Special Commendation - Excellence in Construction of Commercial Buildings $3M-$6M 
Excellence in Construction of Commercial Buildings Over $20M 
A dream of integrating a new, Passivhaus-inspired structure with a heritage façade was the dream for the clients, brought into reality by Luke Stanley Architects and Alphi Projects. Part of the challenge was that being near Lake Wendouree, the surface material was not ideal, but McClelland’s Engineering designed a robust footing and sub-floor system, enabling quality levels of insulation and drainage to be incorporated. The quality devoted to the structure was not lost on the finishes. Living Space Joinery did an amazing job on the interiors and the blackbutt feature timber throughout complemented the full height triple-glazed timber aluminium windows and doors.
A legacy as a meeting place for the Wadawurrung people was central to the design and construction of the Boronggook Drysdale Library, now a hub for the Drysdale community. The circular, two-story building features a stunning, landscaped rooftop amphitheatre incorporating local and Indigenous botanical elements, as well as a façade that draws on the material history of Drysdale and the greater Bellarine Peninsula. Innovative, sustainable and modern in design, the library was an exciting project. The project is a high-quality community building with high performance environmental sustainable design and is part of the City of Geelong’s UNESCO design city accreditation program.
The clients’ approached Luke Stanley Architects to redevelop a heritage listed mid-century home. Aphi Projects were invited to tender for the project after emphasising their passion for Architecture and Passivhaus. The clients showed a passion for ensuring the building envelope performed optimally, without over-capitalising or undermining the heritage façade. Aphi Projects helped prepare contractual documentation and aided in construction detailing and hygrothermal modelling, to ensure efficient design performance. The construction is predominantly a new build, with only the wrap-around brick veneer façade retained. McClelland’s Engineering did a terrific job of integrating the existing and new structures.
The Vogue 236 is designed specifically to fit on narrower blocks. The design comprises four bedrooms, two bathrooms, two living spaces, spacious kitchen, alfresco and attached two car garage. The exterior has a matrix, and Ecogroove cladded custom facade with a skillion Colorbond roof and featured extruded box window. The remainder of the home is clad with Hebel PowerPanel and painted render system. The living and dining space offers a racked ceiling to 4.2 metres with highlight windows creating light-filled rooms, while being styled throughout in a soft pastel colour palette with quality fixtures and fittings.
The Walter display home boasts many mid-century features, including large windows allowing lots of natural light, open-plan living with a raised raked ceiling, timber veneer joinery and brushed brass feature lighting. Angled roof lines were incorporated in the exterior design with natural stone and spotted gum timber features. The stone clad wall to the facade draws you through the custom-made spotted gum entrance door and continues through into the entry, immediately connecting you to the landscaped garden with a large window opposite. The overall feel of this home is warmth and a connection to the outside.
The Lawson home design from Home Solution offers a multitude of features catering to modern family living. Boasting four bedrooms, including master bedroom with a walk-in wardrobe and ensuite, as well as additional built-in robes in the other bedrooms, this home ensures ample storage and personal space. One of the standout features of the Lawson is its expansive open-plan kitchen, dining, and family areas, creating a hub for family gatherings and entertaining. The layout emphasizes spaciousness and functionality, with a separate study area providing a dedicated space for working at home or study. The large double garage adds convenience and practicality.
The scope of works for the Elmont 32 was to conceptualise a modern, family-centric residence that caters to the needs of contemporary Australian living. Fundamental to our goal is to create an affordable home that is easily replicable in high volume. Ensuring it is easy and efficient to build enables us to deliver the home at a compelling price. The Elmont 32 is a dream for every growing family, offering an abundance of space and functionality. It is the perfect fusion of comfort, style, and functionality, making it an ideal haven for families seeking a contemporary and adaptable living space.
The modern facade of the Lighthouse was designed with street appeal in mind. The courtyard is visible from most rooms throughout the home, helping to bathe the home in natural light, giving the home its name. The central courtyard plays an equal role in connecting and separating the spaces throughout the home. Large sliding doors to the courtyard and backyard can be opened from the master bedroom and living rooms to allow traffic, sound, and air to flow through. Likewise, these doors can be closed for privacy and a peaceful retreat. Beauty, light and function were key to this design.
