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Winners of the Design Files + Laminex Design Awards 2020

This winners and commended projects in the The Design Files + Laminex Design Awards 2020 were recently announced in a live-streamed, online ceremony. The results showcase the incredible and diverse Australian talent that currently exists within the architecture and design industries.

Bismarck House by Andrew Burgess Architects (Residential Architecture award winner), Image: Caitlin Mills

10 winners and 19 commendations were awarded to a wide range of creatives from 119 finalists across the 10 awards categories: Residential Architecture, Interior Design, Collaboration, Emerging Designer, Furniture Design, Handcrafted, Landscape Design, Lighting Design, Sustainable Design or Initiative, and Textile Design.

Budge Over Dover by YSG Studio (Interior Design award winner), Image: Prue Ruscoe

The awards are an extension of Lucy Feagins’ The Design Files (TDF) blog.

Andrew Burgess Architects took out first place in the Residential Architecture category, for their work on Bismarck House. This urban oasis in the heart of Sydney’s Bondi emanates a soft industrial style, and utilises raw materials and sculpted spaces to integrate the house and garden.

Bismarck House, Image: Caitlin Mills

The winner of the Interior Design category was YSG studio, with their creation Budge Over Dover. As an ode to both whimsy and functionality, this coastal home was transformed into a gorgeously nuanced piece of art, combining and contrasting shape, texture, and colour. It was praised by the judges for the effective fusion of the renovation with the original structure of the house, which felt seamless and organic.

Budge Over Dover, Image: Prue Ruscoe

Jessie Fowler and Tara Ward, who formed the Fowler and Ward architecture practice in 2018, won the first prize in the Emerging Designer category. This company is focused on redesigning residential spaces in Melbourne, especially smaller homes, or developments where the population density is increasing while the character of the neighbourhood is preserved.

Image: Tom Blachford

There was also a significant increase in the number of First Nations designers and collaborative projects entered in 2020, which is reflected in winners and commended projects.

Pitjantjatjara woman Tjunkaya Tapaya, a senior artist with the Tjanpi Desert Weavers, took out the Handcrafted Design category for her Tjanpi Teapot woven from native grass, which represents a playful take on the important cultural practice of tea-making on the NPY (Ngaanyatjarra Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara) lands.

Image: Isobel Egan

Acclaimed Kudjla/Gangalu artist Daniel Boyd collaborated with architects Edition Office on For Our Country, the inaugural National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander War Memorial located on Ngunnawal and Ngambri Country.

Image: Ben Hosking

The Textile Design award went to North – a not-for-profit lifestyle brand facilitating the economic agency of remote Aboriginal artists and art centres – for their Tiwi Strong Women’s Collection created in partnership with female artists from Jilamara, Munupi, and Ngaruwanajirri Art Centres.

Image: Hilary Faye

The major sponsors of the awards included Laminex, Brickworks, De’Longhi, Jardan, Country Road, and Phoenix Tapware.

“Celebrating a diverse cross section of designers and creatives from across Australia, The Design Files + Laminex Design Awards in 2020 has united us as a creative community, highlighting the remarkable strength and resilience of Australia’s creative industries,” said Lucy Feagins, founder of The Design Files.

For more on the winners, and to watch the awards ceremony

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“Concrete bunker” Sydney apartment takes out top gong

Matt Woods Design

The inaugural Design Files Design Awards were handed out last week with Matt Woods Design taking out the ‘Interior Design’ award for its beautiful Sydney apartment project ‘Perfect Storm’. Dubbed the “concrete bunker” due to its deliberate use of rendered finishes (the design was inspired by Brutalism), the loft space still feels homely through the use of timber, brass, curves and some rather spectacular joinery.

Matt Woods Design
The mezzanine bedroom sits above the kitchen below

A warehouse conversion in inner-city Camperdown, the apartment is home to a couple of design professionals who were seeking a minimalist lifestyle with an interior to match. The owners sought to create a clutter-free space while celebrating the history of Camperdown’s industrial heritage, all while not falling into warehouse-conversion design tropes.

Bathroom
Bathroom

The open-plan apartment features a mezzanine bedroom that overlooks the living room and terrace. Double-height glazing ensures the apartment is light-filled and provides a nice contrast for its dark and brooding finishes. The curved ceilings are a unique and fascinating detail too.

The loft bedroom features this stunning joinery that highlights the curved ceiling
The loft bedroom features stunning timber joinery that highlights the curved ceiling

The custom kitchen features more than a passing reference to Mid-Century design –American Oak joinery combines with brass accents and statement lighting. Complementary geometric forms can be seen in the nearby lounge area – tan and teal blue sofas punctuate the apartment’s otherwise muted palette.

Matt Wood Designs

And while you could say that concrete elements are the defining feature of the home, very little cement was used in its creation. The concrete finish on the walls was achieved with a Porter’s Paint French Wash and the more ‘solid’ concrete elements were created using light-weight Glass Reinforced Cement (CRG).

Matt Wood Designs
The lounge room looks onto the terrace

Eschewing the typical Sydney aesthetic (ie natural, coastal and light/bright elements), the apartment was no doubt recognised due to its stylish and singular approach. Restrained and resolved, it’s easy to see why this project was singled out (from literally hundreds of entries) to take out the esteemed prize.

