2017 NSW Awards

On Thursday December 7, the NSW Chapter announced the award winners for 2017 and celebrated the end of our event calendar.

After a busy year, nothing helped more than taking some time to appreciate the work produced in NSW, and recognise some of the best projects across the State.

Thank you to Interface, who kindly let us use their marvellous showroom near Central Station.
 
This year, the awards went to:
 
Category One Winner: New Facility Construction

Project: Our Lady of the Angels Primary School, Rouse Hill NSW
Submitter: DTA Architects
Client: Our Lady of the Angels Primary School and Catholic Education Office, Diocese of Paramatta
Architect: DTA Architects

OLA is a three stream primary school located within the Catholic Diocese of Parramatta. DTA Architects were engaged to review and refine the existing Master Plan to determine opportunities and constraints for future learning spaces. The design focus was to create a contemporary, collaborative learning environment to be built in two stages with the assistance of Commonwealth Funding.

The creation of an atrium termed ‘Learning Street’, provides the opportunity for informal collaborative connectivity between students and staff. Internal learning spaces were planned to be flexible, catering for a variety of user group configurations providing an emphasis on multiple points of focus with the support of ICT. The Learning Centre complete with its learning street, two-storey cubby house, and café, caters for year groups 1 – 6, providing the opportunity for impromptu meetings, informal gatherings and support for contemporary learning.

View the full Our Lady of the Angels Primary School submission (35MB file).

Category Two Winner: Refurbishment

Project: Claremont College – Kindy and Year 1 Refurbishment
Submitter: Claremont College
Client: Claremont College
Architect: Terroir

Architecturally the concept behind the refurbishment of each Claremont College project is to establish the essential infrastructure of the existing buildings and clear out all remaining elements to create a clean canvas. This ‘clean slate’ or ‘canvas’ approach provides the foundations for the insertion of an interior design philosophy that is in line with the teaching pedagogy. With each new building refurbished the campus becomes far more connected and legible for staff, students and visitors alike to move through the various educational spaces.

The interior design philosophy for the spaces of this stage is derived from the school’s strong connection to the local natural environment, in particular the often-taken school excursions to its much-loved neighbour, Coogee Beach. The subtle link to the sea and surrounding natural environment, aims to reach out and capture the children’s curiosity and inquisitiveness, and love of nature and animals (particularly the annual migration of whales which can be viewed from the spaces and balconies). This is also aligned with Claremont’s Indigenous story and totems.

View the full Claremont College submission  (22 MB file)

Category Three: Innovation

The jury decided not to award this category this year.

Congratulations to the winners and a big thanks to everyone who participated this year. Here’s to a very exciting 2018, as the NSW Chapter gears up for LEA’s 18th Annual Conference in Sydney at the end of May.

Text: Felicity Lewis and Daniel Smith

Event Photos: Peter Doddrell

Our Lady Of The Angels Photos: DTA Architects

Claremont College Photos: Brett Boardman