Award for Education Architecture 2024 - AIA Tasmania

The jury citation:

“At the entrance to the Hutchins School Pre-Kinder, a netted ceiling stretched overhead announces the primary intervention in the existing building envelope and ushers in those students experiencing the first days of their education.

The new roof lantern affords a double-height configuration of functional and cavernous spaces below and an engaging play space above.

The existing space is skilfully repurposed and reimagined with a warm welcoming and robust material palette, while the main education space is articulated by floor finishes and joinery that subtly address their role of arrival, play, water play, gathering, and quiet time.

The playful use of natural light and colour further enhances the experience of the delightful Hutchins School Pre-Kinder.”

Project description:

The Hutchins School Pre-Kinder is a child-centred learning space that allows children who need to move more than they need to sit still, to be dynamic and active participants in learning. The building opens to welcome the outside space as a third teacher – the changing weather, the nearby gums and wattle, the Derwent, Kunanyi engage in learning that connects children to the local environment and supports them to engage with and care for country.

Seasonal changes throughout the year such as the frequency of rain events are viewed through the lens of play. Students are involved in the capture and use of rainwater to develop an understanding of finite natural resources and changing climatic conditions.

The Alexander North Award for Interior Architecture - AIA Tasmania

The Jury Citation:

“Arch South is the first example of a multidisciplinary design response to sexual harm in Tasmania, a heavy brief that has been lifted and resolved through a trauma-informed approach to a sensitive and intelligent design outcome.

This project balances a complex brief of circulation, security and sensitive needs in a sophisticated and seamless outcome. The strength of the interior strategy lies in its secure and non-threatening environment, while still achieving the clinically functional requirements of a police station.

The positive outcomes garnered by this approach has been applauded by the police, and is being adapted for a diverse range of spaces nationwide.”

Project description:

Arch South is the first example of a multidisciplinary response to sexual harm in Tasmania, a place where counselling and support services for sexual assault come together in the same location as specialist police services, making it possible for victim survivors to present to a single location and be empowered to make informed decisions.

The project was an opportunity to assist the Department of Police, Fire and Emergency Management in the development of an emerging building typology. Consulting and counselling rooms were combined with functions commonly found in police stations, such as interview rooms, forensic and operational areas.

A warm, cosy fit out with natural light and planting was sought to make the centre more accessible. Colour psychology was employed to instil perceptions of healing and renewal. Natural timber accents are used to provide a link to the endemic natural environment.

Award for Heritage 2024 - AIA Tasmania

Jury Citation:

“Through heritage conservation and adaptive re-use, the Murdolo project has restored new life and purpose to a significant collection of Victorian-Georgian residential buildings.

The architects have worked strategically with the owner in expanding the project scope and developing appropriate solutions to support a sustainable economic model for the project.

Restoration of heritage fabric has been undertaken with best-practice conservation methods, including careful application of policies developed through a detailed Conservation Management Plan.

The architects have demonstrated exceptional skill and judgement in reconciling the competing and contradictory demands of authentic conservation and the strict requirements of contemporary use and code compliance.”

Project description:

In mid 2014, we were approached by the owner of 258 Macquarie Street, who nearly lost the property to fire shortly after it’s purchase leaving a dilapidated rental property uninhabitable and an owner with an enormous challenge.

Around the same time AirBnB was emerging and we suggested adapting the building specifically to this new typology to achieve the returns required to fund the restoration demands.

We developed a policy of removing the intrusive elements, repairing damaged external fabric where required and distinctly inserting new elements within the existing spaces and externally as clear modern attachments. Where existing fabric could remain in it’s current state, it was left that way - even the fire history - such that a patina of eras is on display.

During the 258 construction, 260 was purchased by the owner allowing us to restore both terraces as a whole and reestablish their stately Victorian-Georgian presence on Macquarie Street.

NSW Architecture Awards - 2023 Shortlist - Residential Architecture - Houses (new)

This is a home built to last. A home intended to provide for family generations to come.

