The 2024 Annual Australian Timber Design Award winners were recently announced at View by Sydney in Walsh Bay. Professor Greg Nolan from the University of Tasmania was MC for the evening who announced Bates Smart as the winner of the Grand Prix for their outstanding Embassy of Australia in Washington D.C.

The design of the new Embassy of Australia in Washington D.C. was complex, necessitating a delicate balance between cultural representation, iconic civic presence and practical security considerations. The inspiration came from Australia’s iconic landscape and embodies the essence of the vast continent. The building’s transparency was intended to capture the inherent Australian values of welcomeness and trust, while the interior’s expansive atmosphere embodies the vastness of the Australian landscape.

At the heart of the 20,000 square metre building, a large atrium serves as an orienting space displaying a powerful connection between the ground plane and the sky. This central atrium establishes a north south axial arrangement of representational spaces where every visitor is granted an equally immersive experience on entry.

The main representational spaces are defined by strong materiality with Australian timber wall panels, that provide both air reticulation and sound absorption, organised around a series of textured horizontal bands that transition from rough to smooth. This mirrors the protective qualities of the bark during the eucalypt forest’s cycle of growth, burn and regrowth. Intricate metallic filigree screens have been sensitively deployed to mediate the interplay of light and shadow in social breakout and office spaces