Tasmanian Architecture Awards showcase tourism architecture at its finest

Tourism projects have dominated at the 2021 Tasmanian Architecture Awards. Held on Saturday 5 June, the winners of Tasmania’s most prestigious architecture awards were announced via a YouTube live stream.

Winner of both the Alan C Walker Award for Public Architecture and the COLORBOND Award for Steel Architecture, and one of the victorious tourism entries, was Cradle Mountain Visitors Centre by Cumulus Studio.

The first of a series of buildings envisioned as part of a Tourism and Architectural Masterplan for Cradle Mountain, the Visitors Centre provides an excellent new gateway to the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area. The jury noted that “a carefully orchestrated series of spaces frame the natural and constructed landscape to create a highly legible sequence that celebrates the path of movement towards the mountain.”

Cumulus Studio also won the Dirk Bolt Award for Urban Design for Cradle Mountain Gateway Precinct and a Chapter Award for Stoney Rise Wine.

The Colin Philp Award for Commercial Architecture this year went to Moss 25 by Circa Morris-Nunn Chua. A boutique hotel in Hobart, the building was crowned a ‘hidden delightful world’ by the jury, which called the project “an exemplary example of the reuse of disused city space to create a rich environment that contributes to a denser and vital city.”

Moss 25 was also awarded the inaugural Tasmanian Architecture Medal.

Floating Sauna Derby by Licht Architecture was presented the Peter Wilmott Award for Small Project Architecture. A small but powerful project, the jury was impressed by the “richness of experience” that this floating destination offered visitors.

The Australian Institute of Architects’ Tasmanian Chapter Executive Director, Jennifer Nichols, said that that these projects showcase how good design can enrich community spaces and world class travel destinations.

Jennifer said: “It’s timely that this year’s awards have highlighted some of the exemplar new tourism buildings in Tasmania. As domestic tourism opens across the country, Tasmanian architecture is truly bringing its A game and helping to show off our state.

“These projects enhance the natural landscape and add to a rich tourism experience.”

The Tasmanian awards are the second in a month-long series of state and territory architecture awards run by the Australian Institute of Architects. These awards recognise architectural excellence in categories such as public architecture, residential, commercial, education, and sustainability.

All the winners in the Awards will be published in a special lift-out in the Sunday Tasmanian on Sunday 6 June 2021.

All Tasmanian Chapter winners were selected by independent juries. All Named Award and Chapter Award winners will now progress to the National Architecture Awards.

The program also includes a People’s Choice Award. Voting closes midnight Wednesday 30 June 2021.