FNQ architecture award winners named

The latest jewels in Far North Queensland’s architectural crown have been named at an awards show. Find out who took out the top prizes.

The revamped Cairns Convention Centre was praised for making the most of Cairns' beautiful tropical surroundings. Picture: Paul Furse - Frontrow Foto

A revamped Cairns Convention Centre has been revealed as one of three winners at the Far North Queensland Architecture Awards on May 17.

The other two big winners were a new hall at Cairns State High School and the Atherton Hospital redevelopment.

The Convention Centre’s expansion, designed by Cox Architects and CA Architects, took out the top Building of the Year prize.

“It is a really welcomed update and refresh to a convention centre which is now some decades old,” Sandy Cavill, award juror and architect, said.

“The project is really successful in the way that it kind of reorientates the original Convention Centre, which was quite an inward focused facility, and it provides an orientation both to the public realm of the city, but also beyond to the views of the river and spectacular rainforest beyond the project.”

Spectacular rainforest views greet event attendees at Cairns Convention Centre. Picture: Christopher Frederick Jones

The Convention Centre’s design was also commended for its potential to attract larger events and generate valuable tourism dollars for the city and wider region.

Mr Cavill said the expansion was functional as well as aesthetically pleasing.

“(The expansion) integrates a series of really flexible and functional spaces which enable the centre now to host event types and sizes which perhaps (the centre) didn’t previously have the capacity or the facility to facilitate,” he said.

“So it’s really brought a new kind of a new dimension to the centre offering in the way that it can host events.”

Cairns State High School’s Multipurpose Hall, Bou-wa, designed by TPG architects, was named Project of the Year.

The new hall at Cairns State High School won the Project of the Year award. Picture: Robert Gesink

The new hall at Cairns State High School can even turn into a full boxing arena. Picture: Roger Mainwood

School Principal Chris Zilm praised the work for pushing the boundaries of what a school building could look like.

“(The hall has created a) new aesthetic for State School buildings, sensitive to the story of the local people and environment,” Mr Zilm said

Designers TPG architects worked closely with First Nations students, staff and community members to come up with the award-winning design.

The hall now has flexibility to be configured in a variety of ways, with three new sports courts, an assembly hall and a stage which could even fit a 70-piece orchestra.

The Building of the Year and Project of the Year prizes were awarded by a panel of judges from the Australian Institute of Architects.

Atherton Hospital took home the People's Choice Award. Picture: Andrew Watson Photography

One gong went down to the public vote, with the Atherton Hospital Redevelopment winning the People’s Choice Award.

Designed by Peddle Thorp architects, the building is wrapped in a colourful brick facade which the designers said was intended to make people feel less overwhelmed by the start of their healthcare journey.

The Convention Centre and State High School hall have now been short-listed for the Queensland Architecture Awards, due to take place in June.

Originally published as FNQ architecture award winners named