Image above, Bankstown Library and Knowledge Centre by Francis-Jones Morehen Thorp, image courtesy, FMJT.  

79 projects have been shortlisted in this year’s New South Wales Architecture Awards, organised by the Australian Institute of Architects.

The shortlisted projects were selected from over 170 entries, across the categories of Public Architecture, Educational Architecture, Urban Design, Commercial Architecture, Interior Architecture, Residential Architecture – Houses (New), Residential Architecture – Houses (Alterations & Additions), Residential Architecture – Multiple Housing, Heritage (Conservation and Creative Adaptation), Small Project Architecture and Sustainable Architecture.

The winners from each category will be announced at the 2015 NSW Architecture Awards presentation on 2 July.

A host of other prizes will also be announced on the night, including the COLORBOND® Award for Steel Architecture, the Sustainable Architecture award, the Blacket Prize for regional architecture, the NSW President’s Prize, the NSW Premier’s Prize, and the City of Sydney Lord Mayor’s Prize.

Prizes for outstanding individual contributions to the profession, and the state’s architecture will also be awarded. These include the Emerging Architect Prize, the Marion Mahony Griffin Prize, which recognizes the significant contribution of a female architect, the Adrian Ashton Prize for Writing and Criticism, and the David Lindner Prize, a research prize for graduate and emerging architects.

Shaun Carter, the NSW Chapter President, said the shortlist highlighted the diversity of design happening across the state and the skill of the architects in making these designs a reality.

Tickets for the NSW Architecture Awards presentation will go on sale from 13 May, and can be purchased online at nswawards.architecture.com.au

Winners of 2015 NSW Architecture Awards will then progress to the National Architecture Awards, to be announced in November 2015. We take a look at a few of the intriguing shortlisted projects below.

Public Architecture

Bankstown Library and Knowledge Centre. Image courtesy Francis-Jones Morehen Thorp

The Bankstown Library and Knowledge Centre aims to revitalise a dislocated site and create a rich spatial experience for community members and visitors. By modifying the original Bankstown Town Hall, the new building offers an integrated, inclusive and flexible series of spaces containing a new 3-storey library, a three- hundred seat theatre, community conference facilities, café, and community information wall. It also adds improvements to the redevelopment of Paul Keating Park, including an addition of an aquatic sculpture garden, new street trees, off-street parking, and an all weather bus drop-off zone. Read Architectural Review Asia Pacific’s article on the Bankstown library here.

Bankstown Library and Knowledge Centre – Francis-Jones Morehen Thorp

MA Noble, Don Bradman and Dally Messenger Stands – Cox Architecture

Shoalhaven Cancer Care Centre – HASSELL

South West Rail Link – Edmondson Park / Leppington Station – HASSELL in association with GHD

St Barnabas Church – Francis-Jones Morehen Thorp

University of Technology (UTS) Haberfield Rowing Club – HASSELL

Westmead Millennium Institute – BVN

Educational Architecture 

Nan Tien Institute and Cultural Centre by Woods Bagot. Photo credit: Peter Bennetts

Woods Bagot’s Nan Tien Institute and Cultural Centre, design for the Taiwanese Fo Guang Shan Buddhist order, is the first building in what is proposed as an extensive new university campus in Wollongong, New South Wales. The project features in AR139 – ‘From concept to completion’.

Cameraygal (formerly Dunbar building) – NSW Government Architect’s Office

Camperdown Childcare – CO-AP (Architects)

Charles Perkins Centre – Francis-Jones Morehen Thorp + Building Studio (architects in association)

Nan Tien Institute and Cultural Centre – Woods Bagot

NSW Aboriginal Child and Family Centre Gunnedah – NSW Government Architect’s Office

O’Regan Arts & Cultural Common – Brewster Hjorth Architects

Sustainable Buildings Research Centre (SBRC) – University of Wollongong – COX Richardson

UTS Science Faculty, Building 7 – Durbach Block Jaggers Architects & BVN Architecture

  Commercial Architecture 

TransGrid Headquarters by Bates Smart

Bates Smart’s Thomas Street building sits diagonally across from Frank Gehry’s Dr Chau Chak Wing Building at UTS, in a mixed urban context of institutional, residential and commercial buildings to the west of Sydney’s Chinatown.

50 Martin Place – JPW

Irving Street Brewery – Tzannes Associates

The GPT Group’s Wollongong Central – HDR Rice Daubney

TransGrid Headquarters – Bates Smart

Interior Architecture

Qantas Campus by HASSELL. Image courtesy FDC

Qantas campus is Qantas’ new global headquarters, which houses its administration staff, and provides temporary accommodation for flight and cabin crew. The design aims to modernise Qantas’ office space, to streamline their work practices, consolidate their property and carbon footprint, and create a collaborative ‘campus style’ environment. The fully refurbished interior workspace features an open-plan layout throughout. Connecting the four office buildings is an expansive glazed atrium with pod balconies, retail shops, and outdoor seating.

Archie Rose Distilling Co. – Acme & Co.

