John Wardle Architects wins Robin Boyd Award for second successive year

A VICTORIAN beach house has clinched the country's most prestigious residential architecture prize.

Fairhaven residence

A BEACH house on a ridgeline above the Great Ocean Road in Victoria has clinched the country's most prestigious residential architecture prize for a second year in a row for John Wardle Architects.

The winners of the Australian Institute of Architects National Awards were announced at a ceremony at the Sydney Opera House last night.

It is only the second time in the history of the Robin Boyd Award for Residential Architecture that the same practice has taken the top award two years running. John Wardle Architects won last year for the Shearers Quarters on North Bruny Island but John Wardle, the head of the 25-year-old Melbourne-based practice, said there was little to connect this year's entry, the Fairhaven Beach House, with last year's winner.

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"Good projects are born out of many long conversations," Wardle said. "These clients were demanding, entirely trusting and up for anything. The more we tried to be compelling, the more excited they became."

The Fairhaven residence is like a piece of zinc-clad origami that winds around a protected courtyard, sheltering it from the harsh prevailing winds.

In contrast to the green-grey of the zinc cladding, the interior is completely lined in timber, to form an enclosure for living that completely immerses its inhabitants.

The judges praised the project, saying it "reveals a masterful control of form and space, material and detail. It is responsive to site and client, beautifully functional and is richly sculptural as a series of spaces for occupation, rest and life."

Despite the plaudits for the Fairhaven residence, public buildings well and truly dominated this year's awards.

The jury, which was chaired by Melbourne-based architect Shelley Penn and included the Australian architect Richard Hassell from WOHA in Singapore, South Australian Government Architect Ben Hewett and Sydney-based architect Hannah Tribe, bestowed six awards for public architecture and gave commendations to a further three projects from a shortlist of 13.

The main award for public architecture, the Sir Zelman Cowan Award, went to Perth Arena. The sports stadium, designed by ARM and CCN Joint Venture Architects, also managed to pick up the country's top award for interior design, the Emil Sodersten Award for Interior Architecture. The number of awards given to public buildings is a sign that more importance is being placed on the design of public spaces, according to Penn.

One of the largest projects entered this year was the Darling Quarter development in Sydney, by Francis-Jones Morehen Thorp.

It picked up the Harry Seidler Award for Commercial Architecture as well as commendations for sustainability and urban design.

Darling Quarter is home to the Commonwealth Bank and Penn said banks were leading the charge on good workplace design.

"The banks see the value in it," she said. "They're financially astute companies and there is just so much evidence that good workplace design is good for business."