Curves are repeated in the bedroom with this mirror
Curves are repeated in the bedroom

Photography: Katherine Lu

For more | Design hotels: Tasmania dominates awards shortlist

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Design Files awards recognise Aussie interior talent

Kate Challis' 'The Gertrude Project'
Shortlisted: Kate Challis' 'The Gertrude Project'

With more than 500 entries across 12 award categories, the inaugural Design Files Design Awards have launched with aplomb and today we are bringing you some of the amazing shortlisted projects. Designed to recognise the best of Australian design, the awards are a little different to most given that they not only recognise our most talented architects and interior designers but furniture designers, craft practitioners, floral designers, textile designers, stylists and art directors too.

Looking at this shortlist, I think it would be safe to say that these highly sophisticated projects could compete on the world stage.

Shortlisted: Brammah Interior Design's 'Ferndale House'
Shortlisted: Brammah Interior Design’s ‘Ferndale House’

“There’s just an incredible breadth of creative work in the mix. These shortlists provide a succinct snapshot of the immense talent across Australia right now,” says The Design Files’ Lucy Feagins. And while there are some inspiring entries across all of the categories, today we’re bring you a round-up of the best shortlisted projects in the interior design category.

Shortlisted: 'Sarah Cosentino and Felicity Slattery's 'Portsea Beach House'
Shortlisted: ‘Sarah Cosentino and Felicity Slattery’s ‘Portsea Beach House’

“Interior design is one of Australia’s fastest growing and most dynamic design disciplines. Clever, unique and considered interiors are transformative, and contribute to a cultural identity which is uniquely Australian,” says Lucy of the interior design category that is judged across five distinct areas – originality, visual appeal, craftsmanship, functionality, sustainability and visionary thinking. Extra points will be awarded to projects with pro bono or community focussed outcomes, and/or projects limited by an unusually tiny budget.

Shortlisted: Simone Haag's 'Poynton House'
Shortlisted: Simone Haag’s ‘Poynton House’

Shortlisted: Simone Haag's 'Poynton House'
Shortlisted: Simone Haag’s ‘Poynton House’

We have brought some of the shortlisted projects to you before such as John Bornas’ ‘Huntington Tower Residence,’ Dylan Farrell’s ‘Sydney Contemporary Perch,’ and Simone Haag’s ‘Poynton House,’ but there are many more worth mentioning.

I love that curved detailing in Matt Woods Design's 'Perfect Storm' project
I love that seamless curved detailing in Matt Woods Design’s ‘Perfect Storm’ project

Kate Challis’ ‘The Gertrude Project’ is a highly individual family home that blurs the distinction between art and design. The designer’s own residence, the project is heavily influenced by her love of art and draws upon the works of two prominent Australian female artists who both had a passion for native flora and fauna; Margaret Preston and Valerie Sparks.

Shortlisted: Kate Challis' 'The Gertrude Project'
Shortlisted: Kate Challis’ ‘The Gertrude Project’

Kate Challis' 'The Gertrude Project'
Shortlisted: Kate Challis’ ‘The Gertrude Project’

Not your typical country house, Chelsea Hing’s ‘Yarra Valley House’ has a beautiful colour palette inspired by its location. The designer drew on the ghost greys of the surrounding eucalyptus trees, the washed out greens of the grapevines, the terracotta blush of the soil and the blackened bark of the trees. Rich terracotta’s, saddle tan leathers, polished plaster, slate, cedar and sandblasted timber combine to create the stunning home.

Chelsea Hing's 'Yarra Valley House'
Shortlisted: Chelsea Hing’s ‘Yarra Valley House’

Chelsea Hing's 'Yarra Valley House'
Chelsea Hing’s ‘Yarra Valley House’

Georgina Jeffries’ ‘The Victorian’ is home to an Aussie and his American wife who recently relocated from New York. An old inner-city Victorian terrace, Georgina reconfigured the floor plan, reconditioned the old and  introduced touches of the new to create a delightful series of spaces.

Shortlisted: Georgina Jefferies 'The Victorian'
Shortlisted: Georgina Jeffries’ ‘The Victorian’

Georgina Jefferie's 'The Victorian'
Georgina Jeffries’ ‘The Victorian’

A celebration of colour, Mardi Doherty’s ‘St Kilda Residence’ is a revamped 1920’s Californian Bungalow with a twist. One of the statement spaces is a bold red room, and there’s plenty of robust and daring materials used throughout including black steel, oversized terrazzo, marble, Corian, fluted glass and mosaic tiles.

Shortlisted: Mari Doherty's 'St Kilda Residence'
Shortlisted: Mardi Doherty’s ‘St Kilda Residence’

Mardi Doherty's 'St Kilda Residence'
Mardi Doherty’s ‘St Kilda Residence’

The interior design category judges David Flack, Yasmine Ghoniem (Amber Road), and Adriana Hanna (Kennedy Nolan) have their work cut out for them before the winners are announced on Thursday September 19th in Melbourne.

For more on the awards | 2019 Australian Interior Design Awards winners