The monumental gave way to projects with “”humility and humanity” in this year’s prestigious Royal Australian Institute of Architects (ACT chapter) awards announced last night.
The three Canberra medallions went to the Therapeutic Goods Administration building near Mount Mugga, the Ainslie Village redevelopment, and the Ainslie Fire station. All were designed by Canberra firms: Australian Construction Services; Collard Clarke Jackson; Mitchell Giurgola Thorpe, respectively.
Certificates of merit went to the Tuggeranong Pool and Recreation Centre (Daryl Jackson Alastair Swayn) and the Weston Creek Retirement Village (Freeman Collett).
The large-scale and monumental that missed out on prizes were the Woden Valley Hospital rebuilding and the Tomb of the Unknown Australian Soldier.
The three medallion winners go on to the national awards.
The jury report said the entries reflected a community maturing and developing its own identity with a high standard of entries generally from Canberra-based architectural practices _ 16 from 19 entries.
“”A number of projects this year demonstrate a degree of humility and humanity that contrasts with the monumental nature of buildings generally associated with the capital city,” it said.
There was an extremely high level of co-ordination and integration of the building designs with landscape, services, user-group requirements and the community at large.
Tomorrow in The Canberra Times: Creativity and utility in Canberra’s best architecture.