SOME houses appear to merge with the landscape, almost as if they sprang from the earth itself. Others somehow impose themselves on their surroundings, standing as statements, telling the world they are there. Both design approaches can produce amazing results and both can be seen among the 12 stunning houses shortlisted for the 2009 Wilkinson Award, the Institute of Architects’ top prize for residential architecture in New South Wales. This year’s chair of the awards jury, Sam Marshall, says entries for the Wilkinson- to be announced on Thursday along with other prizes in the 2009 AIA NSW Awards- were particularly strong this year. “One of the amazing things about that group of houses is that they are all very different to each other, but are all really strong responses to the site, the client, the aspect, the budget and things like that.” The location of each house had a huge influence on its design, Marshall says. SNOWY MOUNTAINS As examples, he cites the home designed by last year’s Wilkinson winner, James Stockwell, in the bleak alpine landscape of the Snowy Mountains, and another in the bushy Kangaroo Valley, designed by Turner and Associates. “The way James Stockwell put it is that his building came from the lay of the landscape; it was reading the landscape, the geography, the geology and understanding the weather and it was designed from that,” Marshall says. “The one in the Kangaroo Valley was more an attitude of ‘Here’s a beautiful landscape, I’m virtually going to land something on it.’ So, quite a different approach.” Of the remaining houses, two are at Whale Beach on the northern beaches, two are in the same street in Parsley Bay, Vaucluse, three are on Sydney’s north side, at Clifton Gardens, Northwood and Freshwater, one is in inner-eastern Kensington, one is at Wamberal on the Central Coast and one is at Casuarina, on the far-north coast. Marshall says the standard of entries was so high this year that, in contrast to some years, it was very difficult to pick a winner, and there was much debate among jury members. “There were eight houses it was really hard to choose the winner from,” he says. The jury finally whittled numbers down to three and further lively discussion ensued until they agreed that in one particular house “all the pieces come together in an exceptional way”. TICKING ALL THE BOXES “THE one that did win it really used the site extremely well,” says Marshall. “The interior of it, which to me is probably the most important of a house because you actually live in it, was just beautifully organised and thought-about to serve the occupant so the occupant really was comfortable. “The breezes were in the right spot, the heating was in the right spot, the view appreciation was in the right spot. Then, of course, the exterior looked great as well… “On every level, this place really exceeded the other ones.” One strong trend this year, Marshall says, has been in the use of off-form concrete – beautifully finished smooth concrete- particularly in walls. “It’s easy to pour a slab on the ground, but to build a concrete wall takes so much more effort to do it and get it right.” The biggest trend, across both residential and commercial buildings, was the seamless incorporation of environmentally sustainable design (ESD) principles. “It wasn’t like, ‘Here’s a house that’s added on a couple of water tanks and photovoltaic cells.’ The attitude was generally, ‘Well, that’s just what you do,’ and it seemed like it came from both the clients and the architects. I guess it partly comes from the Building Code of Australia, which says you have to comply … [...]