Haunted Harry Potter theatre, Altona pier short-listed for AIA Victorian awards | see the full list

A haunted Melbourne theatre that hosted Harry Potter and the Cursed Child has joined more than 100 Victorian buildings short-listed for the state’s top architectural awards in 2024.

Also among those in the hunt for this year’s Australian Institute of Architecture Victorian awards are Healesville Sanctuary’s Raptor Rehabilitation Centre, the Altona Pier and the Victorian Heart Hospital in Clayton.

The awards attracted 228 submissions across 15 categories, with winners to be announced at an AIA awards night dinner on June 7.

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AIA Victorian president David Wagner said this year’s shortlist showed incredible depth with everything from modest home spaces through to level-crossing removal projects worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

Mr Wagner said the Princess Theatre auditorium’s preservation works by Conservation Studio Australia, which followed on from a renewal of the property’s exterior in the 1990s, was a particular credit to its owners, the Marriner family, who were determined to keep the 170-year-old building looking its best — helping to preserve it for future generations.

“We are grateful to see owners doing the right thing and spending money on them like this,” Mr Wagner said.

However, he noted that he wasn’t aware of anyone ever having raised a past short-listed project as being haunted — with the Princess family home to Federici the ghost of opera singer Frederick Federici who died of a heart attack on stage in 1888.

Victoria’s first ever heart hospital is also in the running, with a facade designed to represent the electrical activity of the heart by architectural firms Conrad Gargett and Wardle

“The rhythm and patternation of the facade detailing is based upon readouts from an echocardiogram (ECG),” Mr Wagner said.

It is in the running for the Melbourne Prize as well as a public architecture gong.

Healesville Sanctuary’s Raptor Rehabilitation Centre design by Harrison White could also earn it a public architecture accolade, while Jackson Clements Burrowes’ work on the Altona Pier is up for an urban design award.

Architecture designed with Indigenous Australians’ perspective in mind is also potentially set to be recognised with the Koorie Heritage Trust Stage 2, designed by Lyons with Greenway Architects and Architecture Associates been short-listed for the interior and public architecture award categories as well as the Melbourne Prize

Mr Wagner said the site at Federation Square provided an easy to access location for Victorians to gain insights into First Nations culture and an understanding of what it is to be Indigenous.

In a further nod to First Nations and architecture the Aboriginal Housing Victoria development designed by Breathe is short-listed for the Melbourne Prize, sustainable architecture and multiple house residential architecture.

The 2023 Victorian Architecture Awards Shortlist

Commercial Architecture

 54 Wellington | Wardle

 Four Pillars Gin Distillery 2.0 | Breathe

 Galkangu | Lyons

 Murran – First Nations Business, Retail and Arts Hub | Dawn Architecture

 Sanders Place | NMBW, Openwork & Finding Infinity

 T3 Collingwood | Jackson Clements Burrows Architects

 Catching the Sun | Kennon

Educational Architecture

 Clifton Hill Primary School | Jackson Clements Burrows Architects

 Dandenong High School Design and Technology Hub | Kerstin Thompson Architects

 Mount Alexander College (MAC) | Kosloff Architecture

 North Melbourne Primary School (Molesworth Street Campus) ARM Architecture

 RMIT Multifaith & Wellbeing Centre | Idle Architecture Studio

 Saint Teresa of Kolkata | Lyons

 Xavier College Kostka Building | MGS Architects

 St Patrick’s College Performing Arts Centre | Wardle

 Preston South Primary School | Kerstin Thompson Architects

 Wangaratta District Specialist School | Sibling Architecture

Heritage Architecture

 All Saints Estate | Technē Architecture + Interior Design

 Cobden Terrace | Matt Gibson Architecture + Design

 Mar Thoma Church | RBA Architects + Conservation Consultants

 Memorial Hall – Christ Church Grammar School | Mclldowie Partners

 Mygunyah By The Circus | Matt Gibson Architecture + Design

 Princess Theatre Auditorium Conservation Works | Conservation Studio Australia

 Riverbend Repair | Vaughan Howard Architects

 St George’s Performing Arts Centre | Kneeler Design Architects

Interior Architecture

 Geelong Arts Centre (Stage 3) | ARM Architecture

 Melrose Avenue | B.E. Architecture

 Atlantic Fellows for Social Equity Hub | Jackson Clements Burrows Architects

 Berninneit Cultural and Community Centre |Jackson Clements Burrows Architects

 Fairlie Apartment | Kennedy Nolan

 Up There | Kennedy Nolan

 Wilam Ngarrang Retrofit | Kennedy Nolan with Finding Infinity

 Northcote House | LLDS

 Koorie Heritage Trust Stage 2 | Lyons with Greenaway Architects and Architecture Associates

 Burnt Earth Beach House | Wardle

Public Architecture

 Berninneit Cultural and Community Centre | Jackson Clements Burrows Architects

 Edithvale, Chelsea and Bonbeach Stations | Cox Architecture with Rush Wright Associates

 Geelong Arts Centre (Stage 3) | ARM Architecture

 Koorie Heritage Trust Stage 2 | Lyons with Greenaway Architects and Architecture Associates

 Munro Development and narrm ngarrgu Library and Family Services | Six Degrees Architects

 Preston Level Crossing Removal Project | Wood Marsh Architecture Raptor Rehabilitation

Centre, Healesville Sanctuary | Harrison and White

 The Boronggook Drysdale Library | Antarctica Architects and Architecture Assoicates