It is a product of a family being engaged, dedicated and particular in the design of their home - taking time, challenging decisions, exploring options and being certain of the approach before proceeding. Their brief included the following ‘descriptive words and thoughts’ which are uncommonly prophetic.

Unfolding and revealing (i.e. not immediately obvious)

Natural in the sense that this man-made structure is somehow ”meant to be there”

Private and secure

Uncluttered, unfussy

Strong but simple

Airy, sunlight yet shaded

Physically grounded

Space and height

Understated

Wide and amazing steps

The site by nature of the location is secluded - a handful of steep thin west facing sites overlooking a coastal reserve and Middle Harbour amongst largely native bushland, grand Angophora trees and sandstone outcrops. Working with this context, and locating itself within the footprint of a previous house and driveway, the design introduces with a tightly inserted vehicle terrace and carport. From here the house frames a view down through the split level volume to the harbour and Castle Cove beyond. The view is further revealed as you descend the external bridging stair and enter a mezzanine overlooking the main living space which focuses west over the roof terrace, glimpses right and left, north and south, finding a balance for sun, views and mutual privacy.

Vertical windows punctuate the northern facade to focus upwards whilst ameliorating the impact of the Northern neighbour and its large operable facade. To the south a vacant block presents an unknown future and window boxes project to facilitate glancing views east and west via screening should it be required. To the west, timber sliding screens attend to sun and ember control but importantly modulate light and view where it is most available.

The building form is a deliberately grounded simple skillion in concrete embraced by stone ‘ribbon’ walls on each side to create protected outdoors spaces for the living and bedroom levels and moderate scale at the boundaries. Winding down the site, the walls ebb and flow around landscape features and culminate in the plunge pool and lower garden - casual and contrary to the formality of the concrete form and floor plan.

Internally the spaces transition from open and expansive on the upper living levels to private and protective on the lower bedroom level where additional break out space is created under the generous stair - a major spatial experience in itself.

Materiality focuses on achieving permanence, longevity, thermal mass, significant bushfire protection and low maintenance whilst also creating a calm backdrop for light and shadow, reflection and outlook. Whether in or out the limited palette - stone, concrete, recycled Ironbark, waxed set plaster - is intended to age with grace and develop patina in concert with the landscape it sits within.

This new holiday house is located on a vacant, cleared and benched-out site on the lower side of the street and above Fort Beach at South Arm.

Conceptually the architecture consists of two main elements:

Cradle (refuge) - a two storey L shaped wall: provides privacy and defendable space to the street and the uphill neighbours to the south.

Threshold (prospect) - a framework of blade walls on a ledge and capped with a concrete capital: creates an interface between inside and outside, provides shade, acknowledges the mountain and river, and gives some additional privacy to certain rooms from passers by on the street.

The expression is robust and unapologetic, designed to provide a counterpoint to the delicate Sheoaks in the coastal reserve and the recently planted native garden. The materiality is long lasting and low maintenance, two pillars of sustainable design.

The Ettrick Rocks is a four unit tourist development on the rugged west coast of King Island, just south of Currie. Ranging from 1 bedroom to 3 bedroom accommodation, the units are arranged like arrowheads faced into the prevailing winds. The resultant ‘L’ shape plan creates a courtyard on the more sheltered sides and an opportunity to enjoy the outside whilst simultaneously enjoying the view through the living area to the ocean.

Commendation for Public Architecture - AIA TAS 2018

The Port Arthur Historic Site is an important Unesco World Heritage listed site and one of deep importance meaning to Tasmanians through both it’s historical origins and more contemporary history.

The existing visitors centre on the site built in 1996, had soldiered well for twenty years but had clearly been outgrown by a huge growth in visitor numbers to the site. This lead the site authority PAHSMA inviting expressions of interest for architects to assist them plan their visitor centre needs now and into the future. Successful through an international selection and tender process, we were honoured along side HPA projects, Sydney, to be selected to undertake this process which involved extensive stakeholder, staff and user consultation as well as exploring the potential needs to as far out as fifty years hence.

