The Hub at Macquarie University shortlisted for a Designers Australia Award

This week, the Design Institute of Australia (DIA)—Australia’s peak national body spearheading the design industry, released the shortlist for its sought-after Designers Australia Awards 2022. An exceptional shortlist of eighty-two entries was revealed across the three cross-disciplinary categories—Place, Use, and Interact. The Macquarie University 1 Central Courtyard Building (1CC) project has been shortlisted in the Place category.

Diversity of space is an important theme running through 1CC; people have different ways of learning, no one size fits all. This building has been designed to reflect this. The two upper levels deliver diverse informal spaces, each with different atmospheres that make space for student interaction and solo study.

The interior and exterior blend seamlessly through the clever use of natural light, spreading across the large floor plate, giving it wonderful energy. Multiple food and beverage tenancies are accessed directly from the Central Courtyard. A north-facing terrace with generous height overlooks the lush landscape beyond.

The unique Designers Australia Awards, a first for the industry, identify Australia’s best designers and studios, emphasising the designer/s and their processes as much as the outcome. The awards recognise the most nuanced design thinking applied across the categories Place, Use, Interact and dissolve the traditional silos, reflecting a trend toward multi-disciplinary approaches and problem-solving.

Winners will be announced at simultaneous hybrid events culminating in five celebrations across the country, including Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney, on 3 August 2022.

View the full DIA Awards shortlist here.