Best of South Australian architecture unveiled in 2024 Awards

Cream of SA’s architecture crop recognised at 2024 awards

The state’s top architecture honour has been co-awarded, for the first time ever, to a public building in a cemetery and a family home on the Fleurieu surf coast at this year’s 2024 SA Architecture Awards.

Announced by the Australian Institute of Architects (SA) on Friday 5 July, the prestigious SA Architecture Medal was taken out by Walter Brooke for its Evergreen Community Precinct at Enfield Memorial Park and RADS for Sunkissed Higgins, a humble beach shack adapted into a compact, contemporary family home at Middleton.

Judges said the interior spaces of Evergreen Community Precinct – a multi-function facility with reflection rooms, condolence lounges, crematorium, visitor centre, café and florist – served as a testament to the power of architecture to uplift the human spirit and foster meaningful connections within a space of remembrance and celebration. It also won the Jack McConnell Award for Public Architecture and an Award for Interior Architecture.

Meanwhile, Sunkissed Higgins was praised for “resisting the obvious move” to demolish the existing house, and cleverly providing new living spaces that provided unmatched views of ocean and sky. It also won the John Schenk Award for Residential Architecture – Houses (Alterations + Additions) and received a Commendation for Sustainable Architecture.

The City of Adelaide Prize was awarded to Cox Architecture for its work on 60 King William, with judges impressed by the consideration of user experience, and design aspects which reflect the establish culture on both sides of the building – grand civic and commercial on King William Street and fine grain retail and cafes in James Place.

Grieve Gillett Architects received the City of Adelaide Prize People’s Choice for Frida & Diego: Love & Revolution, a vibrant exhibition that showed strong collaboration between architects, curators and collection representatives to create a cultural drawcard for the city.

The Sir James Irwin President’s Medal, recognising excellence in the contribution made to architecture, was awarded to Felicity Sando FRAIA and Anthony Coupe FRAIA, the founders of Mulloway Studio.

Outside of the educational architecture category, where eight projects were recognised, the education sector also featured strongly in the named awards.

Russell & Yelland Architects won the EmAGN Project Award, in recognition of the outstanding work of an architect within 15 years of graduation, for its work on Cabra Dominican College’s Angelico Centre, and Geof Nairn Architects won the Jack Cheesman Award for Enduring Architecture for St Peter’s Collegiate School’s Science, Technology and Art Centre which judges said was a building ‘clearly of its time’.

Awards for Public Architecture were also presented to DesignInc for Tiwu Kumangka (Blackwood Library and Community Centre), where the existing library and community centre were combined into one two-storey building, and Grieve Gillet Architects in association with Guymer Bailey Architects for the Yatala Labour Prison Redevelopment, which incorporated design elements that support the physical and emotional wellbeing of prisoners, staff and visitors.

SA Architecture Awards Director Erin Crowden said this year’s awards demonstrated the impact good architecture can have regardless of a project size, scale or budget.

“From the $450 million 60 King William development right through to small, residential refurbishments, this year’s SA Architecture Awards showcases all manner of architecture projects,” she said.

“We are pleased to see a real strengthening in the residential entries, with nine architecture practices recognised with awards and commendations across three categories. Sunkissed Higgins is an outstanding example of what can be achieved when client and architects’ values align.

“We are also seeing a boom in the educator sector, in terms of great architecture, with that category becoming one of our biggest with many entries and tough judging decisions to be made.

“Evergreen Community Precinct and Sunkissed Higgins are worthy co-winners of our highest honour, the SA Architecture Medal, and are generous in the way they engage with the community, provide exceptional outcomes for their clients, and provide rich, outward facing connection with their place and the people who live there.”

Winners will now progress to the National Architecture Awards, to be announced at the Adelaide Convention Centre on Thursday 7 November.

Full list of 2024 SA Architecture Awards winners is available here