A conceptual residential design called Jacaranda House, designed by Paul Focic and Jeremy Marsden from Cox Rayner Architects (Brisbane), has been awarded the top prize in this year’s Boral Design Awards.

Many of this year’s entries followed the courtyard house model, including the winning entry, which the jury said was the most successful of the entries to explore the type.

“Jacaranda House represents the most creative application of materials within a building that responds to climate, topography and orientation, to create maximum comfort and delight for its inhabitants,” the jury said.

They added: “The existing tree and park adjacent to the site have generated the project’s two most impressive features: a spacious private courtyard and a covered deck traversing its length and continuing through the building (where it acts as a circulation path) to the front. Here, the deck rises to terminate four metres above ground amongst the tree canopy of the park.”

The awards program promotes innovative concepts in realistic residential design, and invites professionals and students to design a 150m² family home with specifications for Boral products. The competition also required entries to include landscaping and exterior detailing that responded to the specific challenges of the site.

Second prize went to Shane Plazibat, Tony Jemmott, Vincent Teo and Jindrich Hozak from Plazibat + Jemmott Architects (Brisbane), while Lachlan Joseph from Queensland University of Technology won the Student category.

The 2009 jury comprised Drew Heath of Drew Heath Architects in Sydney, Nick Drougas from Metricon in Melbourne, James Russell of James Russell Architects in Brisbane, Andrew Mackenzie, editor-in-chief of Architectural Review magazine and Glenn Simpkin from Boral.