AJC Architects has received the Australian Institute of Architects (AIA) NSW Enduring Architecture Award for the second consecutive year, with Clubbe Hall at Frensham School recognised following last year’s award for Moore Park Gardens. 

The award recognises buildings that are at least 25 years old and continue to demonstrate outstanding architectural merit, celebrating projects that have remained relevant and valued long after completion. As AJC marks its 70th anniversary, the consecutive awards reinforce the practice’s longstanding commitment to architecture designed to endure. 

Designed by Keith Cottier, one of AJC’s defining architects, to mark Frensham School’s 50th anniversary, Clubbe Hall remains at the heart of school life today. Its carefully considered response to place, together with its honest expression of locally sourced brick, timber and exposed concrete, has enabled the building to serve generations of students, staff and the wider Mittagong community. 

Clubbe Hall first received the NSW Blacket Award in 1967, shortly after completion. Recognition with the NSW Enduring Architecture Award almost six decades later is a testament to the lasting quality of its design and its contribution to school and community life. 

The consecutive awards recognise two very different projects. Last year’s recognition honoured Moore Park Gardens, one of Australia’s leading medium-density residential developments. While very different in scale, purpose and setting, the two projects reflect the breadth of AJC’s work and a consistent approach to designing places that perform, adapt and remain valued over time. 

“We demolish buildings too readily, which makes enduring architecture even more significant,” says Keith Cottier. “Buildings that continue to serve their communities over decades remind us that good architecture is an investment in the future, not just the present.” 

“To receive this award for a second consecutive year is incredibly meaningful,” says Michael Heenan, chair of the Board and design lead at AJC. “Clubbe Hall and Moore Park Gardens are very different projects, but both remind us that the best architecture reveals its value over time, through the communities it continues to serve.” 

Top photo: Clubbe Hall exterior, Nic Bailey.