Melbourne team wins $10K prize for design innovation

A Melbourne design workforce have been awarded the 2024 Holdmark Innovation Award, receiving a money prize of $10,000 for a retrofit challenge that epitomises “revolutionary excellence.”

Structure agency Kennedy Nolan and environmental consultancy Discovering Infinity have acquired the award for his or her Wilam Ngarrang Retrofit, a challenge that concerned the retrofit of a Nineteen Seventies residence block in Melbourne’s Fitzroy.

The award is offered by Powerhouse with the help of Holdmark Property Group. A panel of judges evaluated the entries, which included Gerard Reinmuth, who serves as a professor of observe within the Faculty of Structure on the College of Know-how Sydney and is the director of Terroir; Keinton Butler, the senior curator of design and structure at Powerhouse; and Kevin Nassif, the chief working officer at Holdmark Property Group.

The winners and commendations had been introduced throughout the Sydney Design Week 2024 opening occasion on 13 September.

Based on an announcement from Powerhouse, the Wilam Ngarrang Retrofit was chosen because the winner for “its supply of an energy-efficient house with each social and sustainability agendas at its core.”

“The retrofit addresses the challenges of waste within the development trade via revolutionary methods of reusing or recycling supplies, and offers effectivity initiatives like rooftop rainwater assortment and photo voltaic panel set up that cut back the constructing’s power use by 70 p.c.”

Panel member Kevin Nassif echoed these sentiments, stating that the challenge gives a “answer to the growing older purple brick residence buildings from the 60s and 70s” discovered throughout Australia’s city panorama.

“It’s a very intelligent, energy-efficient house with each social and sustainability options for giving these buildings a brand new life and offering vital and efficient options given the present housing and affordability disaster going through the nation.”

Commendations had been offered to ARM Structure with Architectus for Blacktown Train Sports activities and Know-how Hub (BEST) and Grimshaw with Andrew Burges Architects and McGregor Coxall, and the Metropolis of Parramatta Council for the Parramatta Aquatic Centre.

Along with the Holdmark Innovation Award, designer Caity Duffus was named the recipient of the Carl Nielsen Design Accelerator program for her design of Mycelia Home, which, in keeping with the assertion, is a purposeful container that captures the great thing about mushrooms and helps their progress throughout the house.

The Carl Nielsen Design Accelerator – supported by a bequest from Australian industrial designer Carl Nielsen and his spouse Judy Nielsen – recognises “excellent industrial design for sustainability.”

Because the winner, Duffus will obtain 9 months of mentorship from industrial designer Ed Ko. As well as, she’s going to obtain monetary help for the manufacturing and distribution of her challenge.