Australia’s best houses, as judged by architects, were revealed at the Australian Institute of Architects’ 2021 National Architecture Awards.
Across three residential architecture categories seven projects were recognized ranging from a house for star gazing to a home inside and old hat factory.
Night Sky by Peter Stutchbury Architecture
Image:
Michael Nicholson
The best house in the new house category was Night Sky by Peter Stutchbury Architecture. The house was designed to prioritize “the desires of a disabled person to connect to the universe and galaxy,” said the jury. “This work is unusual in its forms and expressions but it is born from a deep regard for and understanding of certain forgotten principles, the loftiest of which is the development of a relationship between humans and the bareness of space.”
Beaconsfield House by Simon Pendal Architect.
Image:
Robert Frith
In the alterations and additions category, it was an “exquisite” extension with “a heroic curved ceiling” that took out the top award. Beaconsfield House by Simon Pendal Architect by was described by the jury as “an essay in considered materiality, space and light” and by the owners as like “living in a functional sculpture.” Read more about Beaconsfield House here.
Federal House by Edition Office
Image:
Benjamin Hosking
It wasn’t just the jury who judged the best houses of 2021, the public had their say too through the People’s Choice Award, which sent to Federal House by Edition Office.
The Lothian by Kennedy Nolan
Image:
Derek Swalwell
Finally in the multi-residential category, a uniqe set of townhouses in North Melbourne was awarded the top accolade. The jury described the Lothian by Kennedy Nolan as “a heroic sequence of elevational expressions [with] robust and spatially well considered interiors.
