Excellence on show at Tasmanian Architecture Awards

Hobart’s striking landmark, The Hedberg, has scooped the Tasmanian Architecture Awards, winning the top honour and a string of other major awards in acknowledgement of its design and technical excellence.

The Awards tonight awarded LIMINAL Architecture with WOHA the state’s pre-eminent award, the Tasmanian Architecture Medal, as well as The Alan C Walker Award for Public Architecture, The Dirk Bolt Award for Urban Design, The Roy Sharrington Smith Award for Heritage, and The Alexander North Award for Interior Architecture, for their design of the performing arts precinct building.

The jury commended the public architecture for bringing together heritage and contemporary elements, along with complex technical requirements.

“A world-class Performing Arts Centre, it brings music and performance hubs, theatre spaces and creative workspaces to the centre of Hobart,” the jury said. “The Hedberg is significant not only as a performing arts destination, but also for successfully stitching together its historical past and for its exceptional public access to the building.”

The Tasmanian Architecture Awards were held tonight at Spring Bay Mill, attracting 150 built environment professionals from across the state to acknowledge the state’s leading designs. Winners were acknowledged across 10 project categories, highlighting the breadth of excellence across the state.

Tasmanian Chapter President Stuart Tanner said the Tasmanian Architecture Awards celebrated the positive impact of high-quality architecture on the community.

“Everyone benefits from good design and good architecture brings integrity, durability and innovation to the fore,” he said. “Where there might be the ordinary, there can be joy and invention. Architecture offers sensitivity in an often fast-paced and abrasive world.”

The residential categories attracted strong competition. Bence Mulcahy’s Fusilier Cottage won The Edith Emery Award for Residential Architecture – Houses (Alterations and Additions) and an Award for Heritage for their renovation of the 1830s Battery Point Heritage Precinct home.

The jury hailed its sensitive extension of the Georgian cottage, allowing the integration of heritage and contemporary elements.

The Ray Heffernan Award for Residential Architecture – Multiple Housing went to Goulburn Street Housing, designed by Cumulus. The public housing units are filled with natural light through connections to external spaces and clever planning.

“The use of internal pathways, heavily articulated with planters, furniture, and changing forms, punctuated with curated views, create an inner world that is still connected to the city around it,” the jury said.

Mays Point House from Tanner Architects won The Esmond Dorney Award for Residential Architecture – Houses (New) for its “sleek, concrete pavilion that has a weighty yet quiet presence”. “A series of sleeping, sitting and living spaces stretch along a single level under a winged roof, each focussed on the extraordinary southerly views across the large rural property,” the jury said.

The Peter Willmott Award for Small Project Architecture was awarded to the Sandy Bay Long Beach Amenities, by Preston Lane, for its “delightful interpretation” of the public toilet block. It was also awarded the COLORBOND Award for Steel Architecture.

“Long Beach Amenities is a wonderful example of how a small building can have a widespread and generous community impact, making it a sustainable typology for the future,” the jury said.

The Award for Enduring Architecture was awarded to Rosny Park’s 1970s Clarence Council Chambers from Bush Parkes Shugg and Moon as “an enduring building representative of an important phase in Tasmanian architecture evolution”.

“Nearly fifty years on, the building stands with only minor alterations, and continues to perform its civic, administrative and ceremonial duties,” the jury said.

Esteemed member of the architectural community and heritage specialist Peter Cripps has been awarded the Tasmanian Architecture Awards President’s Prize 2022 for his lifelong contribution to the industry.

The Life Fellow of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects has supported organisations across the architecture and built environment industries over five decades.

Tasmanian Chapter President Stuart Tanner said Mr Cripps said was an esteemed member of the architectural community whose contributions to heritage preservation and knowledge of building contracts were “second to none”.

“In the architectural community, Peter is a living treasure, quietly doing much of this behind the scenes with humility and grace,” he said.

“Peter applies a straight, thoroughgoing approach to complex issues. Utterly professional, his calm, erudite and kind nature complement his outstanding career. Through the President’s Prize, the Institute’s Tasmanian Chapter acknowledges Peter as an exceptional practitioner.”

Mr Cripps has been a registered architect in Australia since 1971 and has provided services to the Institute, the Board of Architects and Rotary since 1974, and the Tasmanian Building Appeals Board and RMPAT for more than 35 years.

The Tasmanian Architecture Awards tonight acknowledged the state’s leading practitioners and projects from across the state.

The Emerging Architect Prize 2022 was awarded to Jason Licht of Licht Architecture for his outstanding contributions, notably to Tasmanian regional tourism developments, such as the Derby Floating Sauna, Dove Lake Viewing Shelter, Devils Corner Cellar Door, and the Cradle Mountain Visitor Centre.

“Jason Licht has made outstanding contributions to Tasmania’s architectural community,” the jury said.

“He has worked continuously on award-winning projects, both in his former role as associate at Cumulus Studio and as director of his own practice, Licht Architecture. As both a community leader and architect, Jason has a clear trajectory toward developing an enduring architectural practice with a high design and innovation ethic at its core.”

He has acted as EmAGN Chair, Chapter Councillor and Vice President of the Tasmanian Chapter of the Institute and leads architecture promotion to government and industry stakeholders.

The jury awarded the SWT Blythe Student Prize to Neo-Gaya by Rui Shen Chong, acknowledging the “thoroughly developed and inspirational project that uses consistent and thoughtful detailing, supportive presentation graphics, and a well-considered staged master plan”.

The Australian Institute of Architects Awards program offers an opportunity for public and peer recognition of the innovative work of architects. The program also provides the Institute with a valuable mechanism to promote architects and architecture across Australia and internationally.

The winners from Tasmania progress to the National Architecture Awards program, recognised as the most prestigious and rigorous of its kind.