AND THE WINNERS ARE...
Sir Zelman Cowen Award for Public Architecture
The Shrine of Remembrance - Galleries of Remembrance
ARM Architecture
National Award for Public Architecture
Adelaide Oval Redevelopment
Cox Architecture, Walter Brooke and Hames Sharley
Harry Seidler Award for Commercial Architecture
50 Martin Place
JPW
National Award for Commercial Architecture
The GPT Group's Wollongong Central
HDR Rice Daubney 
Daryl Jackson Award for Educational Architecture
Melbourne School of Design, University
of Melbourne
John Wardle Architects & NADAAA joint venture
National Award for Educational Architecture
UTS Science Faculty, Building 7
Durbach Block Jaggers Architects & BVN
National Award for Enduring Architecture
Council House
Howlett & Bailey Architects
Emil Sodersten Award for Interior Architecture
Bankstown Library and Knowledge Centre
Francis-Jones Morehen Thorp
Jorn Utzon Award for International Architecture
Pico Branch Library (US)
Koning Eizenberg Architecture Inc.
National Award for International Architecture
Aman Tokyo (Japan)
Kerry Hill Architects
Gloucestershire Garden Room (UK)
robert grace architecture
Nicholas Murcutt Award for Small Project Architecture
#thebarnTAS
workbylizandalex
Lachlan Macquarie Award for Heritage Irving Street Brewery
Tzannes Associates
National Award for Heritage
Coriyule
Bryce Raworth & Trethowan Architecture
The Abbey, Johnston Street, Annandale
Design 5 - Architects
#thebarnTAS
workbylizandalex
David Oppenheim Award for Sustainable Architecture
National Award for Interior Architecture
UQ Global Change Institute
HASSELL
National Award for Sustainable Architecture
Bethanga House
tUG workshop
Library at The Dock
Clare Design + Hayball (Architect of Record)
Walter Burley Griffin Award for Urban Design
NewActon Precinct
Fender Katsalidis Architects
National Award for Urban Design
Monash University North West Precinct
Jackson Clements Burrows Architects & MGS joint venture
Sir Zelman Cowen Award for Public Architecture
01. The Shrine of Remembrance - Galleries of Remembrance
ARM Architecture
The $45 million expansion of Victoria's iconic Shrine of Remembrance is a project that began 15 years ago and was completed in time to mark the 100th anniversary of the 1915 Gallipoli campaign. The brief given to ARM Architecture in the late 1990s was two-fold: provide facilities for volunteers and disabled access for veterans (there had been none) and create a new museum at the landmark. The decision was made to utilise the 1600sq?m of space under the Shrine (the building was originally constructed on top of a mound by returned servicemen in the 1930s) and turn it into an exhibition space housing at least 850 objects. "What is remarkable about these latest additions is they enhance the appreciation of the existing monument while confidently creating a new and intriguing visitor experience," the jury said.
National Award for Public Architecture
02. Adelaide Oval Redevelopment
Cox Architecture, Walter Brooke and Hames Sharley
Built in 1871, Adelaide Oval is famous for its grassy banks at the northern end where spectators laze away summer afternoons watching the cricket. The $535 million redevelopment of the ground has crucially retained the famous green hill on the northern side of the oval, while increasing seating capacity and turning it from a cricket venue into one that can also host AFL, rugby and soccer matches. The architects also took into account the views of surrounding Moreton Bay figs, heritage scoreboard and St Peter's Cathedral. "The retention of one of [the Oval's] most favourite viewing points reinforces the globally recognised identity of the ground," the jury said.
Harry Seidler Award for Commercial Architecture
03. 50 Martin Place
JPW
The jury was unanimous in its praise for the redevelopment of the 87-year-old former Government Savings Bank of NSW in central Sydney into a headquarters for Macquarie Bank. The Beaux-Arts revivalist building was stripped back to its original interior (a 1980s refurbishment was mercifully ripped out) and opened up by widening the central atrium and creating a spectacular glass-shingled dome on the rooftop. The dome is barely visible from the street but can be admired from neighbouring high-rise buildings. Architects also inserted the world's first glass cylindrical lifts to provide a "vertical and visual tour of the inner workings" of the building and the company itself. The jury said this project showed how the boundaries of commercial architecture could be pushed and the end result could inspire those who work in the building. "The result is a masterful example of the best in sensitive and intelligent building addition, sophisticated engineering ... innovative workplace design and, most importantly, how to create a relevant legacy to complement great commercial architecture of the past,'' it said.
