Searle x Waldron Architecture was the Australian Grand Prix winner at the 2020 Dulux Colour Awards, taking home the top prize for UOM Southbank – End of Trip.

The project used a new facade to update bicycle storage and change rooms, which is revealed upon campus entry at the University of Melbourne Southbank.

The jury, which included Foolscap director Adele Winteridge, Jean Pierre Biasol and Richards Stanisich Architecture director Jonathan Richards described the project as “ambitious in its conception and labour intensive in its realisation.

“The random pixelated effect of the thousands of painted battens is intricate like a woven textile, ever changing under different light conditions. It draws one into the space,” it said.

The Melbourne practice co-founded by Nick Searle and Suzannah Waldron in 2007 also won the Commercial and Multi-Residential Exterior Award for UOM Southbank – End of Trip.

The 2020 New Zealand Grand Prix winner was the Social Housing Development Rangiora by Rohan Collett Architects.

Architects created 28 one-bedroom community social housing units from an existing site of nine 1950s state houses.

Judges commended the project for avoiding the “uniformity and blandness” common in social housing projects.

“With colour as a key tool, individual homes have been given unique identities while still visually integrating into the surrounding area as a whole,” it said.

“This is a genre-busting project, worthy of high praise.”

The awards’ other big prize, the Residential Interior award, was given to Green Anvil Co + Killing Matt Woods + Set For Art’s concrete bunker-inspired Perfect Storm, which was described as “utilitarian chic at its best”.

Commendations were given to Studio Bright’s Ruckers Hills House.

The year’s Single Residential Exterior award went to the “bright and modern” red paintwork of Vokes & Peters’ Casuarina House in Northern New South Wales.

While in the commercial interior categories, Armitage Jones took home the Workplace and Retail prize for its tonal use of colour to create defined zones for the Bergman & Co offices. 

Commendations were given to Adam Kane’s rich grey office in South Melbourne.

Another Victorian project won the Commercial Interior- Public and Hospitality award with the jury praising Branch Studio Architects for the “impact and sophistication” of the Arts Epicentre – a new building that physically merged the Caroline Chisholm College’s creative programs together. 

The commendation in this category went to Sibling Architecture for its refurbishment of the Darebin Arts Centre, originally designed by Harmer Architecture in 1996.

Finally, the 2020 Dulux Colour Awards student prize was given to Sydney Design School’s Louise Mackay for the pop-up cafe Ascend.

Guests were invited to graffiti the walls of the cafe with messages of joy during the Sydney Festival and Carriageworks.

RMIT’s Ying Ho Shiu (Hiro) desert-style sustainable home Hump House and University of Melbourne’s Micheal Ren’s Queen Victoria Pavilion were also commended.

Now in its 34th year, the Dulux Colour Awards showcases inspirational colour application in built environments.

The paint brand released its colour palettes for 2021 recently, opting for three tonal palettes that “prioritises natural colours and textures”. 

Lead photo: UOM Southbank – End of Trip by Searle x Waldron Architecture. Photo: John Gollings.