Queensland Architecture Awards Highlight State’s Best

The 2023 Queensland Architecture Awards acknowledged design innovation from across the state, with gongs awarded for two of the projects Rohrig constructed across the past year.

The winners of the Queensland Architecture Awards were announced on June 24, at City Hall in Brisbane, with the event honouring the best architecture across 11 hotly contested categories.

A total of 47 projects were awarded at the prestigious event, judged by a star-studded jury of leading architects and designers, with National Architecture Award winners set to be announced on October 31.

We would like to take this chance to wish Vokes & Peters, Reddog Architects and Blueline Architecture a huge congratulations!

QVS Stafford – Vokes & Peters

The Queensland Veterinary Specialists’ (QVS) state-of-the-art facility in Stafford, Queensland, won the Beatrice Hutton Award for Commercial Architecture, highlighting the game-changing design. This state-of-the-art facility offers a highly efficient layout and refined design that balances form and function.

“The building is orthogonal, enabling the functional program, which is superbly and efficiently organised around a central circulation loop to snuggly fit the site. The building mass sits on a low, concrete plinth and is broken into a base and top; the top is accentuated by a continuous dado flashing, making for a well-proportioned elevation with subtle changes in transparency to the corrugated envelope that pays homage to the building’s industrial neighbours. The façade flares to create a beautiful skirt for the western elevation, acting as a sunscreen and providing natural light to operating theatres behind, while also offering characteristic street frontage,” The Queensland Jury Citation outlined

The award-winning facility was one we were thrilled to be a part of, for repeat client QVS, involving demolition of a former industrial warehouse and construction of the eye-grabbing clear-span design. A 16-metre timber truss roof design, exaggerated in size to accommodate the clear-span design, houses a high-tech medical-grade facility with highly-specific materials and equipment throughout.

We are overjoyed to have worked closely with Vokes & Peters throughout this project, as they redefined the boundaries of light-industrial architecture with a practical design that offers an elevated customer experience.

Cannon Hill Anglican College – Reddog Architects and Blueline Architecture

Cannon Hill Anglican College in Brisbane’s south-east, a complex two-storey school block that showcases industry-best creative learning spaces, took out the Jennifer Taylor Award for Educational Architecture (Qld).

This natural entry point for the Cannon Hill Anglican College needed to grab the attention of students, preparing them for an intellectually engaging journey from Prep through to Year 12. Reddog Architects and Blueline Architecture worked together to design a space that honours the College’s masterplan, with a flexible range of functions and uses.

“The long, thin building is surrounded by mature eucalypts and is a comfortable and sensitive response to landscape, topography, and climate. Soft curves and round columns continue the language of the surrounding bush, and the white brick becomes a backdrop for nature’s shifting shadows. Roof apertures draw light in at key nodes and are complemented by a palette that is again drawn from the landscape—soft greens, pinks, and greys are contrasted with the vibrant yellow of wattle,” the Queensland Jury Citation outlined.

This project was perfectly suited to our skillset at Rohrig, calling for precision and expert craftsmanship to achieve the unique brickwork, glazed curtain and curved timber ceiling. The complex building required dedication from all parties, bringing to life the exceptional design work undertaken by Reddog Architects and Blueline Architecture.

We again extend our sincerest congratulations to all three top-tier architects we were privileged to work alongside on these projects – as well as all of the other immensely talented category award winners. Best of luck to all of you for the National Architecture Awards!