precisely the same footprint of a former warehouse and quarantine shed. The hotel’s architectural form is a contemporary expression of the old timber warehouses that used to be the vernacular buildings which defined Hobart’s waterfront. The heavy timber framing forming the external balconies is a contemporary visual metaphor referencing these old piers’ robust, no-frills construction, but now adapted to suit a very different function.
The central core of the building is made from steel and concrete but wherever possible infilled with timber framing and joists. The building is cladding with Cypress, chosen for its robust character and its ability to grey naturally and age gracefully, even in an exposed marine environment. Internally timber is used to give ‘life’ to the interior spaces. A large central vertical atrium runs through the central spaces on each level, opening up the central corridor to natural daylight from above. A large raking duct cover forms a series of dramatic elements as a way of giving scale and drama to this public corridor. Raking Tasmanian Oak veneered plywood sheeting defines this volume along its length.

Bunjil Placeby FJMT & TTW

Award Finalists:

Barangaroo House by Collins and Turner Architects

Cabarita Park Conservatory by Sam Crawford Architects

Cranbrook School Wolgan Valley by Andrew Burns Architecture

Meyer Timber Warehouse by Nicholas and Alexander Architects and TGA Engineers

Strongbuild Head Office by Fitzpatrick + Partners and Strongbuild

Winning Project Details -

Structural Engineer: Taylor Thomson Whitting

Fabricator: Hess Timber

Builder: Multiplex Global

Photographer: John Gollings, Andrew Chung, Trevor Mein

Location: Casey, Victoria

Award sponsor:

Project description:

Bunjil Place is a new form of community and civic building used as a library, a performance theatre, a public gathering space, a place of exhibition, gallery and display. The entrance foyer houses an impressive Glulam timber grid shell that dominates and defines the central atrium.
The use of wood defines a warm and innovative design emphasises the lightness of the roof through a fluid, organic geometry while reinforcing the open and welcoming nature of the complex to reach out to the public open space. The architectural intent was for the timber grid shell to appear weightless as it touched the ground at two points, as a form of wings, protecting and sheltering the community. The central theme was the interpretation of the land in the culture of Wurundjeri, Bunurong and Boon Wurrung people, the traditional owners and inhabitants of this land. The two stories inspired the architects ‘The Meeting of Many Paths’ and ‘Bunjil’ the eagle.
The non-load bearing shell design was made from geometrically complex 3D forms which required a detailed form-finding investigation to optimise the spatial model. As architecture, the building embraces new construction technology and innovation to express eternal and timeless themes true to the unique nature of this place.

Roscommon Houseby Neil Cownie Architect

Award Finalists:

102 The Mill by Carter Williamson Architects

Bulleen Residence by Urbourne Architecture

Old Be-al by FMD Architects

The New Benison by Eco Design Architects and Against the Grain Building and Renovating

Zinc Houses by LLDS

Winning Project Details -

Structural Engineer: Calibre Consulting

Builder: Mosman Bay Construction

Fabricator: Abbott’solutely Timber

Photographer: Michael Nicholson

Location: Perth, Western Australia

Award sponsor:

Project description:

Roscommon House is constructed primarily from concrete and despite being appearing as a concrete building from the outside, the house’s interiors are remarkably warm, a result achieved through the extensive use of timber.
The architect faced with the brutal aesthetic of the concrete surfaces soften the interiors with timber, along with sparing use of brass and stone. Wood is in the form for Scotia lining boards, used predominately on the surfaces of the walls, ceilings and joinery. To further offset the harsh concrete and tiled surfaces, curves were introduced in the form of the undulating ceiling, curved ends to walls or door entrances, as well as recesses to the joinery pieces.
Extensive use of engineered European Oak timber flooring further relieves the cold concrete surfaces and providing the most part for the warmth of the building has. The craftsmanship in the use of timber can be furthermore seen where the flooring has been carried up into the cabinetwork, as well as the staircases.

