Victorian Architecture Awards winners revealed: University of Melbourne, Queen Victoria Market, Warnambool Library score top gongs

Melbourne’s biggest university and an apartment village designed in-part by its residents were the big winners of this year’s Victorian Architecture Awards.

But a few of the more unexpected winners included a cemetery bridge, the Queen Victoria Market sheds and the Warnambool Library, which was named the regional prize winner after a heritage-sensitive overhaul by Kosloff Architecture that created a book-shaped new building.

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The best of the state’s homes were also recognised, with the state’s top Interior Architecture award going to a unique regional Victoria property, where KGA Architecture blended a house with an art gallery for a home described by Australian Institute of Architects Victorian president David Wagner as a “dazzling” mix of almost melodramatic and eclectic spaces.

Meanwhile a Merricks farmhouse that uses architecture to make the most of its views without being beholden to a windy location received an architecture award that put it among the best new houses in the state this year.

One of Melbourne’s most famous spaces was also recognised, with restoration work on the Queen Victoria Market’s sheds given the state’s top prize for heritage architecture.

An architecture award for the Joyce Chapel Bridge designed by Searle x Waldron Architecture and located in Fawkner cemetery was another surprise, though Mr Wagner said they did have the odd mausoleum submitted for awards.

There were also commendations for Viv’s Place by ARM Architecture, an apartment complex designed for victims of family violence, and a garden shed in Armadale by Oscar Sainsbury Architects as well as the Bell to Moreland Level Crossing Removal Project overseen by Wood Marsh Architecture.

But the state’s top prize, the Victorian Architecture Medal, went to the University of Melbourne Student Precinct worked on by five architects including Lyons with Koning Eizenberg Architecture, NMBW Architecture, Studio, Greenaway Architects, Architects EAT, and two landscape architect firms Aspect Studios and Glas Urban.

The precinct also won the Henry Bastow Award for Educational Architecture and an accolade for creative adaptation in the Heritage category.

The Dimity Reed Melbourne Prize was awarded to Nightingale Village in Brunswick where six architects each worked on one of six buildings with significant input from future residents. It was also recognised as the state’s best sustainable architecture design.

Architecture architecture, Austin Maynard Architects, Breathe, Clare Cousins Architects, Hayball and Kennedy Nolan all worked on various aspects of the six-building site.

Australian Institute of Architects president David Wagner said the success of multi-architect projects showed what could be achieved with clear boundaries and by embracing a range of thinking patterns.

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Mr Wagner said the Melbourne University win was particularly noteworthy, as the project worked to encourage students to resume the peer-to-peer conversations that were vital for higher education and provided spaces that would suit any need from the students using them.

“And it is a lot of fun,” he said.

Mr Wagner also commended some of the more visually impressive projects in this year’s list.

“Warnambool is certainly an interesting project, and it is quite iconic in form,” he said. “It does have that suggestion of the turning of pages.”

While cemetery features were not commonly nominated for awards, though “we occasionally get a mausoleum that pops up”, he said the thought that had gone into the Joyce Chapel Bridge in Fawkner Memorial Park had established it as a space for reflection and justified its small project architecture award.

He added that commendations for a garden shed in Armadale as well as for Viv’s Place, an apartment complex designed for victims of family violence, were also nods to the need for architecture that offers space to seek refuge and renewal, though in very different ways.

“This year’s awards recipients have indelibly shaped our built environment, showcasing the world-class ingenuity and expertise that resides in our state,” Mr Wagner said.

“The impressive range and diversity of winning projects are a testament to the strength of the architectural profession in Victoria, illustrating architecture’s broad reach in urban, suburban, and rural contexts.”

Winners will now compete in the National Architecture Awards program to be announced in November.

2023 VICTORIAN ARCHITECTURE AWARDS WINNERS

VICTORIAN ARCHITECTURE AWARD

University of Melbourne Student Precinct | Lyons with Koning Eizenberg Architecture, NMBW Architecture Studio, Greenaway Architects, Architects EAT, Aspect Studios and Glas Urban

COMMERCIAL ARCHITECTURE

The Sir Osborn McCutcheon Award for Commercial Architecture

Delatite Cellar Door | Lucy Clemenger Architects

Architecture Awards:

Encore Cremorne | Fieldwork

JCB Studio | Jackson Clements Burrows

Commendation:

CONO Business Park | Particular Architects

EDUCATIONAL ARCHITECTURE

The Henry Bastow Award for Educational Architecture

University of Melbourne Student Precinct | Lyons with Koning Eizenberg Architecture, NMBW Architecture Studio, Greenaway Architects, Architects EAT, Aspect Studios and Glas Urban

Architecture Awards:

Box Hill North Primary School | Sibling Architecture

Centre for Higher Education Studies | Fieldwork + Brand Architects

Macleod College | Kennedy Nolan

Commendations:

Carlton Gardens Primary School | Six Degrees Architects

Meadows Primary School | Project 12 Architecture

HERITAGE ARCHITECTURE

The John George Knight Award for Heritage

Queen Victoria Markets Shed Restoration A – D, H – I | NH Architecture with Trethowan Architecture

