Design Institute of Australia launches inaugural awards
Bates Smart scoops Best Place at inaugural Design Institute of Australia Awards with an acute medical services building, the Gandel Wing at Cabrini Malvern
![Bates Smart for Gandel Wing in Australia](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/DhzRgMstpLswJfdSbrMgyE-415-80.jpeg)
The Design Institute of Australia (DIA) – Australia’s national design body, has recently announced the winners for its inaugural Designers Australia 2021 Awards. The three categories ‘Place,’ ‘Use’ and ‘Interact’ boast a wealth of forward-thinking projects across the country. ‘Place’ recognises the spaces we inhabit, live, and operate in; ‘Use’ celebrates the things we use; while ‘Interact’ showcases who and what we engage with.
The ‘Place’ category was won by multidisciplinary design practice Bates Smart for its acute medical services building, the Gandel Wing, at the Cabrini hospital in Malvern, Australia. The jury was unanimous in selecting the new seven-storey wing for its exemplary approach to design, wellness, and healthcare architecture. Stretching 16,350 sq m, the scheme delivers state-of-the-art cancer, cardiac, and geriatric care facilities alongside a radiotherapy bunker. Gandel Wing was praised by the judges for its high levels of comfort, safety, and dignity.
Bates Smart approached every aspect of the project through the lens of the patient to ensure that each space functions from both a medical and aesthetic perspective. To do this, the award-winning practice worked closely with medical teams to create mock-ups of clinical medical work areas. Centring on wellness, healthcare, and technology, the building focuses on healing and creating a welcoming environment. ‘The Gandel Wing’s natural finishes, rounded edges and neutral palette illustrate the power of buildings that can heal,’ stated jurors and design educators Lidewij Edelkoort and Philip Fimmano.
Other Design Institute of Australia Award winners
Sydney-based design studio DesignByThem won the ‘Use’ category for its seating series, DL Range by GibsonKarlo and Dion Lee. A collaboration between industrial designers and DesignByThem founders Nicholas Karlovasitis and Sarah Gibson, and Australian fashion designer Dion Lee, the project combines impressive Italian saddle leather with slick organic materials and sleek angular silhouettes.
The ‘Interact’ category went to Monash University XYX Lab for HyperSext City – an online repository that collates data by crowdsourcing from communities, researchers, and individuals across the globe. While the President’s Prize was won by multidisciplinary designer Ed Linacre for his contribution to the design lexicon and commitment to diversity and equality.
DIA president Gavin Campbell stated that ‘since 1948, the Design Institute of Australia has been committed to nurturing and empowering designers. It is pleasing to see the culmination of these awards, responses to design shifts while also being a part of our collective future.’
INFORMATION
batessmart.com
Wallpaper* Newsletter + Free Download
For a free digital copy of August Wallpaper*, celebrating Creative America, sign up today to receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories
Shawn Adams is an architect, writer, and lecturer who currently teaches at Central St Martins, UAL and the Architectural Association. Shawn trained as an architect at The Royal College of Art, Architectural Association and University of Portsmouth. He is also the co-founder of the socially-minded design practice Power Out of Restriction. In 2023, POoR won the London Design Festival’s Emerging Design Medal. Shawn writes for numerous international magazines about global architecture and design and aims to platform the voices of those living across the Caribbean, Asia, and Africa.
-
Commune’s sustainable personal care products look ‘quite unlike anything else’
Commune’s Somerset-made products stand out in the sustainable skincare crowd. Madeleine Rothery speaks with the brand’s co-founders Kate Neal and Rémi Paringaux
By Madeleine Rothery Published
-
‘Hedonistic and avant-garde’: Rabanne’s Julian Dossena on the legacy of the chainmail 1969 bag
Paco Rabanne’s 1969 chainmail handbag encapsulates the late designer’s futuristic, space-age style. Current creative director Julien Dossena tells Wallpaper* about the bag’s particular pleasures
By Jack Moss Published
-
Postcard from Paris: Olympic fever takes over the streets
On the eve of the opening ceremony of Paris 2024, our correspondent shares her views from the streets of the capital about how the event is impacting the urban landscape.
By Minako Norimatsu Published
-
2024 RIBA National Awards: browse the list of worthy winners
The 2024 RIBA National Awards have been announced, comprising 26 projects across the UK
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Proclamation House is a hempcrete urban sculpture nestled under peppermint trees
Built from hempcrete and stone, Proclamation House, a sculpturally angular build in Perth, Western Australia, carves out an intriguing niche on a quiet suburban street
By Carli Philips Published
-
RIBA International Awards for Excellence 2024 honour 22 extraordinary buildings
The RIBA International Awards for Excellence 2024 winners span from an art museum defying fire and flood in Australia to a school full of holes and sustainable strategies in Iran
By Bridget Downing Published
-
Behind the timber façade of a Byron Bay house in Australia
Son Studio designed this Byron Bay house as an honest exterior for a light-filled Australian retreat
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
The Activism Award 2024 goes to Studio Bark, architecture’s passionate champions
Architecture’s Activism Award 2024 has been announced, crowning Studio Bark as the winner from a shortlist of six nominees
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
South Yarra House makes a sculptural statement in Melbourne
South Yarra House by Pandolfini Architects explores the interplay of compression and expansion through a series of surprising sculptural objects in Australia
By Grace Bernard Published
-
2024 RIBA Gold Medal recipient Lesley Lokko: ‘To be valued, understood and seen by your peers is rare’
Lesley Lokko receives the 2024 RIBA Gold Medal in a dedicated celebration in London, and talks to us about taking stock after a busy few years, and planning for the future
By Ellie Stathaki Last updated
-
Burnt Earth Beach House is an experimental retreat crafted in terracotta
The experimental Australian Burnt Earth Beach House by John Wardle breaks new ground in material composition, using baked earth for warmth, texture and tonality
By Ellie Stathaki Published