TASMANIA’S BEST ARCHITECTURE!

Liminal_Spaces_TAS_AIA_awards_2012.pdf

Governor Peter Underwood also gave an enlightening speech on the importance of architecture and the positive impact it can have on communities:
http://www.govhouse.tas.gov.au/sites/default/files/australian_institute_of_architects_awards_dinner.pdf

The full awards list:

2012 Tasmanian Architecture Awards Citations
Colorbond Award for Steel Architecture
The Shearer’s Quarters
John Wardle Architects
The Architect is given this award for the use of steel in less common yet beautiful ways that demonstrate the
versatility and sculptural possibilities of the material. Externally, galvanised corrugated sheet has been skilfully
used as cladding and roofing in a contextual dialogue with the local rural shed structures and perhaps the
silver grey of the moody Storm Bay. Refined edges and precise alignments reward closer inspection and
extend beyond familiar contemporary uses of the material. Internally, steel is delightfully crafted for the little
things – the ribbon like fire place and hearth, the dangling bookcase, the boot rack, the axe door handle and
the fire poker together form a collection of playful adventures with steel work as joinery. Combined, the result
has an original quality that stems from an intimate understanding of steel as a material and its potential.

Commercial Architecture Commendation
Aboriginal Children’s Centre
Tim Penny Architecture + Interiors
In the design of the Aboriginal Children’s Centre, Tim Penny Architecture + Interiors has created a respectful
architectural response to a contested site that has long eluded constructive collaboration between Aboriginal
and other Tasmanian communities. Internal spaces accommodating pre-school children, administration and
community facilities are arranged around a landscaped representation of Country. This play-scape, while
providing delight and discovery at face value, embodies a deeper layer of storytelling and meaning. The
vibrant and active Centre is clearly embraced and valued by the Aboriginal community it serves, and is a source
of ongoing community pride and intergenerational engagement with their land.

Commercial Architecture Commendation
Devonport Surf Life Saving Club Redevelopment
Jawsarchitects
This building – a large scale work for the area – is appropriate given the client’s brief for an iconic building
representing the important local surf life saving culture. This aim is well handled by the overall folding form
and the plan’s gesture to the headland. The intriguing sculpted form provides an important ‘back rest’ to
shelter from the howling westerlies off Bass Strait, and other sheltering nooks and dramatic openings to
maximise the potential of the site. The contrast between the hard polished exterior and warm textured
interior mimics the intent of the building to resist the elements externally whilst sheltering internally, and
many of the interior spaces are richly volumetric, following the folds of the roof.

Enduring Architecture Award
Former Reserve Bank Building, 111 Macquarie Street Hobart
1969 – 1977
Designed by the Commonwealth Department of Works, R.M. Ure (Senior Assistant, Director-
General), J.D. Alterton (Assistant, Director-General Banks) and P. Tate (Project Architect)
In the 1960s, the Reserve Bank commissioned a series of prestige, purpose-built office buildings in each capital
city, all featuring high-quality Australian materials and artworks. Many were on-sold late last century, when
the bank rationalised its customer interface. The Hobart office, now in private hands, remains as an exemplary
modernist landmark, offering efficient floor plates with a side core and generous daylight.
The remaining heritage building façades in Macquarie Street influenced the design of the building, which
advances and recedes within its overall grid to respond to the scale of the neighbours, and to break up its mass
into a base, shaft and crown. Originally this varied fenestration reflected the internal planning, with a series of
apartments and staff facilities provided with balconies, which remain.
Tasmanian sandstone, skillfully modeled and worked, is used for the main façades, and the single material
provides a sense of unity and quiet luxury to the building. Adjoining the entry is an early Stephen Walker bas
relief in bronze, a remnant of the many original works which once belonged to the building.
In common with most commercial buildings, the interior has been refitted many times to suit new occupants,
but the defining qualities of the Reserve Bank Building endure: its sensitive and elegant façade, its generous
public face and its efficient accommodation.

