THE Cowes Primary School’s new gymnasium, by Project 12 Architecture, did not win the ‘Commercial, Community and Public Award’ for projects over $2 million at ArchiTeam Cooperative’s Annual Awards recently.
But it was no shame to finish second in the commercial category, with a Commendation award, to the eventual winner of the top architect award in Australia this year, the redevelopment of one of the world’s largest woodchip mills, the Spring Bay Mill in Hobart, winner of the 2022 ArchiTeam Medal.
ArchiTeam Cooperative’s Annual Awards program showcased the very best in architecture from Australia’s small, medium and emerging architects on Friday, November 18 at the headquarters of circular fashion label A.BCH Unit in Sims Street West Melbourne.
All entries were eligible to win the ArchiTeam Medal, the year’s highest award, and it was to the credit of the Cowes project, built by Becon Constructions, that it took such an impressive project to relegate Cowes’ Primary School’s new gymnasium to second place in the commercial category.
The Hampton Park Secondary College’s Senior Learning Centre by WOWOWA also took out a commendation in the commercial category.
Located an hour East of Hobart, Spring Bay Mill is the outcome of a successful long-term collaboration between a visionary client and Gilby + Brewin Architecture. Previously one of the world’s largest woodchip mills, the location’s multistage master plan includes a cultural events venue and the ongoing regeneration of the 40-hectare sites former Indigenous ecologies.
The first stage of the project includes the adaptive reuse of the existing industrial building fabric to create three main event spaces. The Banksia room, a 250-seat function space has repurposed the former administration building, The Tin Shed has transformed a former bark stripping shed into a 230-seat performance space; and the new Amphitheatre has ingeniously reimagined the old slew crane footing into an open-air performance venue and giant sundial.
In addition to the events spaces, the Ridge Quarters provides new group accommodation for the venue, gently curving and referencing the scale and materiality of the former industrial structures on the site.
Gilby + Brewin’s careful, contextual, and considered design approach demonstrates, through minimal intervention, the potential of regenerative architecture.
The jury agreed this important project provides some key lessons for the broader profession, promoting environmental, social, and economic sustainability and is a deserving recipient of this year’s ArchiTeam Medal.