Strongbuild Head Office Internal Fitoutby Fitzpatrick & Partners and Strongbuild

Award Finalists:

All Hands Brewing House by Maddison Architects

Maddison Architects by Bettina Steffens in collaboration with Hayball

Compass Small Office Fit Out by DDC Architecture + Interior Design

The Retreat by JAWS Architects

Winning Project Details -

Structural Engineer: AECOM

Fabricator: Strongbuild

Builder: Strongbuild

Photographer: John Gollings

Location: Sydney, NSW

Award sponsor:

Project description:

A unique, architecturally designed head office building for Strongbuild at their Bella Vista 2 factory. The fitout of the two storeys, 600m office space leverages off the exposed CLT and Glulam structure with a visual grade finish to minimise the requirements of internal finishes. This commercial office space also doubles as a showroom for what can be achieved by utilising CLT and Glulam.
A feature staircase made from CLT and Glulam on solid Tasmanian Blackwood hangers along with blacked out services contrast to the white colouring of the European Spruce timber. Tasmanian Blackwood timbers are also utilised throughout, including the reception desk, boardroom cabinetry, the bathroom fitout for wall panels and toilet partitions.
All the timber elements within the building, including finished structure, acoustic treatments, feature staircase and batons, joinery, workstations and cabinetry were designed, documented and processed within their manufacturing facility on site.

The Ian Potter Children’s WILD PLAY Gardenby Aspect Studios

Award Finalists:

Armstrong Regional Park by MDG Landscape Architects

Jo Wheatley Playground by Architects of Arcadia

Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens Lily Pads by Inspiring Place

Scarborough Beach Park Southern Upgrade by Aspect Studios

Winning Project Details -

Structural Engineer: Lindsay Dynan Consulting Engineers

Fabricator: Fleetwood Urban

Builder: Design Landscapes

Photographer: Brett Boardman

Location: Sydney, NSW

Award sponsor:

Project description:

This WILD PLAY Garden is a botanical wonderland which encourages children to open their minds to imaginative play in nature. Unique timber features are vital to the design, drawing people in and forming an integral part of the play experience.
‘The treehouse’ includes ‘nest’ lookouts that are accessible by a series of timber platforms, a swing bridge and stepped log. The upper nest features a timber curved spine, made from short hardwood pieces linked together with threaded rods. A giant slide leaves the top nest and weaves through bamboo planting down to the forest floor below. An assembly of large Grey Box planks and called ‘The Eel’, sweep through established fig trees to create a series of balance elements that evoke the skeleton of the famed Centennial Park Eel. Children climb over it and play in the sandpit which is framed by the eel’s mouth.
Native Australian hardwoods Grey Box, Spotted Gum and Blackbutt were chosen for their natural beauty and endurance and to foster a love of timber in new generations. The play space illustrates how landscape architecture can inspire a deep love and respect of nature in children, ultimately leading to advocacy and stewardship of natural systems and a more resilient and harmonious future.

Northshore Pavilionby Anna O'Gorman Architect

Award Finalists:

IMBY Kit by Adriano Pupilli Architects

Shape Shifter - The Works Showroom by Alexander Symes Architect

Textile Café by LLDS

Winning Project Details -

Structural Engineer: A.D. Structure

Fabricator: Kennedy’s Timbers

Builder: Charles Warren Construction

Photographer: Christopher Frederick Jones

Location: Brisbane, Queensland

Award sponsor:

Project description:

The Northshore Pavilion is a small public information and amenities building overlooking the Brisbane River and used to engage with the community to share future plans for Hamilton Reach, Queensland’s largest waterfront urban renewal precinct. The client’s brief requested that the structure is designed and built to be demountable with the potential to be re-erected for use elsewhere at some future date.
The structure incorporates a simple pitched roof shade assembly that covers the information and amenities pods. The primary structure is made from timber so that it can be unbolted and disassembled in panels and the ‘pods’ were designed to be crane out by a truck. The wood used is recycled grey Ironbark located from the demolished Hamilton wharves.
While the high shade-structure assists way-finding to the Pavilion, the raised deck increases the visitors’ awareness of the river as its entry both steps and ramps offer up views out over water activities.