The Roy Sharrington Smith Award for Heritage
42 Goulburn Street, Hobart
Circa Morris-Nunn
Throughout this exemplary conservation and adaptation project, it is evident that the careful investigation of
the original fabric has led to a responsive, sensitive design solution, heightened by restrained contemporary
detailing and joinery and the craftsmanship of the builder. The original hotel is now two unique apartments,
achieved by the careful reworking of the complex interior. The eastern apartment is a varied sequence of
spaces layered in section, maximising the full potential of existing structure and extracting every last inch of
space from it. The western apartment is a more conventional arrangement of the original finely-proportioned
rooms.
Winding circulation enlarges both apartments, providing space for artworks and storage, whilst allowing
surprising views and generous daylight penetration. Confident detailing of the modern additions is nicely
balanced with the original patinated surfaces to give a richness that is hard to achieve. Reuse of salvaged
material from the building in new locations adds to its texture whilst contributing to its sustainability. The
exterior is diligently conserved, the new uses only hinted at by brass thresholds and a new entry door.
42 Goulburn Street is an outstanding example of adaptive reuse to suit contemporary living requirements,
allowing increased urbanity and ensuring conservation of the built heritage.

Interior Architecture Award
Garagistes
Paul Johnston Architects
Garagistes is the result of an unusual and successful collaboration led by visionary clients. The architecture is
integral to the holistic nature of this unique dining experience. There is an honesty and authenticity in the
food and how it is sourced, the way it is prepared in full view, served on handmade crockery and consumed
while seated on custom-crafted stools at communal tables, all designed and made locally. The industrial
character of the original garage is enhanced through the retention of the singular volume with minimal
insertions. The use of black form-ply for the bar and partitions is robust yet visually recessive against the
textures of the original surfaces and restrained rhythm of the four tables, each lit with a singular pendant
suspended between trusses.
The oversized steel entry door is purposefully half open beckoning invitation, while the threshold space is
compressed in height providing separation to the street and a sense of release upon arrival to the loftiness of
the cooking and dining volume. An elevated mezzanine office over the charcuterie provides retreat without
removal, while at ground level a single window discloses the surprise of one illuminated carcass.
Overall, the space delivers an unexpected composure and intimacy, which is testament to the completeness of
the experience.

Interior Architecture Commendation
Tony Hill Dental
Liminal Spaces
This small tenancy fit-out successfully facilitates contemporary dental practice in a non-clinical environment.
An existing Max Angus mosaic on the building façade has inspired the spatial treatment and use of colour,
influencing the way that spaces are divided, surfaces are treated and lighting is articulated. The planning and
program resolution maximises efficient workflow while providing a clear delineation of public and private
zones. A translucent wall offers a heightened sense of space and quality of natural light to the internal public
areas and contributes to the perceived spatial generosity of the reception, waiting and circulation areas. The
interview room allows consultation in a less intimidating environment while facilitating greater operational
efficiencies. Thoughtful use of materials and colours warms and humanises a potentially clinical environment
and connects intuitively with the heritage of the building it inhabits.

The Alan C Walker Award for Public Architecture
MONA – Museum of Old & New Art
Fender Katsalidis
Informed by the spirit of the ‘cultural agitant’ who commissioned this important institution, MONA’s design is
diametrically opposite to the accepted approach to public galleries – the flexible white box with controlled air
and daylight and ‘rest areas’ that provide outdoor views. The visitor is invited to plunge into Alice’s rabbit
hole, down through the bare rock to the exhibition spaces below. Here is a dark cavern where the artworks
shine out, where spaces are purpose designed for particular works, where the outdoors is excluded to provide
a total immersion into the constructed environment, where water and exposed rock are allowed to
compromise humidity.
Orientation and circulation is unconventionally distorted, leading to the delight of the unexpected. The raw
materiality of the exterior – a wrapping of waffle-slab concrete and weathering steel – continues throughout
the interior where, with textured rock walls and timber, they contrast with velvet fabrics and black steel.
Servicing is cleverly inserted in structural elements and intermediate levels such that one is completely
unaware of it – perhaps helped by the sublime lighting. Outside the predominant weathering steel is a
metaphor for the excavated landform, although its colour seems too overt to mimic nature. The repeated grid
of concrete, used externally for walls and internally for the soffits of floors, subverts expectations of scale and
size, and further abstracts the building’s exterior.
MONA is a place of mystery, exploration and wonder – unconventional, unpredictable, where the visitor can
feel comfortably lost amongst extraordinary art.