Bankstown Library and Knowledge Centre – Francis-Jones Morehen Thorp

Charles Perkins Centre – Francis-Jones Morehen Thorp + Building Studio (architects in association)

Qantas Campus – HASSELL

St Barnabas Church – Francis-Jones Morehen Thorp

Sustainable Architecture 

Polychrome by David-Boyle Architect. Image credit: David Boyle

Polychrome by David Boyle demonstrates a playful yet considered approach to the use of colour, and was awarded in the Multi Residential category at this year’s Dulux Colour Awards. The project incorporates living greenery throughout, further emphasising its in built green credentials.

50 Martin Place – JPW

Alfalfa House – Dunn & Hillam Architects

Bankstown Library and Knowledge Centre – Francis-Jones Morehen Thorp

Cameraygal (formerly Dunbar building) – NSW Government Architect’s Office Camperdown Childcare – CO-AP Architects

House for Bob and Susan – Austin McFarland Architects

Nikki Maloneys – Drew Heath Architects

Polychrome – David Boyle Architect

Salgo Kitching House – Sam Crawford Architects

Sustainable Buildings Research Centre (SBRC) – University of Wollongong – COX Richardson

Residential Architecture – Houses (Alterations & Additions) 

Inner City Warehouse. Image courtesy of Allen Jack+Cottier

This home renovation project is part of a warehouse in Surry Hills. On the warehouse’s upper floor sits a sculptural carbon-fibre pod “mancave”. Finished in white semi-gloss resin-faced foam, the cave is separated into two spaces. As the warehouse’s central feature, the ‘man cave’ organises and informs the spaces around it, while providing a private cocoon for rest and privacy.

Courtyard House St Peters – Reg Lark Architect

Darlinghurst Rooftop – CO-AP (Architects)

House Boone Murray – Tribe Studio Architects

Howe Allan House – Ian Moore Architects

Inner City Warehouse – Allen Jack+Cottier

Kensington House – Virginia Kerridge Architect

Orama – Smart Design Studio

Paddington House – PIDCOCK – Architecture + Sustainability

Pigeon Shed – mck architects

Salgo Kitching House – Sam Crawford Architects

Spiegel Haus – Carterwilliamson Architects

Tempe House – Eoghan Lewis Architects

Walter Street Terrace – David Boyle Architect

Residential Architecture – Houses (New)

Courtyard House by Aileen Sage. Image courtesy Aileen Sage Architects

The angular and conceptual Pool by Aileen Sage and Michelle Tabet has just recently has been named by the AIA as the first architectural exhibition for the Australian Pavilion at the 2016 Venice Biennale. Displaying the scope of the young practice’s versatility, their Courtyard House is a warm and inviting residence, applying a strategic approach to colour to suggest spatial flow within the space.

Balmoral House – Clinton Murray + Polly Harbison

Cooper Park House – Tobias Partners

Courtyard House – Aileen Sage Architects

Cronulla House – Reg Lark Architect

Garden House – Tzannes Associates

House for Bob and Susan – Austin McFarland Architects

Light House – Peter Stutchbury Architecture

Nikki Maloneys – Drew Heath Architects

Pacific House – Casey Brown Architecture

Residential Architecture – Multiple Housing

Eton. Image courtesy Stanisic Architects

This residential development in Zetland is a part of the Emerald Park masterplan of the former Email industrial site that is situated on the western side of Joynton Avenue. Located between O’Dea Avenue and McPherson Lane, the apartment incorporates a major privately funded public park at the southern end, an extension of Mary O’Brien Reserve.

Cargo Lane Terraces – PBD Architects

CASBA – Billard Leece Partnership + SJB Architects in association with BKH Interiors

DHA Lindfield – Tubbs View + Hamilton Corner – Bates Smart

Eton – Stanisic Architects

Finlayson Street – Candalepas Associates

Park Lane – JPW

Pelican Street – Candalepas Associates

Polychrome – David Boyle Architect

Studios 54 – Hill Thalis Architecture + Urban Projects

The Kensington – Fox Johnston

Viking by Crown – MHN Design Union

Small Project Architecture 

Peter Stutchbury’s Tent House

The acclaimed and enigmatic architect Peter Stutchbury was the recipient of this year’s Gold Medal for Architecture, at the Australian Achievement in Architecture Awards. His sizeable body of work is highly influential and world renowned, but his modest small-scale tent home is designed to “challenge the conventions of our suburban lives”.

A Fine Possession: Jewellery and Identity exhibition, Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences, Sydney, NSW – Christina Carayanides architect and the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences, Sydney, NSW

AGL Lakeside Pavilion – Kennedy Associates Architects

Alfalfa House – Dunn & Hillam Architects

Bresic Whitney, Hunters Hill – Chenchow Little

Copper House – Takt | Studio for Architecture

EN House – Derive Architecture and Design

Horizon Apartment – Stephen Collier Architects

Reformatory Caffeine Laboratory – Louise Nettleton Architects

Sydney Ferry Wharves – Group GSA

Sydney Opera House Recording Studio – Scott Carver

Tempe House – Eoghan Lewis Architects

Tent House – Peter Stutchbury Architecture

A full shortlist can be viewed here.