Melbourne Office Interior Arena Joinery by Himmelzimmer

Award Finalists:

Bulleen Residence by Urbourne Architecture

Roscommon House by Neil Cownie Architect

Treecycle by Neil Cownie Architect

Winning Project Details -

Builder: Probuild

Fabricator: Probuild

Photographer: Chris Mugeli, Martin Leitch, Dirk Zimmermann and Probuild

Location: Melbourne, Victoria

Award sponsor:

Project description:

The free-form sculpted landscape furniture incorporating double-sided seating to facilitate several parallel activities; a presentation ‘in the round’ theatre, a small bar to serve drinks during events and perimeter seating creating a series of smaller ‘external’ meeting zones adjacent to existing windows.
Through the use of profiled plywood panels, a smooth undulating form is created, giving out warm timber tones to create a deliberate contrast to the existing commercial office environment. To create the form 18mm Birch plywood panels have been Computer Numerical Controlled cut into the appropriate shapes and spaced at 38mm centres. This plywood has sufficient structural strength to facilitate lap joints thus allowing the use of standard plywood panels to create larger continuous shapes as required in areas of more extensive double-sided seating.
Through the use of circular 18mm plywood spacers, standard self-drilling timber screws are used as fixings between each panel. Once cut to size the plywood edges were sanded and finished in a matt clear varnish to ensure that the seating was protected, smooth and comfortable. The joinery was pre-fabricated in sections, facilitating easy disassembly on site to enable possible relocation in the future.

IMBY Kitby Adriano Pupilli Architects

Award Finalists:

Compass Small Office Fit Out by DDC Architecture + Interior Design

Laneway Studio by McGregor Westlake Architecture

Old Waratah Road House by Old Waratah Road House

Shape Shifter - The Works Showroom by Alexander Symes Architect

Textile Café by LLDS

Winning Project Details -

Structural Engineer: Taylor Thomson Whitting

Fabricator: Hess Timber

Builder: Multiplex Global

Photographer: John Gollings, Andrew Chung, Trevor Mein

Location: Casey, Victoria

Award sponsor:

Project description:

IMBY stands for In My Back Yard. It is a building kit that encapsulates the simplicity and elegance of ancient woodworking techniques with the efficiency and sustainability of digital fabrication and renewable resources, to provide occupants with an easy to assemble and low- cost space solution that can be configure, and re-configure to the client’s needs.
At the heart of the IMBY is a 600mm x 2,850mm structural module made up of certified plantation pine plywood layered up to form a series of portal frames that support the roof, wall and floor claddings and linings. Each portal frame uses interlocking mortise and tenon joints. The 600mm long bays can be added or subtracted as spatial needs dictate, or multiple modules can be placed side-by-side to extend floor area or provide a series of pavilions in the landscape. The cladding consists of Western Red Cedar weatherboards charred in Yakisugi or shou sugi ban technique.

Krakani Lumiby Mat Hinds - Taylor and Hinds Architects

Award Finalists:

Compass Small Office Fit Out by Shilpa Mohan - Compass Small Office Fit Out

Limerick House by Lachlan Troup - Solomon Troup Architects

Maitland Riverlink by Joshua Zoeller - CHROFI

Melbourne Office Interior Arena Joinery by Chris Mugeli and Emre Icdem - Himmelzimmer

Treecycle by Ben Percy - Ben Percy Designs

Winning Project Details -

Archtitect: Taylor and Hinds Architects

Structural Engineer: Aldanmark Consulting Engineers

Fabricator: Tasman Windows and Doors

Builder: ARJ Construct

Photographer: Adam Gibson

Location: Mount William National Park, Tasmania

Award sponsor:

Project description:

