Houses Awards 2021
Posted by Buxton Lifestyle - 31 July 2021
Posted by Buxton Lifestyle - 31 July 2021
Over 150 projects and studios were shortlisted across ten categories, honouring the most outstanding examples of residential architecture in Australia, a showcase of the best contemporary design around the country. This year’s shortlisted projects were of the highest calibre; highlighting the diversity of design, function, sustainability and innovation undertaken in 2021.
When reflecting on the shortlist, Katelin Butler, Chair of the 2021 Houses Awards Jury and Editorial Director at Architecture Media, commented that the standard of residential design in Australia is evidently world class.
"This year, the jury was impressed by the many ways that extraordinary and clever architectural outcomes were created from ordinary materials or existing conditions," said Butler.
"Context and neighbourhood were pleasantly seen to be strong drivers of design, stitching the homes into their surroundings and giving something back to the public realm. There was also a strong emphasis on easy access to private outdoor space and how the home connects to these landscaped living spaces, determining how often these areas are used."
We take a look at some of our favourite projects below, and for the full list of Award winners and commendations, head to the Houses Awards website.
Jury Citation
Three House by John Ellway is a deceptively simple new house, the genius of which lies in the rigour of the planning decisions and in the detail resolutions. Set on a flood-prone gully in Brisbane’s Paddington, the house is broken into three elevated sleeping platforms connected by a series of verandah-like living zones. This efficiently planned house belies the bounds of its physical dimensions by borrowing light and space, and by firmly connecting its internal spaces to the surrounding neighbourhood context. Living spaces have been raised above street level in response to the site conditions and to maintain privacy.
Jury Citation
8 Yard House builds on centuries-old traditions of spaces for living outside. The courtyard is reinterpreted as eight outdoor rooms, which punctuate a dense house across a double-fronted lot in an inner-urban area of Melbourne. This outside space – sometimes yard, sometimes courtyard – is brought right to the facade, creating a deep and generous threshold to the house and offering transparency to the street through hit-and-miss brickwork.
Jury Citation
Located on a sloping remote landscape, Federal House is both hard and soft. The existential experience of inhabiting this ancient landscape is acknowledged through the confidence of the building as discrete object, announcing "I am here." However, the quiet elegant form is the first mediation between inside and outside: the apparent solidity of the object is deconstructed by fine-grain timber battens.
Jury Citation
The Hat Factory by Welsh and Major has a colourful past. The building, most recently partially derelict after fire and its use as a notorious squat, is an important feature that anchors locally listed Hollis Park in Newtown. The brief to create a pair of flexible, contemporary residences could have erased history but instead has enriched it. The private residences acknowledge existing social attachment to the place and add a readable new layer. This public gesture is made more generous in the absence of a heritage listing or any requirement for the built fabric to be retained.
Jury Citation
SRG House by Fox Johnston comes with an impressive architectural pedigree. The locally significant 1970s semi in Balmain is one of a pair formerly owned by eminent architect Sir Roy Grounds and his son Marr, an architect, lecturer and sculptor. Marr commissioned architect Stuart Whitelaw to design the two houses, and this semi was used by Roy as his Sydney pied- à-terre. As may be expected, the bones were excellent and the Balmain views were stunning. However, time had intervened and the original treehouse concept had been altered.
