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June 12, 2026 \u2014 10:00pm<\/p>\n
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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n Perth\u2019s newest cultural hub, the Edith Cowan University campus project, has won multiple architectural awards as \u201ca spectacular example\u201d of civic generosity and city revitalisation.<\/p>\n The WA Architecture Awards jury has praised the new ECU City building for linking Perth\u2019s central district back together with a \u201cdramatic new insertion into the blighted and divisive strip of railway land separating the CBD from the entertainment precinct of Northbridge\u201d.<\/p>\n The state\u2019s most prestigious architectural awards, announced at a gala event on Friday, celebrated ECU City by awarding it top prize in four categories, educational, interior and urban architecture, as well as WA\u2019s highest award, the George Temple Poole Award.<\/p>\n ECU City was designed by Melbourne-based architectural firm Lyons with Silver Thomas Hanley and Haworth Tompkins.<\/p>\n \u201cThe virtuosity of that building can\u2019t be understated,\u201d said jury chair and architect Peter Hobbs.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ve got a railway line and a bus station underneath it all and six acoustically isolated theatres and recording studios on top. It\u2019s incredible to achieve all that from a technical point of view.\u201d<\/p>\n He said the West Australian-based company Multiplex, recognised as a major global building contractor, deserved credit for meeting ECU City\u2019s extraordinary technical challenge.<\/p>\n \u201cThey did it on time and on budget. It\u2019s a world-class building.\u201d<\/p>\n Lead architect Neil Appleton, from Lyons, told WAtoday earlier this year<\/a> that ECU City\u2019s novel \u201cvertical campus\u201d had emerged from its clients.<\/p>\n \u201cI think what\u2019s amazing about it is that it started with a really visionary idea from the university; they wanted to somehow represent and supercharge the idea of a collision between business, technology, creativity, with WAAPA and the school of arts and humanities, business, law and cybersecurity coming together,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe structured the building like a mini city where there are streets in the air, laneways in the air. So it\u2019s like you\u2019re in a city, and you can look into the work going on inside classrooms.\u201d<\/p>\n Hobbs said the $853 million ECU building, which spans 11 floors, is the opposite of a sprawling campus.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople bump into each other on staircases and escalators. You\u2019re kind of designing interaction and cross-pollination into the building,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd it\u2019s a very legible building \u2013 you can always tell where you are and it\u2019s got amazing public art within it, like the big screen which is public art.\u201d<\/p>\n Related Article In other award categories, Hobbs said a hallmark of this year\u2019s winners were more modest aspirations, innovative solutions, sustainability and adaptive re-use of existing structures.<\/p>\n \u201cThe jury identified a \u2018more with less\u2019 theme, with architects responding to post-COVID cost increases and current cost of living pressures, managing to stretch budgets and wring every cent of value out of each design decision,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The jury members noted that several designs resulted in reduced energy demand, with the biggest gains coming from residential structures like Lathlain House, by Silva & Mustard.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a beautiful house built for the same cost as a project home,\u201d said Hobbs.<\/p>\n \u201cIt meets the needs of a household with affordable and flexible designs that adapt to future needs.\u201d<\/p>\n Another smaller scale winner is Marri Pavillions, a shed-prototype retreat set in a native bush landscape by Rezen Studios, using prefabrication, lightweight low-maintenance steel framing, and water-sensitive landscaping.<\/p>\n \u201cMies van der Rohe said \u2018Less is more\u2019, but we are doing more with less,\u201d Hobbs said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s part of the zeitgeist now \u2013 you have the small house movement, modest well-designed houses with the ethical overlay of sustainability. I think that\u2019s really strong.\u201d<\/p>\n An unusual small project winner was St Thomas More Columbarium, or mausoleum, by Simon Pendal Architect.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a little place where you put ashes, very finely crafted and incredibly thoughtful,\u201d Hobbs said.<\/p>\n Perth\u2019s building tradition of brick work, based on the availability of natural clay, was evident among serious younger designers, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe do have a very healthy tradition, and there\u2019s been a kind of a bit of a renaissance in brick building again.\u201d<\/p>\n That trend was reflected in an award-winning multi-residential project in Eric Street Cottesloe by Officer Woods Architects.<\/p>\n \u201cIts vocabulary is going back to an austerity era of building forms from the 60s and 70s,\u201d Hobbs said.<\/p>\n Two city precinct projects won in the Commercial Architecture category \u2013 Nine The Esplanade by REX and Hassell, and the Enex 100 Redevelopment by Woods Bagot.<\/p>\n The lack of an outright winner in public architecture reflected difficult times for some design and construction projects caught out by post-COVID cost increases and cost of living pressures.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re always competing against the mining sector, which exacerbates the labour shortage and demand for materials. It\u2019s ongoing, and in a housing crisis there\u2019s a lot of pressure for all of those things,\u201d Hobbs said.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the apartment area, cost of construction has got to the point where lots of apartment projects can\u2019t proceed because you can\u2019t sell the units at a cost to cover building them.<\/p>\n \u201cGiven those circumstances, we identified how architects did well to make sure projects went ahead in some form, demonstrating high levels of ingenuity.<\/p>\n \u201cArchitects spend a lot of time juggling budgets and some fantastic work comes out of it as a result.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n![\"Edith](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/384d91d85243d4621a8c2350c982553c806abd5792f83670a85e21443f6b81fd.jpeg\")
Edith Cowan University\u2019s new Perth city campus has won big at the WA Architecture Awards.Peter Bennetts<\/p>\n![\"\u201cPeople](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/088b9676706d09ad514a3a158b397e41964f225bbc27fa3e5fab18ce2f475ebf.jpeg\")
\u201cPeople bump into each other on staircases and escalators. You\u2019re kind of designing interaction and cross-pollination into the building.\u201dPeter Bennetts<\/p>\n![\"Parking](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/7756695f163db881a98ca435e77faff0031908e1.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"St](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/a7b8ab607645cea50ea64d0e3b081c0dfc449eeb8e2a03bed97454fbaa72c081.jpeg\")
St Thomas More Columbarium.Traianos Pakioufakis<\/p>\n![\"Eric](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/bb651267e7f3fb5aa5d4974f7757f68b0d100ef711de5617169cda57d3b0e1e1.jpeg\")
Eric Street, Cottesloe, by Officer Woods Architects. Robert Frith<\/p>\n
![\"Victoria](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1781295558_875_9a2d12bf8e96e077f8410d454655c19164a49074.png\")