This project combines Enso Homes’ all-time best-selling floorplan, with its all-time best-selling façade. The result is a beautiful, modern, coastal home, combining Enso Homes’ signature design DNA with unique customisations to ensure it is perfectly tailored to the client’s lifestyle. The clients love spending time outdoors and value a connection to nature, and upon entering the home, the first thing you see is a floor to ceiling window leading directly to the central courtyard. Natural light floods the home through the courtyard, which connects and separates living areas depending on whether the boutique glass doors are open or closed.
An odd-shaped corner allotment was the catalyst for this stunning design, with MJS combating site slope, corner block setback, and design guidelines with set envelopes. The scope was to create a modern Scandinavian style barn house with a central courtyard utilising the northern winter sunlight. The dwelling was to have the key living areas and master bedroom all wrap around this courtyard. While steps in the home were inevitable, owners Hannah and Elmir wanted the central section to equally accessible from all areas, without sacrificing yard space. The result is an understated, picturesque home that ticks all the boxes.
Project Napier is an elegant, contemporary style home set on a large rural lifestyle block. The unique ‘H’ shaped floor plan divides the main living spaces on the left from the bedrooms and bathrooms in the right wing. A stunning gallery entryway featuring full length windows, ties the home together and floods the living spaces with natural light. Inverleigh is a small town of two rivers. This inspired the glass-filled gallery visually connecting the front and rear courtyards, with a bluestone pathway creating a symbolic river flowing towards the towering 100-year-old peppercorn tree at the rear of the home.
Beach Close underwent a transformative journey from a cramped three-bedroom residence to a spacious two-story beach house featuring five bedrooms, double living areas, twin studies, and a self-contained studio at the rear. The expansive deck seamlessly integrates indoor and outdoor living, while the generously sized kitchen bench serves as an ideal hub for entertaining. A private master suite graces the front, offering tranquility, while three additional bedrooms, each with their dedicated living space, occupy the upper floor—perfect for a growing family. This meticulously reimagined home combines functionality with aesthetic allure, exemplifying the epitome of comfortable, contemporary coastal living.
Nestled on the outskirts of Camperdown, Park Avenue offers a harmonious blend of contemporary design, privacy, and stunning natural surroundings situated on nearly 10 acres. Upon entrance the north-facing orientation floods the interiors with natural light, offering panoramic views of lakes and mountains. Dylan Barber’s design seamlessly combines privacy with an open layout embracing the beauty of the outdoors. Divided into two pavilions, the home’s central focus is a well-appointed kitchen and living area, providing a central gathering space which flows effortlessly onto a generous deck. Its combination of contemporary architecture, functional design, and breathtaking views makes it a standout.
A client request for a curved wall inspired by a love of surfing provided Alphi Projects with plenty of inspiration for this stunning home built to Passivhaus standards of year-round comfort. There are waves and curves in almost every material - each of them eye-catching in their own way. All hardware, fixtures and fittings were made-to-order and almost entirely Australian-made, consistent with the hand-crafted, bespoke approach to every corner of the building. The design consisted of an elevated “ground floor”, with the main bedroom suite above commanding views across the Anglesea heathland and the cliffs of Point Addis.
This luxury multi-storey family home invites you in with a feature brick double height entry and striking formed concrete stairs. Numerous timber elements throughout the home’s second floor add warmth and texture, an element often overlooked in modern design. The second-floor balcony captures 200-degree views of the ocean and incorporates a large entertaining space. Whilst a site slope of just over nine metres from the rear to the front would often be seen as a limitation, the approach to this design was to work with the site, maximising liveable space whilst maintaining a small footprint allowing for a usable backyard.
The design of the Barrabool Residence was undertaken by Watson Young Architects who approached this new project from the inside-out and from the outside-in. The care and consideration in the delivering of this project outlined exceptional finishes not just in their form but also in their function, right down to an alfresco area overlooking a custom concrete pool with infinity edge. The design team utilised the natural surroundings of rolling hills to enhance the best outcome of liveability, encapsulating the peaceful surroundings of the 100-acre property, and bringing into scale the active horse arena and stables loved by the clients.
The aim of the project was to construct a high performing, energy efficient and comfortable home for an affordable price. To achieve the desired outcome and vision of the client the home includes polished concrete floors, high performance windows, sealed building fabric, minimalistic internal wall fit out with the aim to limit dust accumulation, low VOC paints, energy efficient ducted reverse cycle heating and reclaim hot water service. The design incorporates a central light court which separates the sleeping and living wings. This design gives the home a natural surveillance in keeping with the clients’ brief.
