Two recent awards have highlighted a growing trend towards sustainability – Victorian Premier’s Sustainability Awards entries have increased six-fold since its inception two decades ago, and Good Design Awards saw more than 900 submissions.
Here’s a round-up of the winners from both competitions.
Victorian Premier’s Sustainability Awards
The winners of the 20th Victorian Premier’s Sustainability Awards were announced with packaging made from mushrooms, degraded ecosystem regeneration, a community resale shed and clean energy solutions scooping the top spots.
Delivered by Sustainability Victoria on behalf of the Victorian Government, the awards were in partnership with the Banksia Foundation and Keep Australia Beautiful Victoria.
Matt Genever, Sustainability Victoria interim chief executive officer said the winners represented just part of the breadth of work currently occurring in sustainability. He stated that entries had increased six-fold since the awards’ inception two decades ago.
“I’d like to make special mention of those communities in regional Victoria who are recognised in these Awards, particularly Euroa with two winners, and acknowledge the hard work and commitment of the volunteers that support these ventures.”
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews selected two of the winners: the Premier’s regional recognition award for the Euroa Arboretum Nursery in north-east Victoria, and the Premier’s recognition award for Fungi Solutions, an Australian start-up working with fungi to recycle and transform organic waste into sustainable circular packaging solutions.
Another notable winner was the Anglesea Community House, and its Resale Shed which aims to save non-organic waste from landfill and promote circular economy to the local community.
The City of Greater Bendigo won the circular economy innovation award for its program to identify, develop and implement a number of circular economy and resource management solutions to handle, reprocess and recirculate end-of-life material resources.
Darebin City Council, who’s project officer Ben Smith spoke at our Urban Greening event in late July, has been celebrated for integrating natural landscape elements into urban spaces to benefit public health and conservation of biodiversity. (You’ll be able to read about his work in the ebook soon to be published.)
Another sustainable place recognised by the awards was Warrnambool Community Garden, which converted an abandoned quarry into a sustainable grassed amphitheatre for community use.
And the Bell to Moreland Level Removal Crossing Project by the North Western Program Alliance transformed a rail corridor in Melbourne’s inner north into a vibrant active urban precinct.
Future energy champions were recognised as Solar Thermal Australia’s efficient and smart hot water system, and Euroa Environment Group’s Solar Pergola which delivers clean energy to local businesses.
Good Design Awards
Held in September at Sydney’s International Convention Centre, the Good Design Awards brought together cutting edge design and breakthrough innovation. Across broad sectors and industries and covering everything from product design to places and spaces, and even systems design, there were more than 900 submissions.
A world-first cancer fighting treatment called AdvanCell Isotopes ²¹²Pb Generator took out the top price, addressing the unmet need in targeted alpha therapy – the reliable and scalable supply of isotopes.
The Good Design Award for Sustainability was won by Vaulta Simply Superior Battery Casing Technology – a lighter, cheaper and thermally superior battery case that eliminates the need for complex assembly as cells can be reused and reconfigured as needed.
Architectural Design
Make Architects with Architectus took home the top award for architectural design for Brookfield Place Sydney, a complex mixed-use project unifying four separate sites including Wynyard Station’s transit hall, Thakral House, Shell House and Beneficial House.
The judges described the design as “world class” and said it harnessed both “heritage and sustainability elements”.
bureau^proberts won an award for the Australian Pavilion designed for Expo 2020 held in Dubai from October 2021 to March 2022.
The jury said the “beautiful piece of architecture exemplifies an openness of place and spirit, and the designers should be delighted that this took pride of place representing Australia at the World Expo.”
The practice also won an award for The Eaves in Brisbane’s West Village.
Turner scooped a prize for the Col James Student Accommodation in Sydney’s Redfern for clients the Aboriginal Housing Company, Deicorp and Scape.
The culturally significant precinct previously known as “The Block”, has a long history of being a meeting place for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
The jury said the design “successfully responds to Redfern’s rich urban conditions, past and present, whilst providing a collection of internal and external living and communal spaces for students”.
JDA Co also won an award for refurbishing Queensland’s oldest-standing theatre The Princess.
The two-storey heritage renovation involved redesigning the interior fit-out, four new bars, a redesigned mezzanine, na ew gallery and additional amenities including a new green room and rehearsal space.
