City of Adelaide Prize

Faced with a seven-year absence, high community expectations and a challenging site, the Adelaide City Skatepark has delivered a remarkable urban place for a diverse range of users.

Often relegated to undervalued spaces, the Adelaide City Skatepark instead activates a key site within the Adelaide Park Lands. The jury was impressed by the creation of an inclusive public space for all users and skill levels that also supports competitions. Anchored around a central plaza, it provides opportunities for casual observation, building a sense of community. The park is highly active, with careful consideration also given to night-time use and lighting. Its offering of recreational facilities further enhances this important site.

Cleverly utilising the site’s topography, retaining mature trees and managing contaminated fill demonstrate a mature environmental approach that has enhanced the park’s setting.

With input from user groups, the park includes design references to other parts of the city and the replication of much-loved features from the skatepark it replaced. The jury was impressed by the quality and experience of this highly active and enlivened public space. Already loved by the community, the park demonstrates excellence in developing the public realm of the City of Adelaide.

Jury Award Citation: Complex, rhythmic, generous in scale, and fun — this urban plaza and throughway project is already loved by Adelaideans and visitors alike. The vaulted spaces, textured surfaces and soft earthy glow of the coloured glass are evocative, sensory and provide visual delight — drawing you through to the unseen river beyond.

A once forgotten and neglected end to the Station Concourse, this project reinstates a significant urban pedestrian connection back to the river and celebrates the stories of this precinct in the heart of the City. Geological, artistic and architectural references abound for those who like to play those games, but delightful and memorable moments are on offer for all during passage through the precinct—on strolls to the theatre, the river, amongst the heaving match crowds on game days at the Oval, or on your rush back to the Station.

Honouring the framework of the earlier Masterplan, the new station concourse successfully navigates a vast array of structural, access and services complexities. By cleverly dodging and using them together with stories, materials and patterns from adjacent places and past histories, ARM Architecture has crafted a new space and place that is unique, experiential and feels like it belongs.

Jury Award Citation: The redevelopment of Her Majesty’s Theatre reinforces Adelaide’s reputation as an important cultural centre by establishing a second city theatre designed to attract top performers and accommodate the largest touring musicals.

Through complex planning within strict site constraints, the redevelopment provides equal and inclusive access and extended functionality, reinvigorates Grote and Pitt Streets, and incorporates a new annexe for patron amenity together with a larger auditorium and fly tower.

The project pairs the existing historic fabric with finely crafted contemporary work by South Australian artisans that pays homage to the theatre’s original 1913 configuration. The careful reinstatement of autographed blockwork backstage reveals and celebrates past performers. Interpretive signage and names of artists and other personalities associated with the theatre’s history record a rich story that is at the same time local, significant and personal.

Her Majesty’s Theatre is brought back to life through this redevelopment and is awarded the City of Adelaide Prize for enhancing the public experience, contributing to the cultural and economic growth of the city, providing tourism opportunities and re-activating this central city historic building and precinct.

The community were invited to vote on their favourite project entered in this year’s awards. The winner of the 2021 People’s Choice Award was the nominee who received the most votes.

The winner as voted by the South Australian public was Vietnamese Boat People Monument – Guiding Light by Tony Rosella and Ash Badios

Jury Award Citation: Through collaborative and intuitive design, U-City sets a new benchmark for multiple-use buildings in the City of Adelaide. A thoughtful, respectful and contextual analysis explores single site ownership for over a century and delivers generous additions to the public realm at street level by re-establishing Penaluma Place. The building continues to embrace the corner site, similar to its predecessor, however realises a greater level of integration, with small reminders of the site’s rich history layered throughout the building through material, form and motif.

Through clever and well resolved design, U-City responds to a brief that can only be described as heroic in scale and complexity, brought together in beautiful detailing and form, with a clear focus on social and environmental sustainability. Meticulous planning and detailed engagement with the end users throughout the design process allows the architecture to seamlessly mask an impressive range of health and well-being services, aged care, a church and public open space.

U-City shows a new approach for integrated development, housed within well-considered, resolved and thoughtful built form. The jury commends both client and architect for their evident partnership in realising a great outcome for the City of Adelaide.

Jury Award Citation: Part Time Lover is a bold addition to its heritage fabric, breathing fresh air into a previously under-utilised, left-over space. Attention to detailing and planning of spatial arrangements makes for an enjoyable user experience while complying with complex access requirements of the site. Levering off existing structure and incorporating a passive thermal design approach, the result encourages activity and movement while keeping its promise of ‘being there when needed.’

Jury Award Citation: Tika Tirka is an ambitious approach to accommodation for Indigenous students living away from home. It carefully respects culture, place and connection to sky while creating a series of functional and private spaces. Sitting at ease in its surroundings, the delicately profiled screening and curve to the canopy soften the edges of the robust materials used throughout.

Jury Award Citation: Karen Rolton Oval has set a new benchmark for recreational and community development in the Park Lands. The built form and function of the South Australian Cricket Association (SACA)-run facility actively seeks to create a sense of engagement through the architecture and urban design responses of the building. Although sports focused and limited by the specific commercial requirements the design delivers significant community value.