Standing proudly in an idyllic location overlooking serene waterways, this development showcases luxury living. The design approach was tailored to resonate with discerning buyers, often those downsizing or retiring. Striking a perfect balance between contemporary flair and coastal charm, the facades seamlessly integrate with the local landscape. The facades boast three prominent gables each spanning across two townhouses, presenting a proud street appeal befitting their idyllic location. The gable design also creates an inviting sense of internal space accentuated by raked ceilings. Moremac successfully sold each townhouse off the plan, enabling Hamlan Homes to work with buyers to tailor details.
Bullarto Railway Station involved the construction of a weatherboard station building to replicate the historical station, which was opened in 1887. The original plans were available and referred to throughout construction. The building consists of one platform, and an indoor station area with three separate spaces. The small station and veranda are incredibly detailed, with attention to chamfer mouldings, chimney details, finials, timber flooring, hearths brought in from a quarry, windows and door mouldings that closely match original building, and original colour paint selections. The timbers used, roofing materials and detail in construction method were all tailored to match original style.
The scope of works for Queenscliff Recreation Reserve Amenities Building consisted of full demolition of the existing old brick caravan amenities block including foundations and incoming services. The quality of the construction represents the effort and eye for detail which the contractors contributed to the project. A mix of raw material and commercial finishes throughout the building presented challenges for the project, but all these were attended to providing a very high quality and well-finished project that will stand up to the harsh conditions that are found when located within 200 metres of the ocean.
California Gully Primary Stage 1 was divided into three distinct portions, with most of the project’s scope concentrated in the second phase, which involved the demolition of the existing courtyard shade structure and the construction of the new community building. It encompassed the creation of openings within the heritage building for modern acoustic doors and the addition of breezeway areas. Fairbrother carpentry undertook the complete reconstruction of the veranda structure, and new ramps and stairways were installed. There were also significant heritage repair works to windows, timber trims, cast corbels, mortar and recladding of the historic bell tower.
The project involved construction of a SES Emergency Response building for the Emergency Services Infrastructure Authority VIC SES, Port Fairy incorporating Environmental Sustainable Design to Green Star level. The new building provides administration and training spaces, communication rooms, three-bay motor room, telecommunications tower and additional emergency service facilities. It was designed as a Level 1 disaster recovery building incorporating a 20m high communications tower. Construction of the new building included system integration and fail-safe features to ensure it is functional during a natural disaster and allows VIC SES to improve the delivery of their services to the community.
Featuring an innovative circular design, with a green sustainable roof of 4,770 plants and an amphitheatre, the newly built Boronggook Drysdale Library opened in April 2023. The library’s name, Boronggook (Bo-rong-gook), is the Wadawurrung name for the area and means ‘turf’. Sitting atop Drysdale Hill, the site was once the gathering place for Traditional Owners. This legacy was translated into a modern concept, with the circular design incorporating a terraced amphitheatre. The new library provides the community with a modern library and community hub space, multi-purpose spaces, study areas, courtyard garden and a City of Greater Geelong customer service point.
In April 2021, Kane Constructions, and joint venture partner Nicholson Construction, partnered with Court Services Victoria to deliver the new Bendigo Law Courts Development. The Bendigo Law Courts is a multi-jurisdictional courthouse built over five levels housing nine courtrooms, two hearing rooms, mediation suites, remote witness facilities, safe waiting facilities, jury areas and meeting rooms. The primary structure comprises a concrete structure, with the roof and façade largely incorporating a standing seam copper façade and roof system with glazing. A key feature is the perforated copper façade screen incorporating an artwork from a local Indigenous artist resembling ‘Bunjil’ the wedge-tailed eagle.
Fairbrother Construction was engaged to deliver the new Armstrong Creek West Community Hub. The purpose-built hub trailblazes in its delivery of critical community services, such as maternal and child health and childcare facilities. The zoning of the building responds to the solar exposure of the site, with childcare to the east to protect it from western sun exposure, and community spaces to the west and south with deep eaves to protect from afternoon sun and adjacent courtyards. All double-height spaces have high level glazed louvres for hot air ventilation and night air purging, and sustainable initiatives are implemented throughout.
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