Mulloway Studio wins Face design award
A design for housing in Port Adelaide proposing vertical gardens has won a national design award in Sydney.
The scheme, proposed by Adelaide-based Mulloway Studio was voted by architects around Australia to be the best of six by leading Australian architects, in the 2007 About Face design competition run by the Australian brick industry.
Mulloway Studio’s design for a semi-detached house consists of a four-storey structure with 210m2 of internal living space, overlooking the waterfront. It boasts a mix of fixed and flexible spaces to suit a range of occupants, with several rooms that can be easily adapted to suit changing requirements.
The house has extensive glazing on the northern façade to flood the adjoining spaces with natural light all year round, and to provide extra warmth in winter. The garden wall, a brick structure that runs the full height of the east façade and incorporates extensive planting from top to bottom, works in conjunction with the three-level void on the north-west corner to facilitate cross ventilation and filter the air.
Architect Anthony Coupe explains “The spaces are fairly interconnected and all are of a reasonable size, so it would feel very roomy inside. Brick provides the perfect material for this scheme, because of its environmental performance and durability. In this design, these qualities work in conjunction with the ‘garden wall’ to enhance the air quality in the post-industrial environment.
The house achieves 8.2 stars under the AccuRate energy ratings assessment.
About Face is an annual design competition run by Think Brick Australia. Chief Executive Office Linda Ginger believes this year’s competition reveals the opportunities for brick in Australia.
“As an industry, we are excited to see such a high level of innovation in this competition and we believe brick has an exciting future as a sustainable and contemporary material, as Mulloway Studio has demonstrated.”
26-Sep-2007