The Stand Camp - krakani lumi meaning ‘place of rest’, is located in the Mount William National Park. It serves as accommodation for a guided walk through the cultural landscape, from wukalina – Mt William, to larapuna - Eddystone Point.
The language of the project is derived from the siting, form and qualities of the traditional seasonal shelters of Tasmania’s first peoples that were predominantly made of arched branches and sheets of bark, forming a half-dome structures. Clad in charred Tasmanian timber, the individual structures appear as a series of discrete dark pavilions, merging as shadows into the surrounding dense banksia, camouflaging the camp when it is not in use. The exterior of the individual structures of the Standing Camp buildings are robust, tautly detailed and resilient to the corrosive sea air and to tampering. When the individual structures are opened, a warm half- domed blackwood-lined interior is exposed.
The project predominantly uses Tasmanian timber species and rigorously deploys timber detailing, and finishing to achieve a consistent material palette throughout the project. Used as a story-telling device, the materiality of wood is used to support a spatial narrative of concealing and revealing a refined interior, making architecture an agent to the Aboriginal community in the telling of their story.

Meyer Timber Warehouseby Nicholas & Alexander Architects and TGA Engineers

Award Finalists:

Aveo Norwest by Jackson Teece, TTW and Strongbuild

Bunjil Place by fjmt

IMBY Kit by Adriano Pupilli Architects

Winning Project Details -

Structural Engineer: TGA Engineers

Fabricator: Timber Imagineering

Builder: Commercial and Industrial Properties

Photographer: JTGA Engineers

Location: Penrith, NSW

Award sponsor:

Project description:

Timber Warehouse and Distribution Centre for Australian timber merchant, Meyer Timber. Designed by Meyer and PNA Architects, the building attests to the use of engineered timber in large industrial projects as an economically viable alternative to more traditional steel buildings. The building covering 20,000m2, uses 1,200mm deep LVL box beams in a two propped portal frame configuration, spanning more than 96m. The portal frames are spaced at 15.2m with 600mm deep LVL box beam purlins spanning between the portal frames.
In front of the shed is a 1,000m2 corporate office, manufactured from the prefabricated wall, floor and roof panels, called TBS. This building required a clear span of 9.0m to optimise the office geometries. The office structure was erected in just three and a half days.
The structure includes two innovative timber systems, both independently demonstrating the ability of engineered timber in two quite diverse applications.

Aveo Norwestby Jackson Teece, TTW and Strongbuild

Award Finalists:

Jordan Springs Community Hub by Davenport Campbell & Partners

Lake Tahune Hut by Green Design Architects

L-house by Alexander Symes Architect

Winning Project Details -

Structural Engineer: Thomas Taylor Whitting

Fabricator: Strongbuild

Builder: Strongbuild

Photographer: TTW and Strongbuild

Location: Sydney, NSW

Award sponsor:

Project description:

A 10-storey residential apartment building made from Cross Laminated Timber and Glulam. The project aspires to raise the bar by not only providing a superior amenity to the end-user but also to push the boundaries of what is perceived as possible in mass timber design and construction technology. The client’s brief was for efficient construction and a high-quality structure beyond a ‘standard box’, dictated no compromise to apartment layouts or building design in favour of specific prefabrication or mass timber construction requirements. Planning and design of the building, including the curved and seemingly cantilevered balconies, required an innovative hybrid construction approach, utilising CLT slabs and walls, glulam beams and structural steel.
The project neatly encapsulates the significant environmental benefits that engineered timber construction provides. The 3,600m3 PEFC certified CLT has stored approximately 630 tonnes of carbon or equivalent to 2,310 tonnes of sequestered CO2 and reduced the project’s CO2 emissions by about 2,700 tonnes compared to conventional construction methods. Furthermore, the use of offsite prefabrication has helped to significantly reduce energy and water consumption, and on-site waste was reduced by over 70 per cent. The lower mass of CLT enabled a much leaner design of concrete footings and transfer structure in the ground level and throughout the structure, further reducing the use of reinforced concrete. This lower mass also helped to minimise transport requirements, truck movements and crane sizes.
More broadly, the use of energy efficient design has been fundamental to the project’s success. The building’s façade articulation aids natural ventilation by creating different pressure zones along the face. Zonal control of mechanical ventilation helps to reduce energy use, and all residential corridors have access to natural light and ventilation. The high level of accuracy and airtightness that mass timber provides has significantly reduced ongoing operational costs for heating and cooling.