This process lead to the decision to refurbish and extend the existing visitor centre rather than make new marks upon this unique site. The ambition of the project is to stand quietly adjacent to, and in proud service of the Port Arthur Historic Site and the addition aims to be calm and restrained, to be clear about its position in time, and provide amenity, orientation and passive overview of the site. In broad terms the alterations and additions:

- extend the external gathering spaces,

- improve the comfort and environment performance of the existing building to accommodate the cafe, gift shop and interpretation gallery,

- extend the existing envelope to provide a tall volume lobby for ticketing and better presentation of entry to the site,

- provide a new two story addition for the restaurant in a premium location, administration and staff at the lower level, and a new stair that allows a more generous and legible connection between arrival and site access,

- add a new awning that unites the existing and new, and gives cover for external gathering at arrival.

Externally the palette aims to be uncomplicated and recessive. The existing horizontal timber cladding has been stained black and the alterations clad with black stained vertical timber as a counterpoint. The addition is in charcoal brick to acknowledge the dominant material module of the site but so as to not compete with it. The proportion and depth of windows reveals are emphasised to acknowledge the ‘depth’ present in the historical wall openings and quietly refer to the history of surveillance and the about face in the way the site is now watched.

Construction documentation and interiors done in association with JAWS Architects

Built upon a long vacant and steeply sloping site beside the Brooker Highway in Glebe, Hobart, this multiple housing development presented numerous construction challenges stemming from the site’s past as a working quarry.

Our clients purchased the site in 2013 and briefed a development requiring a house for them and two one bedroom units to be create an income stream though ‘AirBnB’ type rental. The resultant design utilises the two street frontages such that the house presents to the upper Short Street and the Glebe heritage precinct, whilst the units address the Brooker Highway and city environment. In doing so, the building form takes two approaches - a more residential and small scale to Short Street but a more industrial and muscular response to the busy Brooker Highway. Materials are selected to compliment this approach yet create a unified whole with contextual relevance and a contemporary feel.

Another layer of structural gymnastics was dictated on the project by the revelation in the excavation stage that a large portion of the site was fill tipped over the side of a quarry face. This effectively lowered the expected foundation level by four to five metres and lead to the dynamic structure that suspends the house high above the revealed quarry face. Whilst not an ideal change to accommodate in construction, it provides a great example of the need for flexibility in design approach and the ability to see opportunities within constraints

The Roy Sharrington Smith Award for Heritage Architecture AIA TAS 2016

Award for Residential Architecture - Houses (Alterations and Additions) AIA TAS 2016

The Eleanor Culls-Hill Award for Residential Architecture - Houses (Alterations and Additions) AIA National 2016

“This beautifully refined work is as much a result of the maturity and intelligence of the architect as it is due to the generous and caring relationship between the architect and their client, Jenny. Evidence of this productive collaboration is manifest in two principal rooms on the site: a singular open-planned volume at the hands of the architect and a flourishing and intriguing garden executed by Jenny.

Only an elegant and finely crafted line of glazing sits at the junction of these two rooms. It is, however, the presence of the original external rear wall of the historic four-room brick cottage, now forming an interior wall, that leaves you questioning whether you are in fact already outside and occupying the garden. This a pleasant and refreshingly simple architectural gesture.

It is through this profound connection to the garden setting - the changing light, plants and presence of the ground - that the owner may establish her own sense of belonging to the setting, which is layered in over one hundred years of history.” National Jury citation

AIA Peter Willmott Award for Small Projects (TAS) 2013

The Omnipod is an off-site constructed modular dwelling project that unites quality, economy and adaptability in a package that can be expediently fabricated and located, (or later relocated,) on a variety of site locations; from a suburban lot, to a remote mountainside or in this prototype, the top of an inner city Hobart building to create the Avalon City Retreat.

The Omnipod system employs two module types: two bedroom/ensuite 6 tonne units, which are placed at either end of three central open-planned 4 tonne units, in this version containing kitchen, dining and lounge spaces respectively. Each unit includes sliding glass doors to a deck which becomes continuous along the main aspect when the units are united to form the whole. The living and dining units provide a mirrored arrangement of sliding glass doors to create an informal entry, receive a larger verandah module if required and allow northern exposure when a location requires as shown in this first iteration. End elevation windows are optional and subject to individual and site opportunities such as views or sun preferences.

