Jury chair report

It has been a pleasure to judge a series of projects that explore, challenge, and reinforce the identity and evolutionary growth of Melbourne in their significant and unique contributions to the city. The projects that we have highlighted through shortlisting, and in the awarding of the 2023 Melbourne Prize were those seen through the lens of community, narrative and city building, and within the lens of a city being an organic entity needing care and nourishment in order for growth and evolution to occur.

The level of entries presented to the Melbourne Prize jury was of a very impressive standard, and from these, there was engaged discussion on which projects should make it to the shortlist. There were a number of highly rated projects for the civic contribution they made to Melbourne and some absorbed conversations on how this contribution could be measured. The potential and intention of each project, its impact and how farreaching it could be.

Once again, we see the immense value of the Institute jury process, where the inclusion of site visits allows for an honest and accurate appraisal of the submitted works, beyond the purely photogenic aspects. The site-visit process also brings with it one of the major perks of the jury role, which is the social connections made, reinforced between jury members. The rigorous debate, generosity, knowledge and experience brought to the conversation and shared between jury members between site visits is always a standout feature of the process

We congratulate all shortlisted projects together with the winner of the 2023 Melbourne Prize, all of which give back and enrich the city of Melbourne, both now and potentially within a living city, for generations to come.

Category sponsor

The Dimity Reed Melbourne Prize

Nightingale Village by Architecture architecture, Austin Maynard Architects, Breathe, Clare Cousins Architects, Hayball and Kennedy Nolan

Wurundjeri Country

Nightingale Village begins and ends with community. The collective of architects behind this project began their journey seeking to redefine the expectations of developers, architects and what it means to provide housing. This community of architects has opened the gate for a new community of residents to seed what was previously an urban backwater into the gravitational centre of an emergent neighbourhood.

The joy in this project is the continual sharing and gifting of resources. A series of individuated buildings, each with its own exceptional level of care and ingenuity, help to create a sense of vibrancy and diversity. However, the total worth of the whole is so much more than the sum of its individual parts, where overlapping vertical gardens, central voids full of light and life, pedestrian lanes, and street parks, allow the shared habitation of every corner.

Nightingale Village is a powerful catalyst to build community, prioritise social, economic and environmental sustainability. This project is not a group of standalone residential developments, like many through inner Melbourne, but an entwined shared environment that will change the way developers and architects visualise and contribute to our environment today and for generations to come.

Practice team: Nick James (Design Architect), Michael Roper (Design Architect), Daria Selleck (Project Architect), Mark Austin (Design Architect), Andrew Maynard (Design Architect), Mark Stranan (Design Architect), Jeremy McLeod (Design Architect), Madeline Sewall (Project Architect), Frances McLennan (Graduate of Architecture), Bettina Robinson (Project team), Fairley Batch (Project team), Bonnie Herring (Project team), Ali Galbraith (Project team), Emily McBain (Project team), Giles Freeman (Project team), Marie Penny (Project Team), Mark Ng (Project team), Patricia Bozyk (Project team), Renee Eleni Agudelo (Project team), Sarah Mealey (Project team), Shannon Furness (Project team), Clare Cousins (Design Architect), Oliver Duff Project Architect), Tara Ward (Project Architect), Candice Chan (Project Architect), Laura Norris-Jones (Project Manager), Luc Baldi (Project Director), Rob Stent (Design Director/Architect), Bianca Hung (Director (Interiors), James Luxton (Project Architect), Gianni Iacobaccio (Senior CAD Technician), Robert Mosca (Project Architect), Yuyuen Low (Architect), Saifee Akil (Architect), Ela Rajapackiyam (BIM Technician), Patrick Kennedy (Principal), Rachel Nolan (Principal), Michael Macleod (Director), Victoria Reeves (Director), Elizabeth Campbell (Project Architect), Tamara Veltre (Project team), Oliver Monk (Architect)

Consultant / Construction team: Hansen Partnerships (Urban Planner), WT Partnerships (Quantity Surveyor), WSP (Engineer), Steve Watson & Partners (Building Surveyor), Access Studio (Access Consultant), WSP (ESD Consultant), Umow Lai (ESD Consultant), Olax Pty Ltd (Wayfinding), Tree Logic (Arborist), GTA Consultants (Traffic), Leigh Design (Waste Management), Openwork (Landscape and Urban Design), Amanda Oliver Gardens (Landscape Consultant), Eckersley Garden Architecture (Landscape Consultant), Fontic (Project Manager), Hansen Partnership(Town Planner), Breathe (Urban Design), Andy Fergus (Urban Design), Hip v Hype Sustainability (ESD Consultant)

Builder: Hacer Group

Photographer: Tom Ross