4 July 2012 – Heller Street Park and Residences, by Six Degrees Architects, has won the 2012 Victorian Architecture Awards Sustainability Award recently announced and the Victorian Architecture Medal was won by The Royal Children’s Hospital – Billard Leece Partnership and Bates Smart.

The jury members – including chair Mark O’Dwyer from H20, Alex Nock from Nock Architecture and Maria Danos from MA Architects – described the Heller Street Park and Residences as regenerating “a large previously contaminated site to create a new undulating public landscape”.

“Each townhouse has sustainably tight footprints achieved by clever design, overlapping uses and key sustainable responses for materials, energy, thermal chimneys, thermal mass, water, materials and food sufficiency,” the jury said.

“This outstanding project by Six Degrees is a breakthrough for design and sustainability – an important local development capable of creating an international level of interest.”

In the summary submitted by Six Degrees Architects, the project is described as exploring “a new model of medium density housing that utilises disused, contaminated land for public and private use”.

“The site (a former tip) is remediated, and developed into a new public park with 10 generous town houses at its rear,” the summary says.

“In blurring the public/private boundary, the family-oriented dwellings can borrow from the public space from the interior edge, while local residents gain agency of a previously inaccessible site – creating a greater sense of community and a more habitable space for all.

“The building’s form is treated as a whole, broken up across the façade through the expressive use of deep window reveals and an exposed timber stair.

“To lower the bulk of the development and avoid a row of garages facing the park, a semi basement was dug and the soil mounded up on the park area.

“This terra-forming provides some separation from the street, assists in water retention and provides differentiation between the dwellings and the public park area.

“The private terraces and pathway at the front of each dwelling are purposefully ambiguous in their public/private nature – paying homage to the way local Greek and Italian migrants inhabit their front porches and interact with the street.”

Other awards included
COMMERCIAL ARCHITECTURE
Sir Osborn McCutcheon Award – Saltwater Coast Lifestyle Centre – NH Architecture
HERITAGE
John George Knight Award – Ormond College Academic Centre  – McGlashan Everist
INTERIOR ARCHITECTURE
Marion Mahony Award – Ormond College Academic Centre – McGlashan Everist
PUBLIC ARCHITECTURE
William Wardell Award – The Royal Children’s Hospital – Billard Leece Partnership and Bates Smart
RESIDENTIAL ARCHITECTURE
Harold Desbrowe-Annear Award – Queensberry Street House – Robert Simeoni Architects
MULTIPLE RESIDENTIAL
Best Overend Award – Heller Street Park and Residences – Six Degrees Architects
AWARD FOR SMALL PROJECT ARCHITECTURE
Award for Small Project Architecture – Garage + Deck + Landscape – Baracco + Wright Architects
URBAN DESIGN
Joseph Reed Award – William Buckley Bridge, Barwon Heads – Peter Elliot Architecture + Urban Design
COLORBOND AWARD FOR STEEL ARCHITECTURE
Annexe – Art Gallery of Ballarat – Searle x Waldron Architecture
MELBOURNE PRIZE
The Royal Children’s Hospital – Billard Leece Partnership and Bates Smart
REGIONAL PRIZE
New Hammond Fellowship Centre – Christ Church Warrnambool
ENDURING ARCHITECTURE AWARD
National Gallery of Victoria 1962-67 – Roy Grounds
BATES SMART AWARD FOR ARCHITECTURE IN THE MEDIA
STATE AWARD
POST Magazine – Post Magazine Editorial Team
NATIONAL AWARDS
Forty Six Square Metres – Stuart Harrison
Good, Bad or Ugly – Stuart Harrison and Simon Knott
SPECIAL AWARDS
Encyclopedia of Australian Architecture – Philip Goad and Julie Willis
Melbourne Open House – Tim Leslie/Melbourne Open House Board
For a full list of winners and commendations go to www.architecture.com.au

“Floor talks” about the Heller Street Park and Residences, which also won the Multiple Residential Award, are scheduled to be held in the gallery space at fortyfivedownstairs, 45 Flinders Lane, Melbourne, on Saturday, 14 July at 2pm depending on numbers.
Registrations to elycia.deguia@architecture.com.au