The Budd Street, Collingwood project designed by Harmer Architecture won the 2003 COLORBOND® steel award at the 75th Victorian Architecture Awards held by the Royal Australian Institute of Architects.

It also won two other awards in the Interior and Commercial categories.

The office project features striking internal and external wall cladding made from COLORBOND® steel in the colour Night Sky.

It comprises five office spaces designed for a variety of computer and design-based companies - including a new office for Harmer Architecture - and revitalises a former industrial site in inner Melbourne.

Architect Philip Harmer said COLORBOND® steel, developed by BHP Steel for Australian conditions, was one of the key materials that delivered the industrial character that he wanted to evoke in a simple and cost-effective way.

"Our office is conceived as a design workshop in the industrial milieu of Collingwood in Melbourne, a place for exploring architectural ideas and experimenting with materials," Mr Harmer said.

The jury was impressed with the bold and confident form of the Budd Street building.

"External use of COLORBOND® steel provides connection with the surrounding industrial form and the use of COLORBOND® steel in the interior is striking and unusual," the jury said.

Mr Harmer said a huge advantage of COLORBOND® steel was that large expanses of a building could be clad with a lightweight material and a minimum of framing.

"Sheeting made from COLORBOND® steel allows a surface to be clad as a uniform skin free of obvious joints - in a similar way to new car bodies, which are made from thin steel sheets with creases and bends providing the required strength."

Mr Harmer said COLORBOND® steel could also be easily bent and folded into all kinds of trims and flashings, which greatly added to the versatility of the product.

"COLORBOND® steel provides a dramatic seamless black lining which accentuates the linear proportion of our new design studio," he said.

"The internal ceiling is also perforated and provides the added benefit of acoustic absorption necessary in a hard floor space," Mr Harmer said.

A total of 124 entries were submitted for the prestigious Victorian Architecture Medal and other top awards.

The awards included the COLORBOND® steel award, the Melbourne Prize, the Regional Prize, the Marion Mahony Award for Interior Architecture, and the William Wardell Award for Institutional Architecture.
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For further information, please contact:
Harmer Architects
Ph: (03)9416 4466
Fax: (03) 9415 6110
www.harmer.com.au