Public Architecture Commendation
Princes Wharf Shed 1
Circa Morris-Nunn
The conversion of Princes Wharf Shed 1 by Circa Morris-Nunn is unapologetic in retaining the character and
value of this ‘big shed’ on Hobart’s waterfront. A series of modest and exact insertions maximise utility while
maintaining the raw quality of the internal volume. Ingenious roll-out cooking pods cater to the complex
requirements of the Taste Festival while the ply-clad fly towers and relocatable seating, screening and
servicing elements invite multiple forms of occupation. Externally, the glazed loading bays offer visual
transparency, while raised decks fold into informal seats to complement the event seating. Although visually
inconspicuous, these additions demonstrate the dexterity of the architects in negotiating the requirements of
a difficult brief.

Public Architecture Commendation
Kingston High School
Hassell in collaboration with Jawsarchitects
Environmental and pedagogical aspirations are central to the design of Kingston High School. The planning is
conceptualised as an abstracted mathematical sine wave linking a series of classroom pods. The curvilinear
geometry is informed by an innovative approach to collaborative learning and resolves access across the
sloping site. While pods provide self-contained accommodation for each year level, the undulating ‘learning
street’ supports opportunities for informal breakout spaces. The staggering of the pods maintains views to the
river and creates various experiences of enclosure from within the learning street. The project also
successfully integrates a number of environmentally sustainable design initiatives including a green roof,
rainwater harvesting, greywater recycling, hydronic heating, and cooling of the building mass by automatic
night purging.

Public Architecture Commendation
St Mary’s Cathedral Upgrade, Stage 1: Cathedral Centre
Circa Morris-Nunn
Circa Morris-Nunn was tasked with creating a new Cathedral Centre at St Mary’s to house the parish offices,
meeting rooms, crypt and choir rehearsal space. Drawing inspiration from Anglo-European gothic chapter
houses, the Centre is contained within an octagonal tower adjacent to the cathedral. Supported by a generous
budget, the building exhibits some fine detailing and employs a rich palette of materials. Most noteworthy,
however, is Circa’s extension of the client brief in the transformation of the choir rehearsal space into a
publically accessible performance venue. Working closely with Marshall Day acoustic engineers, the dramatic
domed space offers an acoustically dynamic environment finely tuned for music.

Public Architecture Commendation
Ulverstone Sports and Leisure Complex
Philp Lighton Architects
The Ulverstone Sports and Leisure Complex is an efficient and bold multi-purpose stadium, constructed as an
extension to the existing gym, standing alone on the banks of the Leven River. Developed to serve primarily as
an international-standard basketball court for a community with strong ties to the sport, the facility is also
designed with flexibility to accommodate multiple user groups. A robust structure has been created with
monumental precast concrete wall panels, angled to capture views of the river and to elegantly carry the large
expressed roof trusses. Triangulated clerestory windows accentuate this structural dialogue and flood the
space with a crisp and lively light as well as imbuing a poetic lantern-like quality to the facility at night. This
community facility responds well to the needs of the many users and the harsh realities of the marine
environment in which it stands.

Residential Architecture – Alterations and Additions Award
Patrick Street Residence
Liminal Spaces
The Patrick Street Residence is a clear, refined and complementary addition to a respectfully restored late
Federation Queen Anne cottage in West Hobart. Whilst doubling the area of the existing cottage, the addition
is discreetly scaled and arranged carefully around the low central spine which continues the line of existing
corridor through the length of the building as it seamlessly expands into the living areas and outdoor room.
This glass walled courtyard becomes the centrepiece of the home, bathing it in light and introducing a playful
ambiguous quality about the threshold to outside. Clever lighting and ventilation strategies combine with
calm material choices, considered detailing and quality construction.

The Esmond Dorney Award for Residential Architecture
The Shearer’s Quarters
John Wardle Architects
The Shearer’s Quarters is a building that goes far beyond the humble utilitarian image that the name suggests.
Built as a companion accommodation building to a historic farm cottage hauntingly perched looking over
Storm Bay, the quarters are a master class in the difficult task of making something complex appear
deceptively simple and timeless.
The building sits in the landscape and immediate context with striking ease; John Wardle speaks of it being as
though two petulant farmers had an argument about whether it should be a gable or skillion roofed shed.
Whilst such an analogy makes light of the intense attention that has been paid to the built form, it speaks
volumes of how well considered it is in the rural vernacular. The expert control of subtle folded geometry
creates a ‘Janus gaze’; a form that gives a nod to the cottage via a traditional open gable before warping in its
length to present an abstract skillion towards the farm sheds beyond; its finely-detailed openings capturing
perfectly-framed views on all sides.
Another analogy used by the architect is ‘the cigar box’ – an apt description for an interior exclusively lined in
timber and the sensory assault it presents; intense yet easy on the eye, sensual to smell, soft on the ear and
rewarding to touch. Exactingly assembled and crafted, it rewards all the senses and connects deeply with the
human spirit. An inspiring experience awaits those ‘shearers’ lucky enough to stay over.

