BVN Architecture took the honours for their work on two community projects at the Australian Institute of Architects Victorian Architecture Awards held recently.
The two community design projects included the Narbethong Community Hall and a students’ housing building at Monash University.
The Narbethong Community Hall building was designed as a pro-bono job in response to a request from the Narbethong Community to help them rebuild their hall that was destroyed in the black Saturday bushfires.
The awards jury described the new community hall as ‘an exercise in studied simplicity while inviting inhabitation and use’. A bronze mesh screen, which is required for windows to resist bushfires in this region wraps around all the external walls, which are predominantly glazed behind the screen.
The internal design incorporates solid timber ceilings, floor and walls to reflect the local timber industry in addition to timber battens that form screens to create more intimate spaces around the perimeter, giving the hall a multipurpose functionality.
The second award-winning project involved building housing for 600 students at Monash University on the campus. A key requirement of the design brief was to create a sense of community.
Ms Ninotschka Titchkosky, BVN Principal explains that the architectural design focussed on the experience of the residents, rather than just the pragmatic fulfilment of the spatial brief. This was achieved by designing two wings of five levels that inflect towards each other in a boomerang type plan, which the jury noted ‘provided delightful communal zones at each level to create essential hubs for students to interact and develop their social skills’.
The jury was also impressed with the building’s planning and façade featuring concrete slab edges, contrasted with hardwood timber panels and full-height dormitory windows.
Both of these community projects now go onto the shortlist for the National Architecture Awards that will be announced in Perth on 1 November.
Having won architecture awards in ACT, Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria, BVN now has a total of eight projects on the shortlist for a National Architecture Award.
The two community design projects included the Narbethong Community Hall and a students’ housing building at Monash University.
The Narbethong Community Hall building was designed as a pro-bono job in response to a request from the Narbethong Community to help them rebuild their hall that was destroyed in the black Saturday bushfires.
The awards jury described the new community hall as ‘an exercise in studied simplicity while inviting inhabitation and use’. A bronze mesh screen, which is required for windows to resist bushfires in this region wraps around all the external walls, which are predominantly glazed behind the screen.
The internal design incorporates solid timber ceilings, floor and walls to reflect the local timber industry in addition to timber battens that form screens to create more intimate spaces around the perimeter, giving the hall a multipurpose functionality.
The second award-winning project involved building housing for 600 students at Monash University on the campus. A key requirement of the design brief was to create a sense of community.
Ms Ninotschka Titchkosky, BVN Principal explains that the architectural design focussed on the experience of the residents, rather than just the pragmatic fulfilment of the spatial brief. This was achieved by designing two wings of five levels that inflect towards each other in a boomerang type plan, which the jury noted ‘provided delightful communal zones at each level to create essential hubs for students to interact and develop their social skills’.
The jury was also impressed with the building’s planning and façade featuring concrete slab edges, contrasted with hardwood timber panels and full-height dormitory windows.
Both of these community projects now go onto the shortlist for the National Architecture Awards that will be announced in Perth on 1 November.
Having won architecture awards in ACT, Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria, BVN now has a total of eight projects on the shortlist for a National Architecture Award.
05.07.2012
