The Pingelly Recreation and Cultural Centre has received the highest honours at this year’s Australian Institute of Architects WA Architecture Awards, receiving the George Temple Poole Award.
The Pingelly Recreation and Cultural Centre has received the highest honours at this year’s Australian Institute of Architects WA Architecture Awards, receiving the George Temple Poole Award.
The Pingelly project, which was designed by iredale pedersen hook architects in collaboration with Advanced Timber Concepts Studio, led a field of entries that shared environmental and community sustainability elements.
The Pingelly Recreation and Cultural Centre. Photos: Peter Bennetts
Winners were announced Friday evening, via a virtual presentation evening, featuring a mix of projects spanning residential, education, public buildings, and aged care.
Judges chair Suzanne Hunt said the industry had experienced a tough downturn in recent years, but that hadn’t stopped entrants from excelling.
“We had a really good mix of regional and metropolitan projects, a wonderful calibre of residential projects … particularly infill,” Ms Hunt told Business News.
“I hope the community sees this is how multi-residential and infill should be done; they’re not boxes, they’re actually considering the people who inhabit the building, as well as passive ventilation and solar design.”
The Pingelly centre also won the sustainable architecture award and an accolade for public architecture.
Situated on the perimeter of the town’s established sporting oval and crafted from prefabricated engineered timber, the jury described the design as “exemplary in its approach to sustainability and community impact”.
“Pingelly Recreation and Cultural Centre is a beautifully detailed, technically innovative, sustainable timber building that draws from Pingelly’s community spirit and long history of Indigenous AFL players,” the jury said.
“It’s the ultimate nod to country life, contributing to the economy of the Wheatbelt community and long-term reconciliation.”
The jury also commended the use of timber as an alternative to steel or concrete and said that it demonstrated how this material can “excel in aesthetic while providing shade, ventilation and natural light.”
Three other projects by iredale pedersen hook architects were celebrated on the night, including its frilled neck lizard and numbat canopies in South Perth, which received the small project architecture prize.
Verdant Apartments by MJA Studio was presented with The Harold Krantz Award for Residential Architecture – Multiple Housing for its “enduring architectural quality”.
The Verdant Apartments by MJA Studio. Photo: Dion Robeson.
The jury cited the project’s considered communal areas, well-arranged balconies and high-quality craftsmanship as elements which set a new standard for residential towers in the Perth market and supported a shift in attitudes towards high-density apartment living.
Meanwhile, Reed House by Beth George was recognised with The Peter Overman Award for Residential Architecture in the Alterations and Additions category.
Reed House by Beth George. Photo: Ben Hosking.
Community-focused regional projects were also awarded prizes: The Rocks Laneway in Geraldton by Taylor Robinson Chaney Broderick with UDLA received The John Septimus Roe Award for Urban Design, and the Wickham Community Hub in Karratha by Gresley Abas Architects was presented with the COLORBOND Award for Steel Architecture.
The Rocks Laneway, Geraldton, by Taylor Robinson Chaney Broderick with UDLA. Photo: KMPhotography.
“The 2020 WA Architecture Awards demonstrate how architecture contributes to diversity, sustainability and innovation within the state’s built environment,” said WA chapter president, Peter Hobbs.
“Not only have we seen an impressive number of metropolitan projects take home awards, but the contribution to the state’s regional centres through the upgrade of community hubs has been rightfully honoured.
“Regional areas are a rich component of the state’s social and economic fabric and these public spaces play a strong role in revitalising the people and businesses in the community. As such, we are delighted to award Pingelly Recreation and Cultural Centre the highest honour at this year’s awards.”
All named and architecture award winners will progress to the Australian Institute of Architects national awards.
“While it’s the architecture awards, it’s really important that we acknowledge that we’re a team; we wouldn’t have these buildings if we didn’t have engineers, consultants, suppliers and builders,” Ms Hunt said.