Architecture Awards – Conservation:

Fitzroy Town Hall Ceiling | Conservation Studio Australia

Prahran Arcade Façade Conservation | RBA Architects and Conservation Consultants

Royal Exhibition Building – Promenade | Lovell Chen

Architecture Award – Creative Adaptation:

University of Melbourne Student Precinct | Lyons with Koning Eizenberg Architecture, NMBW Architecture Studio, Greenaway Architects, Architects EAT, Aspect Studios and Glas Urban

Commendation – Conservation:

Doherty House | RBA Architects and Conservation Consultants

Commendation – Creative Adaptation:

Albert Park Primary School Performance Hub | Searle x Waldron Architecture

INTERIOR ARCHITECTURE

The Marion Mahony Award for Interior Architecture

Three Springs Architectural Interiors | KGA Architecture

Architecture Awards:

Bass Coast Farmhouse | Wardle

Science Gallery Melbourne | Smart Design Studio

Commendations:

Hermon | WOWOWA Architecture

Somers House | Kennedy Nolan

The Mental Health Beds Expansion Program at McKellar Centre | NTC Architects with BG Architecture

PUBLIC ARCHITECTURE

The William Wardell Award for Public Architecture

Bendigo Law Courts | Wardle

Architecture Awards:

Dianella Community Centre | Canvas Projects

Melbourne Holocaust Museum | Kerstin Thompson Architects

Warrnambool Library and Learning Centre Kosloff Architecture

RESIDENTIAL ARCHITECTURE – HOUSES (ALTERATIONS AND ADDITIONS)

The John and Phyllis Murphy Award for Residential Architecture – Houses (Alterations and Additions) Sunday

Architecture architecture

Architecture Awards:

Armadale House | Neeson Murcutt Neille

Helvetia | Austin Maynard Architects

Mary Street House | Edition Office

Commendations:

Fitzroy House | Andrew Child Architect

Wrong Champ | WOWOWA Architecture

RESIDENTIAL ARCHIRECTURE – HOUSES (NEW)

The Harold Desbrowe-Annear Award for Residential Architecture – Houses (New)

spring creek road farm house | architect brew koch

Architecture Award:

Merricks Farmhouse | Michael Lumby with Nielsen Jenkins

Commendations:

AB House | Office MI — JI

Bass Coast Farmhouse | Wardle

Mori House | MAArchitects + Aires Mateus

RESIDENTIAL ARCHITECTURE – MULTIPLE HOUSING

The Best Overend Award for Residential Architecture – Multiple Housing

Kerr Street Residences | Kerstin Thompson Architects

Architecture Awards:

38 Albermarle St, Kensington | Fieldwork

Nightingale Village | Architecture architecture, Austin Maynard Architects, Breathe, Clare Cousins Architects, Hayball and Kennedy Nolan

Commendations:

Fenwick | Edition Office with Flack Studio

Viv’s Place | ARM Architecture

SMALL PROJECT ARCHITECTURE

The Kevin Borland Award for Small Project Architecture

Victorian Family Violence Memorial | MUIR+OPENWORK

Architecture Award:

Joyce Chapel Bridge | Searle x Waldron Architecture

Commendations:

Firbank Sandringham Curiosity Centre | Studio Bright

Lily’s Shed | Oscar Sainsbury Architects

URBAN DESIGN

The Joseph Reed Award for Urban Design

University of Melbourne Student Precinct | Lyons with Koning Eizenberg Architecture, NMBW Architecture Studio, Greenaway Architects, Architects EAT, Aspect Studios and Glas Urban

Architecture Award:

Nightingale Village | Architecture architecture, Austin Maynard Architects, Breathe, Clare Cousins Architects, Hayball, Kennedy Nolan, Openwork and Andy Fergus

Commendation:

Bell to Moreland Level Crossing Removal Project | Wood Marsh Architecture

SUSTAINABLE ARCHITECTURE

The Allan and Beth Coldicutt Award for Sustainable Architecture

Nightingale Village | Architecture architecture, Austin Maynard Architects, Breathe, Clare Cousins Architects, Hayball and Kennedy Nolan

Architecture Award:

ANMF House | Bayley Ward

Commendations:

Bendigo Law Courts | Wardle

Glenroy Community Hub | DesignInc Melbourne

spring creek road farm house | architect brew koch

COLORBOND® AWARD FOR STEEL ARCHITECTURE

AB House | Office MI — JI

Commendation:

That Old Chestnut | FIGR Architecture Studio

DIMITY REED MELBOURNE PRIZE

Nightingale Village | Architecture architecture, Austin Maynard Architects, Breathe, Clare Cousins Architects, Hayball and Kennedy Nolan

REGIONAL PRIZE

Warrnambool Library and Learning Centre | Kosloff Architecture

Maggie Edmond Enduring Architecture Award

Brambuk: The National Park and Cultural Centre | Gregory Burgess Architects

EmAGN PROJECT AWARD

AB House | The EmAGN Members of Office MI — JI

EMERGING ARCHITECT PRIZE

Claire Scorpo RAIA | Agius Scorpo Architects

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