Residential Architecture – New Houses Commendation
Lagoon Beach House
Birrelli Architects
The Lagoon Beach House by Birrelli Architects engages the informalities of beach house life within a highly
articulated form. An elegant timber box hovers over a white timber plinth, marking the separation between
the private accommodation for the dwelling occupants above and the communal spaces below. Pivoting
around a courtyard, described as the ‘town square’, habitation on the lower level is more loosely defined,
blurring boundaries between inside and outside, living and sleeping, public and private. Anchored by the
corner fireplace, the courtyard offers a sense of containment while simultaneously inviting occupation by the
extended network of family and friends from within the shack ‘hamlet’. The building is sensitively located in
relation to topography, privacy, climate and views and integrates a number of initiatives to reduce its
environmental impact. Most significantly the design considers the capacity for alternative patterns of
occupation as the occupants age and new generations emerge.

Residential Architecture – Multiple Housing Commendation
Maroni Close Housing Unit Development
Architectsdesignhaus
Against a backdrop of increasing difficulty in securing the ongoing commitment of public funding for social
housing, Architectsdesignhaus has created a responsive high-quality housing development suited to a range of
tenants. The colourful interplay of forms generates variety while reinforcing patterns of the surrounding
neighbourhood. Within a limited budget, this project combines a sense of streetscape security for the
common good, with a ‘blank canvas’ opportunity for each resident to personalise the well-resolved internal
spaces and garden areas of their new home.

Small Project Architecture Award
Basement
Preston Lane Architects
The Basement has transformed an uninspiring subterranean storage area into a highly flexible boardroom,
office and function space that is rich in sensory experience. Considered planning and controlled surface
treatment have increased the perceived volume of the spaces while focusing attention toward the tactile
qualities of the existing heritage fabric. Flexible and adaptable spaces have been achieved through the use of
operable wall elements, including fold-away furniture that can be integrated seamlessly. The challenges of
pre-existing low ceilings, lack of natural light and sound transfer from upper levels have been successfully
addressed through judicious attention to lighting, heating and acoustics, resulting in an alluring ambience.
Attention to small features heightens the experience and adds elements of surprise and wonder.

PRIZES

James Blackburn Triennial Prize 2012
Trial Bay House
HBV Architects
The Trial Bay House by HBV Architects is an outstanding example of complex and sophisticated residential
architecture. In awarding this project the James Blackburn Triennial Prize for Residential Architecture the jury
recognises that this project displays extraordinary architectural skill, not only in the initial architectural
gestures of the original house (designed in 1981) that set up the siting and form but also the cleverly crafted
remodelling that modernised and developed the house in 2010.
The house consists of a collection of pavilions. These are linked to create a series spaces that each respond to
different qualities of the site. The linking spaces are just as important as they articulate the journey through
the building, define external spaces, and provide transition between interior and exterior. Materiality and
detailing is highly considered, and consequently the house is spatially interesting yet calm. The overall result is
a very relaxed and enjoyable residence that is difficult to leave.

Honourable Mention
Allens Rivulet House 2
Room 11
The Allens Rivulet House 2 by Room 11 is an innovatively designed, experimental house that shifts spaces
around a strong underlying grid to address the site, climate, and views. The diverse spaces created by the
building are contradictory in nature and materials yet provide a dramatic and engaging residence that
warrants an honourable mention.

