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Enduring High Court

Another justice facility was recognized for its lasting impact. The High Court of Australia in Canberra, by Edwards Madigan Torzillo Briggs, received the RAIA's 25 Year Award for Enduring Architecture. The jury called the building, completed in 1980, "one of our nation's most outstanding examples of modern architecture."

"The external promenade... conveys both monumentality and accessibility," said the jury. "The ceremonial ramp within the building... places the public literally at the centre of the institution," with the courtrooms located in the grand public space. The jury also praised the building's durable materials and integrated artwork. "The highly crafted quality of the building — from its bush-hammered concrete structure to the timberwork and court joinery — works to convey the significance and importance of the courts."

Along with the adjacent National Gallery of Australia, by the same architects, the High Court "occupies a truly significant space in the nation’s capital and within the history of Australian architecture."

Sustainable Reuse

The new facility for the University of Tasmania School of Architecture and Design was recognized as a respectful and sustainable renovation of a historic building. Six Degrees Architects and Sustainable Built Environments (SBE) collaborated on the adaptive reuse project in Launceston, Tasmania, which converted a 1950 workshop in the Inveresk Railyards into 4,500 square meters (48,000 square feet) of teaching, studio, and exhibit space. It received the top RAIA award for heritage architecture and a national RAIA award for sustainable architecture.

The renovation retains the workshop's sawtooth roof and concrete structure, incorporates large voids within the building to preserve the expansive spatiality, and maintains the outline of the building from the south while still expressing the new school entry points.

The jury commented: "The success of the new design lies in the way it maintains, and emphasizes, the scale and ruggedness of the original hall by the insertion of elements that complement the existing in scale and materiality — for example, the vast steel-framed glass wall between workshop and studio — and that contrast with it, such as the intricate pattern of small linear apertures... which define the different spaces."

The exposed interior structure maintains the industrial aesthetic of the workshop, complemented by such new materials as concrete blockwork, steel truss, composite timber, and deep-profiled metal claddings. "But while the language of the old workshop is continued," said the jury, "there is no ambiguity between the previously existing and the inserted."

In addition to reuse of existing building stock, the project's sustainable features include cross ventilation, rainwater collection, waste reduction, and materials selections.

Multi-Use Icon

At 300 meters (985 feet) high, Eureka Tower is an unmistakable addition to the Melbourne skyline. The mixed-use development by Fender Katsalidis Architects received the RAIA's highest award for commercial architecture. The firm's design process for the tower was previously covered in ArchitectureWeek.

Located across the Yarra River from Melbourne's central business district, the building houses showrooms, event spaces, public parking, a hotel, and 583 condominium units, with retail and restaurants on the ground floor and a public observation facility at the top of the tower.

The jury noted the strong aesthetic role of the tower in its urban context. "Seen from each of the main approaches into the central city, it has an almost uncanny presence... Its chamfered form and complex gold top shift and change with both distance and alignment, giving the tower an elusive and theatrical quality."

The tower's sustainable features include the double-glazed external skin to minimize heat transfer; operable, pressure-sensitive windows to promote natural ventilation; automated lighting and air conditioning systems to reduce energy use; and water-efficient fixtures.   >>>

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SUBSCRIPTION SAMPLE Transparency and connection were guiding themes for the design of the new Manchester Civil Justice Centre, seen here behind its older predecessor, in Manchester, United Kingdom. Photo: Andy Marshall Extra Large Image Alternating solid and transparent elements create a rhythmic facade for the Manchester Civil Justice Centre, designed by Denton Corker Marshall. Photo: Jonathan Breen Extra Large Image SUBSCRIPTION SAMPLE The major courtrooms in the Manchester Civil Justice Centre are positioned at the building's ends, stacked in an irregular series of cantilevered glass boxes. Photo: Andy Marshall A steel shading screen covers much of the south wall of the Manchester Civil Justice Centre. Photo: Gordon Marino The High Court of Australia in Canberra, by Edwards Madigan Torzillo Briggs, received the RAIA National 25 Year Award for Enduring Architecture. Photo: Craig Smith The University of Tasmania's new School of Architecture and Design building is a renovated 1950s railyard shed with a distinctive sawtooth roof. Photo: Roger Fay Extra Large Image Inside the University of Tasmania School of Architecture, by SBE and Six Degrees Architects, a multistory glass wall separates open studio space from a workshop. Photo: Patrick Rodriguez Extra Large Image The new elements in the School of Architecture building have an appropriately industrial sensibility, with a material palette that complements but stands apart from the existing structure. Photo: Patrick Rodriguez Extra Large Image Eureka Tower, in Melbourne's Southbank neighborhood, is one of the world's tallest residential towers, at 300 meters (985 feet) tall. Photo: John Gollings Extra Large Image The mixed-use Eureka Tower, by Fender Katsalidis Architects, received the RAIA's top national award for commercial architecture. Photo: John Gollings   Click on thumbnail images to view full-size pictures.