Jury chair overview
Jury chair Clare Cousins on the deliberations of the 2019 National Architecture Awards jury.
To be part of the National Architecture Awards jury was a great privilege in my year as immediate past president of the Australian Institute of Architects and a wonderful opportunity to experience our country’s most outstanding projects of 2019.
In assembling the jury, I considered diversity of experience, location, practice mode and contribution to the practice of architecture. It was a delight to judge this year’s awards with Rachel Neeson (New South Wales), Emma Williamson (Western Australia), Mat Hinds (Tasmania) and Donald Bates (Victoria);
I am personally grateful for their tireless commitment to what is a physically demanding experience that impacts greatly on work and family life. This year, we travelled more than fifteen thousand kilometres in twelve days to visit fifty-six projects across Australia.
The National Awards judging process assesses award-winning projects recognized in the Chapter Awards, considering each project afresh within a broader national context. The jury first assembled for a two-day evaluation of the 185 eligible projects, mindful that it is – regrettably – not possible to visit them all. We then embarked on two separate weeks of jury tours.
The tours are as much an opportunity to see projects on the ground as to meet and hear from the architects and clients behind them. Our only regret was the necessary brevity of the visits given our relentless schedule (which was so capably and obligingly managed by Mai Huynh from the Institute’s team). The visits confirmed the remarkable quality of entries at this level. The shortlisting process, which resulted in the selection of seventy-eight nationally shortlisted entries across fourteen categories (see pages 102–4 for the complete list), reinforced the need for all Chapter Awards models to be consistent to ensure equity; this issue is currently being deliberated by the National Awards Review Working Group.
A number of themes emerged across all categories this year: projects that delivered worthy outcomes with little means; projects that challenged the boundaries of a typology; projects that demonstrated the value of architecture through public benefit; and projects with clear commitments to social and environmental sustainability. All these qualities make significant contributions to our cities and regional centres.
Following the tours and much jury deliberation, thirty-five projects were recognized with national awards and twelve with commendations. Reflecting on the architecture visited, we were impressed by the creativity, integrity and accomplishment demonstrated by both established and emerging architects. Individual residential projects were particularly strong, including a number where small budgets were resourcefully deployed. The demanding nature of multi-residential projects, which are now dominating our cities, remains evident this year. In the changing landscape of regulation and procurement methodologies, it will be interesting to see how architects rise to the challenge in their approaches to this important typology. New forms of multiple housing also featured, with multi-family housing models responding to issues of ageing in place, density and affordability.
It was encouraging to see educational projects where imaginative design thinking had expanded the learning and experiential agenda. Public architecture projects were also strong, including developments where design invention had expanded the brief and delivered extraordinary value, particularly through social and cultural outcomes.
As architects, we recognize that great architecture requires great clients and we were privileged to meet many visionary clients across Australia. This was especially evident for projects in the public domain, where we observed architect-trained clients deploying their skills, as well as clients championing traditional procurement methods with architects leading the delivery phase.
One in every four projects we visited was located outside our major cities. The jury was heartened to see that such meaningful and transformational work is being commissioned in regional areas, where projects can act as incubators for regional growth and stimulate community engagement.
Each visit engendered surprise and delight in its own way and, on behalf of the jury, I would like to thank the architects and their clients for sharing their exceptional projects so generously. We warmly congratulate all of the winners. The National Awards represent one of our most important advocacy programs, reminding us that exceptional architecture goes beyond imagemaking to touch on all aspects of procurement and that no part of the process can be deficient when excellence is the objective.