NT’s best new buildings crowned at Australian Institute of Architects 2024 awards
Offering a glimpse into the future, some of the country’s most successful architects have handed down their verdict on the best new builds in the Territory. Read which was the ‘standout project’.
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Sustainability, cost and “generosity towards the broader community” were the winning hallmarks of the Territory’s best new architecture.
On Saturday night, a panel of eminent architects gave their verdict for the Australian Institute of Architects 2024 NT chapter awards.
Eleven awards were handed out, with the Nungalinya College campus accommodation taking out four gongs for NSW firm Incidental Architecture.
Judges called it “the standout project in this year’s program” for its “excellence in design, sustainability, and cultural respect”.
“At the heart of Incidental Architecture’s practice lies the belief that buildings are most meaningful when they serve the lives of the people and communities they inhabit,” the panel said.
“In delivering these five accommodation suites, Incidental Architecture has crafted not only a beautiful and environmentally sensitive series of spaces where the architecture is secondary to satisfying the briefed need, they have also profoundly increased the capacity of the college to fulfil its aim in growing the skills and knowledge of its students.”
Judges also praised the Larrakeyah defence precinct’s Shared User Facility for “(delivering) a dynamic and graceful built outcome while simultaneously fulfilling budgetary and environmental requirements”.
Jury chair and architect Dino Vrynios said “good design has never been more important” in the face of environmental and social challenges.
“The entries this year, while limited to the Darwin region, presented a diversity of scale, typology and context,” Mr Vrynios said.
“However, what remained consistent in all projects was an endeavour and commitment by every architect and professional to pursue best for project, planet and people outcomes.”
The Enduring Architecture prize went to the heritage-listed Wesleyan Methodist Church on Knuckey St, which was disassembled in Adelaide and shipped to Darwin in 1897.
It survived the Japanese bombings in World War II and as many as 18 cyclones partly due to a unique “hook” system holding down the roof in place of screws.
“It is a great example that good design is enduring, that prefabricated doesn’t necessarily mean temporary, and that sometimes out of the box thinking can best mainstream practises in simple and practical ways,” the panel said.
Two rising talents were also singled out during the award ceremony at Novotel Airport Resort.
The Emerging Architect Prize went to Katy Moir, previous deputy chairperson of the NT Heritage Council, and Jomar Benisano of Charles Darwin University received the Student Prize.
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Originally published as NT’s best new buildings crowned at Australian Institute of Architects 2024 awards
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