Designers and architects stood shoulder to shoulder (virtually) in Melbourne this month at the Design Matters National 2020 Building Design Awards, with the traditionally rival groups both reaping ample rewards for taking building design to the next level.
Design Matters National’s CEO, Ms Peta Anderson, said the awards provide a rare opportunity for architects and building designers to compete against each other on a completely level playing field – and the results this year, with Building Designer Sven Maxa winning the major award, are truly remarkable.
“Our architect and building designer members respect each other’s incredible work and therefore happily ‘step into the ring’ against each other for the Annual Building Design Awards,” Ms Anderson said.
“It is remarkable that, as professionals capable of award-winning building design, architect and building designers don’t compete for the same awards more often because the healthy competition is clearly good for raising the bar in Australian building design,” she added.
The awards acknowledge outstanding building design in Victoria, across the categories of residential and non-residential (both new homes and alterations and additions), environmentally sustainable design, excellence in materials usage, and emerging student designers.
The judges of the awards are respected building designers and architects, many of whom have previously been honoured with an award.
The prestigious Building Design of the Year Award went to Sven Maxa, of Maxa Design, for Earth House, a stunning residential property in Donvale.
The winning entry exhibited great environmentally sustainable Passive House design, as well as being a house ‘you’d love to live in’.
Stunning, simple and sustainable, Earth House is an example of the growing demand in the Victorian market for more energy-efficient homes.
The project also won awards for Residential Design – New Houses: $1M-$3M construction cost; and Best Environmentally Sustainable Design.
Maxa Design, based in Blackburn, has been operating for more than 16 years, designing high-level eco and energy-efficient homes.
Another big winner was ‘Do Shoes Come on Pallets? Yodgee Market Store’ by Melbourne Design Studio, which won Awards for Interior Design – Non-Residential, Use of Recycled Materials, and Special Projects. It is an innovative project made entirely of recycled shipping pallets which will make shopping for a pair of shoes an experience, at South Melbourne Market, when Stage 4 restrictions soon ease in Melbourne.
2020 Design Matters National Building Design Award Winners:
Emerging Designers – Student Awards
Excellence in Documentation – Holmesglen: Rocco Molluso
Best Digital Presentation – Joint winners: Box Hill: Michael Boer; Holmesglen: Carolina Osejo
Best Group Project – Zane Leist, Ramona Robinson, Brayden Tonkin: The Gordon
Best Response to a Design Brief (Building Design) – Holmesglen: Wayne Tindal
Best Response to a Design Brief (Interior Design) – Holmesglen: Ivona Nagel
Brian Morison Award – Holmesglen: Wayne Tindal
Materials Excellence
Excellence in use of Concrete – Neath House
Excellence in use of Glass – Allan House Brunswick
Excellence in use of Lightweight Materials – Black Swell
Excellence in use of Masonry – Boulevard House
Excellence in use of Recycled Materials – Do Shoes Come on Pallets? Yodgee Market Store
Excellence in use of Metal – The Blue Moon
Non-Residential
Commercial <$2M – Multifunction Garden Studio Space
Commercial >$2M – Killester College Performing Arts & Music Learning Facility
Interior Design – Do Shoes Come on Pallets? Yodgee Market Store
Residential – Alterations & Additions
Up to $350k – Bird St Project
$350-$800k – The Snug
Over $800k – Oh Dear, Oh Deer
Residential – New House
Up to $500k – Somerville Residence
$500k-$1M – Owl Woods Passive House
$1M-$3M – Earth House
Over $3M – Undulating Cubes
Residential – Other
Bathroom Design – Raw Reflection
Kitchen Design – Wyndham Beach House
Small Works Project – Concrete Collective
Special Project – Do Shoes Come on Pallets? Yodgee Market Store
Multi-Residential
>$6M – 1 Nelson St, Ringwood
<$6M – Prahran Townhouses
Commendation: Ivanhoe Hybrid
Small Home – The Snug
Heritage Design – HMAS L02
Interior Design – Wyndham Beach House
Environmentally Sustainable Design – Earth House
Special Awards
James Hardie Australia Award – Prahran Townhouses
Past Presidents’ Award – Killester College Performing Arts & Music Learning Facility
Ronald Pickford Award – Matthew Graham
Life Membership – Lindsay Douglas & Tim Adams
Building Design of the Year – Earth House