School wins architectural award

The Parkhurst State School building won the J.W Wilson Building of the Year award at the Queensland Regional Architecture Awards.

Casey Imaging

THE redesigned Parkhurst State School building has won a coveted architectural award after architects “redefined” the image of the school through the bold use of form and colour.

The building was awarded the J.W. Wilson Building of the Year Award at the Queensland Regional Architecture Awards earlier this month.

The building was delivered through the Federal Government's controversial Building the Education Revolution project.

Jury director Malcolm Middleton said: “This surprising project delivers a dramatic new front door to an existing low-key primary school by redefining (its) image and ethos ... through a bold but simple use of form and colour.”

He said the covered veranda had reinterpreted the climatically successful forms of the tropical north and carried the concept to the building's interior.

“Material selections are confident and simple and are enhanced by opposing skillion roof forms that come together to reinforce the entry points.”

Other Rockhampton buildings to feature at the awards included the Rockhampton School of Arts, designed by Riddel Architecture, which won the heritage award.

The Yaamba Rd Pedestrian Overpass, designed by ThomsonAdsett and Studio 39, won the urban design award.

The jury said the pedestrian overpass engaged “confidently with the harsh setting it spans while enhancing the visual experience for both pedestrians” and highway users.

QLD REGIONAL ARCHITECTURE AWARD

Public Architecture and J.W Wilson Building of the Year awards: Parkhurst State School

Urban design award: Yaamba Road Pedestrian Overpass

Heritage award: Rockhampton School of Arts