President’s Prize
Ray Heffernan LFRAIA
He is someone who found inspiration in the functional aesthetic, influenced by Richard Neutra and other 20th
century modernists, and with a focus on the fundamentals of light and space. Ray Heffernan’s architecture
embraced the International style and he skilfully adapted it to the Tasmanian context with a style that became
distinctly his own.
Over a career spanning nearly 50 years, through his tutelage, Ray influenced a generation of students and
architects and became one of Tasmania’s most esteemed practitioners.
Ray graduated in 1959 having completed his Diploma of Architecture at Hobart Technical College where he
was awarded the final year medallion. He initially worked in partnership with Graham Martin in the early
1960s before heading to Perth in 1963 to pursue professional cricket and architecture, then onto London and
Toronto before returning to Tasmania in 1967 to spend 6 years with Bush Parkes Shugg and Moon as a design
architect. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s Ray formed various partnerships with notable architects, some
resulting from working on projects like the Antarctic Division Headquarters at Kingston and the ABC Offices in
Hobart. By 1996 the partnerships had evolved into Heffernan Button Voss. Ray retired in mid-2007, however
has since kept an ongoing interest in the practice and was closely consulted in the much applauded and
awarded works carried out on his original Trial Bay House.
Some of Ray’s notable projects include the Elizabeth Street Pier, Crematorium Cornelian Bay, Clarence Council
Chambers, Government Offices Rosny, Silos Apartments Salamanca Place and the Bellerive Oval
Redevelopment. Over the years Ray’s projects have won a total of 11 Australian Institute of Architects
Awards, numerous national and state commendations and other industry awards; a most impressive
demonstration of peer group recognition for his chosen field of endeavor. Several of Ray’s buildings, currently
on the Tasmanian Heritage Register, such as the Triptree and Barnett Houses in Taroona and the Banks Paton
building in Sandy Bay, are testament to the enduring qualities of his work.
Acclaimed as a major contributor to the landscape of Tasmanian architecture when given Life Fellowship of the
Institute in 2007, I would like to further acknowledge his inspiration and contribution to our built history by
awarding Ray Heffernan the 2012 President’s Prize.

Karen Davis FRAIA
Tasmanian President,
Australian Institute of Architects
Emerging Architect Prize
Peter Walker RAIA
It is difficult to condense the achievements and contributions of this year’s Emerging Architect Prize recipient
into a few short paragraphs, yet undoubtedly this year’s recipient could do it with the effortless grace, clarity
of thought and rigour that pervades all his work.
Peter Walker is both a practicing architect, co-director of newly established Cumulus Studio and design tutor at
the University of Tasmania.
Peter’s excellence in design and practice is evidenced by the numerous state, national and international
awards received by many of the projects he has been involved with or led during his time at Morris-Nunn &
Associates/Circa Morris-Nunn Walker; most notably Saffire Resort, IXL Redevelopment, Port Arthur Prototype
Suite and 2 Halls House.
Commitment and engagement within the architectural profession is demonstrated through Peter’s various
voluntary roles, including Tasmanian Chapter Councillor, Education Committee member, State Representative
for the Emerging Architects and Graduates Network and member of the Young Professionals Network.
Peter is a strong advocate of adaptive re-use and has spoken locally and nationally on this and other topics. He
generously gives his time to the profession; helping to organise events and exhibitions, and through periodical
involvement with the School of Architecture & Design, as chair of State Visiting Panels, external examiner and
guest lecturer.
It is not surprising that Peter recently won the Australian Timber Design Association Rising Star Award; he is a
quiet achiever worthy of recognition.

SWT Blythe Student Prize
Amy Scott
Glenwood School of Viticulture and Oenology
Amy Scott’s Glenwood School of Viticulture and Oenology is a considered sensitive and confident synthesis of
architecture with site.
A series of wings are arranged in an inspired manner adjacent to a small lake. These long, elegant, languid
forms lie comfortably on the land inviting us to relax and enjoy the surrounding hills and vineyards.
The project is heartening in the way it relishes the opportunities presented in a realistic architectural
commission; a rare quality for student work.
The integration of industrial scale activity with the small scale communal activities such as the appreciation of
fine wine is deftly handled. In reviewing the project, it is clear that Amy’s composition of form and material
selection illustrate not only an appreciation of their visual qualities, but also her refined understanding of how
the site and building will be experienced across the seasons and over time.
The crafted use of raw materials, timber and stone, is analogous to the qualities of fine wine.
This project reflects highly evolved architectural sensibilities. Amy is commended for this sincere foray into
place making.
Liminal Spaces