National Award for Commercial Architecture
04. The GPT Group's Wollongong Central
JPW
This is no ordinary shopping centre. The $200 million Wollongong Central does have a Myer, David Jones, a Coles and more than 220 speciality stores, but the design of the retail hub makes it much more. Instead of facing inward like traditional shopping centres, the series of buildings face outward and connect with the street. The architects have created laneways and a five-level pedestrian "street", revitalising the centre of Wollongong as well as creating new spaces that incorporate public art and the city's history. "This redefines the role of a shopping centre as having a responsibility beyond its property boundaries," the jury said. "It makes a significant contribution to revitalising the City of Wollongong on multiple levels. It strengthens pedestrian urban connections and sets up a visual dialogue with this regional city." The jury also paid tribute to the architect's passion for making a difference, the developer's foresight in the value of excellent design and the strong collaboration with the local council.
Daryl Jackson Award for Educational Architecture
05. Melbourne School of Design, University
of Melbourne
John Wardle Architects and NADAAA
The bar was always going to be set high when designing a new building to house the faculties of architecture, building and urban design at one of the country's top universities. After an international design competition, John Wardle Architects with Boston-based NADAAA won the commission and came up with a six-level structure that not only provides space for teaching architecture but becomes part of that teaching itself. Layers of the construction of the building, from material makeup to jointing techniques, have been deliberately exposed to help inform students. "The Melbourne School of Design sets new standards in the design of education facilities," the jury said. "It takes every opportunity to foster collaboration in undergraduate and graduate research, teaching and learning ... The building itself is an education vehicle."
National Award for Educational Architecture
06. University of Technology, Sydney,
Science Faculty, Building 7
Durbach Block Jaggers Architects and BVN
A key part of the UTS's $1 billion campus masterplan, which seeks to revamp the facilities of the university based in central Sydney, this eight-level building was constructed to house 1200 students and staff in research laboratories, teaching spaces and offices. The facility has three levels below the surface and Australia's largest underground science-teaching space, the 200-seat aptly named Super Lab. The architects' brief for an innovative science-teaching building prohibited them from blocking the sun from the lawn in front of the structure, as it was a beloved meeting place for students, especially in winter. The jury said both aims had been achieved. "The building's rippling facades make a strong and forthright combination to the public domain," they say. "By curving and canting the building form, the architects have brought maximum sunlight to the Alumni Green."
Lachlan Macquarie Award for Heritage
07. Irving Street Brewery
Tzannes Associates
The Irving Street Brewery was established more than 180 years ago when the suburb of Chippendale was mostly slums and swamps at the southern end of Sydney. Today it is the middle of the Central Park development and the brewery is surrounded by apartment blocks, shops and offices. But what to do with this piece of history? The architects, who are also responsible for designing the masterplan for Central Park, have taken the brewery into the future by transforming it into a tri-generation plant that provides electricity as well as hot and cold water for the area. They did this by building the cooling towers into the existing roofline and cladding them in metal mesh fabric, a move the jurors called "exciting and dynamic". "It is an outstanding example of the retention and adaptive reuse of a significant heritage building," they said. "Tzannes Associates has provided the precinct with its first monument."
National Award for Heritage
08. Coriyule
Bryce Raworth and Trethowan Architecture
A painstaking seven-year historical investigation was undertaken by the architects restoring Coriyule, an 1848 homestead on Victoria's southwest coast. The research unearthed the original drawings of the manor house, filed at the State Library , and the diaries of the owners, Scottish heiress and farmer Anne Drysdale and her companion Caroline Newcomb. The architects found out through this material that cast iron windows were installed to protect the women from "local marauders". They scoured much of Australia to get as close as to the original materials as possible, right down to the lime mortar coloured with local sand and soil in between the bricks. "The house has been brought back to its former life as a country house," the jury said. "The careful and methodical approached adopted for the works has ensured adherence to the best conservation practice, retaining all aspects of cultural significance connected to the place."
National Award for Heritage
09. The Abbey, Johnston Street, Annandale
Design 5 - Architects
This incredible Victorian Free Gothic style house in Sydney's inner west has had a colourful history. It began with its original construction in 1882 by John Young, who built it to entice his wife back from England. Sadly, she never came, so he never lived in it. It was later divided up into flats, used by a boarding school and lived in by bohemian types in the 1950s. The restoration process of the historic site - which includes a tower with gargoyles, a chapel, servants' quarters and stables - has taken four years to complete, in three stages. The jury found the project was of national significance. "It's an extraordinary achievement of restoration and sympathetic addition," they said. "The project is an example of the way in which heritage, technical and construction experts can collaborate to conserve a significant local landmark. It is also testament to the client's dedication and commitment to preserving the past."