 The Round | BKK Architects + Kerstin Thompson Architects

 Victorian Heart Hospital | Conrad Gargett (now merged with Architectus) + Wardle

 Wirrng Wirrng | Kerstin Thompson Architects

Residential Architecture – Houses (Alterations and Additions)

 Garden House | Zen Architects

 Hawthorn I | Agius Scorpo Architects

 Connected House | Architects EAT

 Bob’s Bungalow | Blair Smith Architecture

 Smith House | Fowler and Ward

 Northcote House | MA+Co

 Mygunyah By The Circus | Matt Gibson Architecture + Design

 Ember |MRTN Architects

 Ararat House | SJB

 Stewart | SSdH

 Mansard House | Studio Bright

 Brunswick Galley House | Topology Studio

 Riverbend Repair | Vaughan Howard Architects

 Quarry House | Winwood Mckenzie

Residential Architecture – Multiple House

 17 Spring St | Bates Smart

 Aboriginal Housing Victoria | Breathe

 Ferrars & York | Six Degrees Architects

 Inkerman + Nelson | MA+Co

 Markham Avenue | Architectus

 Melbourne Indigenous Transition School Boarding House | McIldowie Partners

 Tarakan Street Social and Affordable Housing | NH Architecture, Bird de la Coeur Architects and Openwork with Tract

 The Nursery on Brunswick | Clare Cousins Architects

 Wilam Ngarrang Retrofit | Kennedy Nolan with Finding Infinity

Residential Architecture – Houses New

 Adelaide Street House | Robert Simeoni Architects

 Burnt Earth Beach House | Wardle

 Courtyard House | Clare Cousins Architects

 Dennis House | Olaver Architecture

 Ha Ha Haus | FIGR Architecture Studio

 Naples Street House | Edition Office

 Northcote House | LLDS

 Peninsula House | Wood Marsh Architecture

 Six Ways House | Kennedy Nolan

 South Yarra House | Pandolfini Architects |

 St Kilda Residence | ADDARC

 Sweetwater House | Christopher Botterill and Jackson Clements Burrows Architects

 The Boulevard | Archier

Small Project Architecture

 (This is) Air | Nic Brunsdon

 Aireys Inlet Primary School Art & Music Hub | Sibling Architecture

 James Makin Gallery | Tristan Wong Architecture & Design

 Macarthur Street Amenities Pavilion | Searle x Waldron Architecture

 Melbourne Now: Community Hall | BoardGrove Architects

 The Roundtable | Common & Enlocus

 Thornbury Canopy | Gab Olah

Urban Design

 Fleming Park | fjcstudio

 Munro Site – Queen Victoria Market Precinct | Bates Smart and Six Degrees

 Edithvale, Chelsea and Bonbeach Stations | Cox Architecture

 Altona Pier | Jackson Clements Burrows Architects + Site Office + AW

 Tarakan Street Social and Affordable Housing | NH Architecture, Bird de la Coeur Architects and Openwork with Tract

 NELP Bulleen Park & Ride | Peter Elliott Architecture + Urban Design with GHD & CPB

 Powerhouse Place | Public Realm Lab

 Preston Level Crossing Removal Project | Wood Marsh Architecture and Tract Colorbond Award

 Djerring Flemington Hub | Croxon Ramsay

 The Round | BKK Architects + Kerstin Thompson Architects

 Shoreham House | Noxon Architecture

 Sweetwater House

Melbourne Prize

 Aboriginal Housing Victoria | Breathe

 Mount Alexander College (MAC) | Kosloff Architecture

 Victorian Heart Hospital | Conrad Gargett (now merged with Architectus) + Wardle

 Koorie Heritage Trust Stage 2 | Lyons with Greenaway Architects and Architecture Associates

 Munro Development and narrm ngarrgu Library and Family Services | Six Degrees Architects

 The Round | BKK Architects + Kerstin Thompson Architects

Regional Architecture

 Galkangu | Lyons

 Murran – First Nations Business, Retail and Arts Hub | Dawn

 Wangaratta District Specialist School | Sibling Architecture

 Berninneit Cultural and Community Centre | Jackson Clements Burrows Architects

 Geelong Arts Centre (Stage 3) | ARM Architecture

 The Boronggook Drysdale Library | Antarctica Architects and Architecture Associates

 Wirrng Wirrng | Kerstin Thompson Architects

 Macarthur Street Amenities Pavilion | Searle x Waldron Architecture

 Powerhouse Place | Public Realm Lab

Sustainable Architecture

 Sanders Place | NMBW, Openwork & Finding Infinity

 Catching the Sun | Kennon

 Clifton Hill Primary School | Jackson Clements Burrows Architects

 Cloud Street | Steffen Welsch Architects

 Preston South Primary School | Kerstin Thompson Architects

 Berninneit Cultural and Community Centre | Jackson Clements Burrows Architects

 Dennis House | Olaver

 Life Cycle | Steffen Welsch Architects

 Northcote House | LLDS

 Northcote Aquatic and Recreation Centre | Warren and Mahoney

 Powerhouse Place | Public Realm Lab

 Sweetwater House | Christopher Botterill and Jackson Clements Burrows Architects

 Aboriginal Housing Victoria | Breathe

 Ferrars & York | Six Degrees Architects

 Wilam Ngarrang Retrofit | Kennedy Nolan with Finding Infinity

EMAGN Project Award

 Murran – First Nations Business, Retail and Arts Hub | Dawn Architecture

 Catching the Sun | Kennon

 Wangaratta District Specialist School | Sibling Architecture

 Bob’s Bungalow | Blair Smith Architecture

 Stewart | SSdH

 Dennis House | Olaver Architecture

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