Each 3.4m x 7.2m x 3.0m unit making up the Omnipod are designed to fit on an unescorted truck and engineered to be lifted by crane or helicopter. For the Avalon City Retreat, the Omnipod including supporting transfer structure was delivered to site and erected via crane within 12 hours. Wholly constructed within a workshop environment the Omnipod can be built outside the limitations of site hours, accessibility and inclement weather as well as to a higher ‘joinery quality’ of construction without the expense.

The Esmond Dorney Award for Residential Architecture – Houses AIA TAS 2013

The Churchill Residence is located at Dolphin Sands on the east coast of Tasmania. The southern vista of stunning skies, storms, seabirds and the Freycinet Peninsula combined with a preference for crisp southern light determined a simple and bold approach that fully immerses one in the immediate landscape and broader view.

The on-going renovation of this 1960’s eight storey building in Macquarie Street Hobart commenced in 2011. The new entry pod ‘light box’ to Macquarie Street was undertaken to reemphasise the entry for the upper levels of the building and provide current access standards. We have endeavoured to provide a sympathetic relationship with the original, whilst  clearly distinguishing it as an addition with the introduction of glass blocks as walls and street signage in one.

RAIA Residential Architecture – New Houses Award TAS 2011

This  guest retreat is located in bush land 2km inland from the east coast of Tasmania at Rocky Hills. The siting and planning is rational; literally an ‘x’ marking the place; its presence is unashamedly bold and the concept uncomplicated. Diagonal blade walls gesture an embrace to the greater landscape; consequently all three elevations are fully glazed. A wall to the north presents a private face to the approach and provides, to the user, some retreat where prospect is so abundant. 

www.rockyhillsretreat.com.au

RAIA Residential Award For Houses NSW 2010

This four level concrete, steel and glass residence is located on a narrow sloping east facing site in the established eastern suburb of Bellevue Hill in Sydney. The fall in the site produced a stepped plan; each subsequent floor providing a roof terrace for that level; from which there are extensive views over Rose Bay and Sydney Harbour. The plan is narrower from North to South than the predominant street pattern, to allow greater breathing space between it and its neighbours, and deeper penetration of light and air internally. Each elevation responds to its particular condition, which has in turn generates the character and expression of the house. The tightness of the site means that it is appreciated at an intimate level and is not objectified; therefore it focuses on detail and user experience

RAIA Commercial Award TAS 2006
RAIA National Commendation 2006

“this clearly modernised building takes pride of place in the oldest commercial winery and vineyard in Tasmania.. the architects have located the building beautifully.. The building sits monastically on the site with a coincidental T-shaped plan, reminiscent of places or worship..” RAIA TAS jury citation

In association with JAWS Architects

RAIA Residential Award TAS 2005
RAIA James Blackburn Triennial Award 2006

“There is no escaping the consummate skill with which this house has been assembled and integrated into its site. it balances perfectly between land and sea, between ground and sky, and between the intimacy of the enclosed spaces and the infinite horizon.. it is historically and culturally referential to its Tasmanian locale.. it is hard to imagine a more lyrical building on the site.” RAIA Triennial jury citation
www.avaloncoastalretreat.com.au

RAIA NSW Wilkinson Award 2001
RAIA National Special Jury Award 2001

“The Archer House is a celebration of the architects singular design skills and refined tectonic sensibility converted, in the hands of a master builder to a masterwork. The house resonates with th idea of a simple. but elegant coastal weekender. This is a house designed and built with great care and unusual attention to detail by an exeptionally talented architect with sure hand.” RAIA National jury citation.

RAIA Tasmanian Award 1997

“The planning of this minimalist house is very skilfully integrated with a strikingly simple structural solution. The result is a bold and well executed design that is worthy of recognition…The award is given because the architect has been uncompromising in his clear execution of the minimalist idea and has won the confidence of his client.” RAIA TAS Jury citation