Emil Sodersten Award for Interior Architecture
10. Bankstown Library and Knowledge Centre
Francis-Jones Morehen Thorp
The architects wanted the new library in Bankstown, in Sydney's western suburbs, to replicate the experience of resting in the shade of a great tree - a simple but unusual concept for a government building. The result was a library with a massive green wall installation and two architectural "trees" (pylons), which rise up into a canopy-like roof. The building's exterior of steel "leaves" acts as a further shade structure for the facility, which houses a cafe, IT labs and a 300-seat theatre as well as the library itself. The building also utilises the existing 1960s Bankstown Town Hall, which has been renovated and extended. "The architects have designed a highly sustainable interior environment without compromising core functional requirements,'' the jury notes. "The building offers Bankstown's strong multicultural community a rich and comprehensive range of interiors in which to meet, learn, reflect and celebrate."
Nicholas Murcutt Award for Small
Project Architecture
+ National Award for Heritage
11. #thebarnTAS
workbylizandalex
This tiny barn in Hobart began life as a home for horses in 1829. Constructed of locally quarried sandstone and bricks made by convicts, it was originally designed to be an out-building for the Bulls Head Inn. There were four stalls on the ground floor and the loft was used as storage. Looking at it from the outside today, you may not notice much difference, given the "less is more" approach by the architects who have restored and transformed it into a home. "The concept was quite simple: retain as much of the existing building fabric as possible,'' the jury said. The architects created two new spaces: a long, low one for the dining and living area (ground floor) and a smaller space (the loft) for the bedroom. "The architects have successfully realised the potential of this very small, neglected barn beyond any reasonable expectations,'' the jury said.
David Oppenheim Award for Sustainable Architecture +
National Award for Interior Architecture
12. UQ Global Change Institute
Hassell
Living up to its name, the building housing the University of Queensland's Global Change Institute pushes the frontiers of sustainable architecture. It is believed to be the first time in Australia that Geopolymer concrete - which has significantly lower carbon emissions - has been used in a structure. The building is six-star certified and aims for a carbon-neutral footprint in its operation. It also has a sun-shading system that protects the building's glass louvres, which provide natural ventilation for most of the year. "This is a project that successfully combines architectural excellence and ecological sustainability," the jury said. The interiors were also commended, winning the building a second award, with the jury saying they provided a "calm respite space" in a busy campus as well as work spaces that offer privacy as well as opportunities for collaboration. "The building has a natural affinity with the educational message of global change,'' the jury said.
National Award for Sustainable Architecture
13. Bethanga House
tUG workshop
Built on the shores of Lake Hume, a dam created in 1936 near the border of NSW and Victoria, this house pushes the boundaries of residential sustainable design, according to the jury, while still managing to achieve a "frank beauty". The harsh climate - the temperature has ranged from 3.9C to 44C in the past few years - meant that traditional strategies to reduce the carbon footprint of the house were tested and in some instances, rethought. This included the architectural team doing their own monitoring tests, and their results challenged industry rating tools. The house operates autonomously while feeding power to the grid; plasterboard, paint and studwork were eliminated to reduce the resources used in construction. "The jury was impressed by the deliberate way in which architectural moves and detail choices have been combined with sophisticated but accessible environmentally sustainable principles," it said.
National Award for Sustainable Architecture
14. Library at the Dock
Clare Design and Hayball (Architect of Record)
This three-storey 3000sq?m library built on a heritage-listed wharf in Melbourne's Docklands not only provides a meeting place for the growing community at Victoria Harbour but also achieves a six-star green rating. The architects used materials with low or no toxicity, including recycled tallowwood for the exterior cladding; rooftop solar panels supply 30 per cent of the power, and rainwater is harvested. "Library at the Dock welcomes the diverse community to make it their own, whether as a living room, study space, recording studio, activity centre, media centre, meeting place, function centre, reading room or just a place to pause," the jury said.
Walter Burley Griffin Award for Urban Design
15. New Acton Precinct
Fender Katsalidis Architects
One of the main reasons Canberra has become cool (as declared by WISH in   June) is the New Acton precinct. The 13-year-long project has seen a mix of residential, office, commercial and hospitality offerings, all connected by lanes, public art and gardens and all very pedestrian friendly (very un-Canberra-like), between Lake Burley Griffin and the central business district. "Heritage architecture overlaps with commercial use, which in turn merges with residential high-rise," the jury said. "This could be the ultimate urban mix. The New Acton precinct has pushed the boundaries of the ACT legislative planning system, encouraged real reform ... it has set exacting new standards for urban design in Canberra, ones that will have national impact."
National Award for Urban Design
16. Monash University North West Precinct
Jackson Clements Burrows Architects in collaboration with MGS Architects (masterplan)
Monash University's main campus in Melbourne's southeastern suburbs was founded in 1958 and is therefore full of the kind of low-rise concrete buildings that predominated in that era. The revisiting of three of these unloved structures has given new life to the buildings and the space around them. "This work is not monumental," the jury notes. "It is a matter of careful addition and subtraction, what one might call successful architectural surgery." The redesign has created student meeting places, laneways and pedestrian walkways, while the exteriors have new facades with concrete canopies, theatrical stairways and seating platforms.