The 2025 Annual Australian Timber Design Award winners were recently announced at Rydges Melbourne CBD. Actress and sustainability campaigner Rebecca Gilling was MC for the evening. Rebecca announced Archer Office as the winner of the Grand Prix for their outstanding Boot Factory in Bondi Junction, NSW.

The Boot Factory is a striking example of how timber can breathe new life into a heritage structure. Originally built in 1892 and condemned before works began, the building has been transformed into a civic innovation hub using an adaptive reuse methodology. The designers have retained the original brick perimeter walls, and completely reconstructed the interior and roof with a new glue-laminated Australian hardwood structure.

The new columns and inverted floor system showcase the warmth and beauty of exposed Victorian Ash beams and planks, celebrating timber craftsmanship whilst also providing future flexibility. The roof was also entirely rebuilt, featuring an exposed solid timber structure of radial rafters that converge at a central skylight, drawing light deep into the space providing a direct visual connection to the sky.

Timber has been used as a bridge, uniting past and future, history and innovation. The result is a warm, durable interior that expresses structure, sustainability, and resilience through timber.

Sustainability was a key factor in every design decision, from heritage conservation to energy performance, material selection, and long-term adaptability. The project exemplifies circular thinking by preserving and repurposing the existing fabric where possible – the original 1890s brick perimeter walls were retained, stabilised, and celebrated, drastically reducing demolition waste and embodied carbon.

As a community and innovation hub, the Boot Factory demonstrates that heritage buildings can be reimagined as future-focused, low-impact civic infrastructure, impressively merging materiality and ecology.