Tasmanian Architecture Showcased at Launceston Exhibition

Launceston City Councillor, Alan Harris, officially opened the 2024 Tasmanian Architecture Awards Launceston Exhibition on Thursday, May 30 at Brickworks Design Centre, where all the projects entered in this year’s awards are on show.

The exhibition displays the 35 projects entered in the 2024 awards program. The projects are entered across nine primary categories and constitute a total of 39 individual entries that showcase the range of diverse and exemplary new architecture produced across the state. Many of these projects are located within and around the north and north-west of the state.

These include University of Tasmania projects: The Workshop & Levee Studios by Xsquared Architects with BVN, and River’s Edge Building by Wardle; Thyne House Extension Project by Xsquared Architects with Robert Carroll & Associates; and residential projects: James Street by Taylor and Hinds Architects, Lanoma Street by Licht Architecture, and Suite Shed by alsoCAN. Further afield in the North-West is the Freer Farm Agricultural Centre of Excellence by Philp Lighton Architects, and the Larapi Child & Family Learning Centre by JAWS Architects.

President of the Tasmanian Chapter of the Australian Institute of Architects, Daniel Lane, says, ‘The Tasmanian Architecture Awards is the pinnacle event within the Tasmanian built environment calendar: they are a celebration of the buildings on our island, and the people who make them.’ He acknowledges that clients take a leap of faith in bringing a building to reality, ‘an extreme amount of trust and faith is afforded by our clients in any project, with the best outcomes often coming from a strong relationship between those involved. It is with them and their trust in us that these wonderful projects are made possible.’

2024 Tasmanian Architecture Award Jury Chair, Fred Ward, noted that the projects entered respond to the demand of Tasmania’s economic context and ‘do more with less’. ‘Our architects have been challenged and are pushing both themselves and their clients to achieve greater outcomes through simpler, more cost-effective, and less resource-intensive means,’ he said. ‘The requirement for an inventive approach, utilising refined design skills, has proven to be essential and demonstrates the value proposition of good design.’

The award recipients in each category – along with a number of other awards including the James Blackburn Triennial Prize, which considers residential buildings awarded over the three preceding years; the Award for Enduring Architecture, which considers buildings of merit that are over 25 years old; the SWT Blythe Student Prize, for projects completed by students from the University of Tasmania; the Tasmanian Emerging Architect Prize, which is awarded to an up-and-coming architect; the EmAGN Project Award, which recognises a project of merit, whereby members from the EmAGN demographic have made a substantial contribution to the project; the President’s Prize, which is presented to a person who has shown considerable commitment to the profession; and the Tasmanian Architecture Medal, which considers projects across all categories and is considered the best-of-the-best for the year – will be announced at an awards presentation evening on June 29, to be held in Hobart.

The exhibition will be on show at Brickworks Design Centre until Friday 7 June, before opening in Hobart on Thursday 13 June.

For more information, visit https://www.architecture.com.au/awards/2024-awards/2024-tasmanian-architecture-awards-gallery