The architecture of the building is striking and bold, at the same time the design and material selection is sympathetic and responsive to its surroundings. The external spaces of the building are always accessible, providing an elegant, much-needed rest spot in the northwest Park Lands. The refined functionality of the stepped terrace and upper-level balcony offers visitors a multitude of seating and viewing points around the building, providing new community spaces from which to experience the Park Lands.

Compared to the previous facilities at Park 25, this project has a reduced building footprint on the Park Lands while increasing operational areas and community space through a well-designed consolidation of built form.

The design and utilisation of Karen Rolton Oval has changed the way SACA interact with the recreational community of Adelaide as well as other sporting communities across the state. The project raises expectations and encourages the community to re-engage with the Park Lands through carefully considered architectural and urban design responses that reinvigorate, activate and delight.

Jury Award Citation: 84 Halifax Street is a crafted insertion within a classic Adelaide inner-city setting. The project breaks from traditional terrace form to create a series of interconnected exterior and interior spaces that are creative and expressive in their use of light and materials. A re-imagined ground plane showcases the main interior volume and the spaces beyond. Carefully located high level glazing through an upper level courtyard provides a light filled space that celebrates the craftmanship of the local artists and practitioners involved. Oxigen has created a real gem on Halifax Street that combines a beautifully crafted built form and interior with an enhanced public realm that sets a new benchmark for infill city development.

The Darling Building also won a Commendation in the City of Adelaide Prize.

Jury Award Citation: The Darling Building sets a new standard for regenerative building re-use, creating a well-considered and exemplar workplace that blends the original fabric with a contemporary twist. Restored and new works display a thoughtful and well executed design that is both measured and exquisite in its process and outcome. An extended lightwell washes daylight through much of the internal space, showcasing the careful use of materials, texture and form. Williams Burton Leopardi have mastered the art of creative and inventive building regeneration.

Jury Award Citation: The Queen Adelaide Room is a delightful and delicate refurbishment project that breathes new life into one of Adelaide’s premier reception spaces. Extensive research has allowed Swanbury Penglase to create a well-considered beautiful space that blends a historic setting with a repurposed contemporary use. The room’s rich colour palette and strong materiality showcase the craftmanship and inventive approach to restoration that has been achieved. The Queen Adelaide Room celebrates its historic setting and creates a considered, high-quality space for social engagement and public events.

Jury Award Citation: Urban Beach is an innovative concept to create a playful and engaging public space in an existing city parkland setting. The installation of a recreational beach and pool on the northern bank of the Torrens explored a variety of social activities and opportunities that appealed to a diverse demographic. The location and format of the space encouraged impromptu public usage and enhanced the riverbank experience and identity. This pilot project involving a broad cross section of local businesses, associations, and Government agencies created a unique and appealing social setting for recreation and interaction in a well-known and much-loved location.

The ANZAC Centenary Memorial Walk also won the People's Choice award.

Jury Award Citation: Anzac Centenary Memorial Walk is this year’s winner of the City of Adelaide Prize, which recognises innovation and design excellence that enhances our cities’ vibrancy and character. Anzac Walk is highly considered and well executed concept that creates a significant and reflective memorial precinct to represent and honour the Anzac tradition. It is an engaging space that captures the spirit of war and faithfully represents the service and sacrifice of all Australians affected by war. The progression of space offers a series of destination points, offering a rich and unique identity that reveals itself at human scale. Local materials have been used to craft a simple and elegant urban experience, establishing a new link connecting the existing War Memorial to Riverbank. A redefined edge and fence line offers views of Government House and its unique landscape setting, offering a new and engaged experience with one of Adelaide true landmarks and treasures.

Grieve Gillett Andersen worked with tight timeframes and a complex delivery framework to create a memorable and high quality space for Adelaide. The jury was impressed by the timeless quality of the project and its ability to create a Memorial precinct that is both reflective and proud. Anzac Walk creates an awareness of the effects of war on both the individual and the country they represent, creating a sense of memory and reflection for those passing by. The timeless quality of the precinct and the simple elegance of the design has created a truly memorable and significant place for Adelaide.

Jury Award Citation: Peter Rabbit is an inventive and creative concept that has transformed a vacant lot adjacent an electrical substation into a playful indoor/outdoor courtyard and café space that activates and enhances Hindley St. A set of garden gates draws you in to its landscaped forecourt and interior, purposefully arranged around a series of hand crafted seating areas. The mood of the space reflects a playful garden, where moments of discovery reflect attention to detail, applied with skill and a sense of humour. James McIntyre has embraced a modest budget and a selection of recycled and rich materials to create an environmentally sustainable and experimental design that is unique to Adelaide and the surrounding context.

Jury Award Citation: The Rundle Mall Redevelopment has redefined Adelaide’s premium retail mall as an active and engaged urban space, where the placement of landscape, furniture and structural elements broadens and enhances the pedestrian experience. The re-imagined space rediscovers views of the Mall’s great buildings and provides view corridors to the surrounding streetscapes and the Adelaide Hills landscape beyond. HASSELL’s design approach offers a highly considered urban framework that manages the needs of shoppers, retail vendors, artists, operators and property owners to provide a transformed, energetic and comfortable space in the heart of Adelaide.

The Zoos SA Nature Play Ground also won a Commendation in the City of Adelaide Prize.