Small Project Architecture

The Dentist • Rob Kennon Architects • Photographer: Derek Swalwell

Projects in this category will be those considered to be “small” in terms of area or budget. Projects are recognised that have been constrained by space or cost restrictions, but have achieved a level of invention, creativity and craftsmanship despite these constraints. This category can accommodate projects, typically projects in the public realm, which may be overlooked against larger scale projects in other categories or may be transient or experimental in nature, such as exhibition design, set design, playgrounds, architectural sculptures or installations that may or may not be able to be visited by the jury. Projects of all functional types may be considered. Exclusions: • Residential projects are not eligible for this category. • Projects concurrently entered into any other category are not eligible for this category.

Monique Woodward RAIA Jury chair Mark Austin RAIA Juror

Warwick Mihaly RAIA Juror

Jury chair report

The thematic for this year’s jury was leverage. As a jury we championed a project’s capacity to leverage its influence beyond the initial brief to create a gloriously unexpected outcome for more than just the stakeholders the project aimed to serve. This could be achieved in many different ways rendering the deliberations both spirited and thoughtful. The nature of the small project category is that the entries are diverse, and this year was no different including perfectly detailed jewels set within urban landscapes, other worlds within larger complexes, exhibition design, landscapefocused spectacles, important school infrastructure and projects that sought to humbly enable their inhabitants to move through the space with dignity and joy. The jury shortlisted seven of the ten projects entered with two visited individually rather than as a group – the Ngargee Djeembana exhibition at ACCA by Jackson Clements Burrows with N’arweet Carolyn Briggs AM ended before the scheduled site visits but this allowed us time to meander through at our own pace and absorb the profound message of the project. We also felt Pond[er] by Taylor Knights and James Carey was best visited with children on a weekend to experience the delight and relish in the project’s playfulness in full force. The jury loved the idea the NGV became the rich aunt or uncle that allowed the public to use their pool for free for the summer. The Dentist by Rob Kennon Architects was such a yummy place to visit, like a warm architectural hug. As was the Arts Project Australia by Sibling Architecture. Projects that contribute to their communities and are beautifully detailed. It was a strong year and it was a pleasure visiting so many projects with such a high level of consideration and rigour, bravo to all the architects involved.

The Kevin Borland Award for Small Project Architecture The Dentist by Rob Kennon Architects

Wurundjeri Country

The Abbotsford dentist practice is a delightful addition to the inner-city suburban street where it sits gently among Victorian terraces. The new addition respectfully adopts datum lines and references materials from the neighbours and from the existing corner terrace that forms half of the dental practice, to form architecture that seems perfectly crafted. Exquisitely detailed, the addition is so restrained it could almost be missed or assumed to have always been a part of the street. On closer inspection, the finely considered nature of the architectural elements becomes apparent, resulting in an even greater appreciation and respect for the design. On a tiny site, the additional functionality of the dental practice has been cleverly resolved. A shallow gradient ramp and accessible toilet were deftly arranged to efficiently utilise all available space, and enable both functions to adjoin a simple but elegant reception area at the ground level. The use of bitumen as the ramp material draws the footpath around the building to denote an entry path and creates a formally separate but unassuming entrance to the new addition from the neighbouring context. Small moves that when combined create a wonderful example of what can be achieved with care and consideration.

Practice team: Rob Kennon (Design Architect), Maia Cookson (Project Architect) Consultant / Construction team: Vert Engineering (Structural Engineer), Metro Building Surveying Pty Ltd (Building Surveyor) Builder: GMAKCON Pty Ltd Photographer: Derek Swalwell

The Dentist • Rob Kennon Architects • Photographer: Derek Swalwell

Award for Small Project Architecture pond[er] by Taylor Knights and James Carey

Wurundjeri Country

Pond[er] is the sixth in the series of summer pavilions at the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), developed to “exhibit leading architectural ideas” within the Grollo Equiset Garden. This iteration is evocative of Australia’s pink inland salt lakes and pays tribute to the proportions of Roy Grounds’ once open-air courtyards within the gallery, but we agreed that its real power is the attraction it holds for younger generations. Visiting at any time on a warm day all but guarantees co-visitation with a small horde of squealing kids, delighted to be gifted unfettered access to a generous body of water in the heart of the city. What a surprise also that the water is pink! It’s an architectural sleight of hand that to the child’s eye can only be interpreted as pure magic.

Through the use of simply detailed and reusable materials combined with subtle planting, Pond[er] is a project that blurs the lines between realms. Is it architecture, sculpture or landscape? Is it urban, waterpark or waterfront? Is it a pool, a pond or a piece of furniture? We debated these questions long and hard, and in the end failed to reach consensus. We felt perhaps that this is the true strength of the project, that it eschews easy categorisation and can be many things at once.

Practice team: Peter Knights (Design Architect), James Taylor (Design Architect), Eva Florindo (Graduate of Architecture) Consultant / Construction team: Dr James Carey (Artist), Ben Scott, Ben Scott Garden Design (Landscape Consultant), Chris Eggins, Leading Landscape Constructions (Construction Manager), Luke Sykes, Tescher Forge (Steel fabrication), Will Mackie, Nicolas Building Surveyors (Building Surveyor), Mohamad Tayeh, WSP Australia (Structural Engineer) Builder: Leading Landscape Constructions Photographer: Derek Swalwell

Arts Project Australia by Sibling Architecture

Country: Wurundjeri

Small only in its scope and budget, Arts Project Australia achieves a lot with very little – leveraging its smallness with a humble material palette that cleverly references past utility, and by carving a new entry that meets requisite DDA compliance and provides a clear sequence of arrival and departure that was previously absent. In so doing, what was an underutilised car park is now transformed into a delightful undercroft that is immediately welcoming to both artists and the public.

Builder: MIC Projects

Photographer: Christine Francis

Ngargee Djeembana by Jackson Clements Burrows Architects with N’arweet Carolyn Briggs AM

Country: Wurundjeri

A disarmingly unassuming exhibition space at first encounter, Ngargee Djeembana reveals a great depth of architectural thinking that fuels an ongoing conversation within the architecture and building industry around engagement and representation. Spatially, it subverts the traditional gallery framework, and re-casts familiar textures and material in new roles – as seats upon which vital conversations could unfold, dialogue that we hope will lead to creation of spaces that are culturally and materially reflective of its occupants. Builder: Melbourne Guild of Fine Woodworking

Photographer: Andrew Curtis

Other entries for Small Project Architecture

Shortlisted • Good Samaritan Primary School, Toilet Pavilion • Harrison and White • Bowden Corporation • Wurundjeri Country • Photographer Luke Ray

Geelong Botanic Gardens Visitor Centre • Haskell Architects • Kane Constructions • Wadawurrung Country • Photographer Urban Angles Shortlisted • Immersive Media Lab - Orygen • S-I Projects • CBD Contracting Group • Wurundjeri Country • Photographer Rory Gardiner

Melbourne Quakers Centre Worship Space • Nervegna Reed Architecture + pH Architects • Sinjen • Wurundjeri Country • Photographer John Gollings Shortlisted • Shorts Place Gym • Joyce Architects • Wadawurrung Country • Photographer Jaime Diaz-Berrio After Warracknabeal • The Afterlives of Cities (Monash Art, Design & Architecture) • Locks Construction • Barengi Gadjin Country • Photographer Rebecca Selleck