Bundanon by Kerstin Thompson Architects won the highest honour in the public architecture category at the 2022 National Architecture Awards, with the project winning the prestigious Sir Zelman Cowen Award for Public Architecture.
Observing that Bundanon is fast becoming a “reference for the holy grail of Australian architecture”, the jury said, “Bundanon is a layered work that has been sensitively handled and respects the original vision for the estate.”
Bundanon also won a National Award for Sustainable Architecture.
“Bundanon congratulates Kerstin Thompson Architects for receiving the well merited 2022 Sir Zelman Cowen Award for Public Architecture. It is an extraordinary recognition of Bundanon’s new Art Museum and Bridge for Creative Learning, which is now one of the most architecturally-awarded public buildings in Australia,” Bundanon Trust CEO Rachel Kent said.
“It is wonderful to see the public enjoying the new Art Museum, Bridge and wider site. Bushfire resilience and flood mitigation were driving forces in the architectural design of the Art Museum and Bridge. These new buildings expand public access, deepen engagement in creativity and the landscape, and position Bundanon both nationally and internationally,” she added.
Kerstin Thompson said: “Bundanon is thrilled to have its vision recognised with the 2022 Sir Zelman Cowen Award for Public Architecture, in addition to the Sulman Prize for Public Architecture, awarded in July 2022. Bundanon’s site needed great care and respect for what was here already, which was very special, with one of the finest buildings in the country, but also a very complex cultural history.”
The new Bundanon Art Museum, designed by Kerstin Thompson Architects presents a year-round program of exhibitions of modern, contemporary and First Nations art, as well as new commissions. A state-of-the-art storage facility houses and protects Bundanon’s extensive $46.5 million collection of about 4,000 items.
The new Art Museum and Bridge for Creative Learning opened to the public in January this year and has welcomed over 35,000 visitors since. The Art Museum and Bridge are major architectural works that elegantly integrate the site with the prior heritage buildings and the Arthur and Yvonne Boyd Education Centre, opening Bundanon up as a centre for culture and learning, community engagement and appreciation of the landscape.
The Arthur and Yvonne Boyd Education Centre, designed by architects Glen Murcutt AO, Wendy Lewin, and Reg Lark, was awarded the Sir Zelman Cowen Award for Public Architecture and the Sulman Prize for Public Architecture in 1999.
Image Credit: Rory Gardiner