Sydney house wins global award

A "VERTICAL house" built on tiny disused car park in Sydney has been honoured at the World Architecture Festival in Barcelona.

A "VERTICAL house" built on tiny disused car park in Sydney and a Brisbane bridge that appears to float on water have been honoured at the World Architecture Festival in Barcelona.

Sydney architect Domenic Alvaro was presented with the World's Best House award last night for his design Small House in Sydney, while Brisbane firm Cox Architecture was recoginsed with the World's Best Transport Building award for Brisbane's Kurilpa Bridge.

Alvaro's four-storey building in the inner-city Sydney suburb of Surry Hills was built on a disused three-vehicle car park, an area measuring just 6m x 7m.

"I am thrilled to have been presented with this prestigious award," Alvaro said. "Small House investigates a new typology in the current urban living space, whilst still reflecting a contemporary lifestyle full of diversity and creativity.''

Alvaro, of architecture firm Woods Bagot, designed the building as his own home. The ultra-compact design, which features an outdoor room on its top floor boasting sweeping views across the city, beat 18 entries from around the world.

In presenting the award, the judges said Alvaro's design was unique.

"Built on a difficult laneway in Sydney,  this project more than any other contender demonstrated commitment and excellence on many levels," they said.

"(It was a winner) from the concept through to execution, employing construction techniques more typically used on large-scale commericial projects in response to physical and budget restraints."

Brisbane design firm Cox Architecture was recognised for fusing practicality with aesthetics. The  Kurilpa Bridge, which spans the Brisbane River, is the world's largest structure based on the principle of "tensegrity", a system of balanced compressive and tensile forces, judges said.

"The bridge appears to float over the Brisbane River," the judges said. "The structural elements seem to be abstractly suspended in the air, making the bridge very different, functional and sculptural."