Billionaire home awarded best in country

The brief from the client was simple: create the best house in Sydney. Last night it was awarded best in the country.

Indigo Slam, was designed by architect William Smart.

A house designed for billionaire philanthropist and art collector Judith Neilson has picked up the country’s top award for house design at this year’s Australian Institute of Architects National Awards, held in Sydney last night.

The interior of Indigo Slam.

The house, known as Indigo Slam, was designed by architect William Smart and has been awarded the prestigious Robin Boyd Award for Residential Architecture. Smart says Neilson’s brief was to design the house to be the best in Sydney and that it should be built to last 100 years.

Geelong Library won an award for public architecture.

Uncharacteristically for a billionaire, the house is not situated in one of the blue-ribbon suburbs that line Sydney Harbour, but in the former industrial inner-city suburb of Chippendale, on the site of a former warehouse.

The four-storey house has a monumental concrete facade that spans 25m in a street of predominantly Victorian terrace houses.

Queensland art gallery The Condensery was also honoured.

Three other new houses also received awards last night: The Deepdene House by Kennedy Nolan architects in suburban Melbourne; Point Lonsdale House by NMBW Architecture Studio on Victoria’s Bellarine Peninsula; and Rosalie House by Owen Architecture in Brisbane.

MORE: Exclusive coverage of the Australian Institute of Architects 2016 Awards in WISH magazine.