Leading Newcastle and Central Coast based architecture firm, CKDS, and its collaborators, Hill Thalis Architecture and Urban Projects have collected a swathe of honours at this year’s Newcastle Architecture Awards for their design of Verve Residences.
Their work on the West end residential and commercial development took out the prestigious Architecture Medal, the Award for Residential Architecture – Houses (Multiple Housing) and a commendation for Sustainable Architecture.
CKDS Director Stuart Campbell praised his team and project partners for the accolade. Stuart said the design aimed to bring a sustainable and distinguished presence to Newcastle’s streetscape and skyline.
“We saw our role was to bring a considered response to the scale and character of site and the area’s evolving urbanity,” Stuart said.
He said the design created two, 19 storey, north-facing slender towers with a small footprint and a linear landscaped podium addressing King Street to help create generous public and communal landscape spaces.
“We carried out extensive consultation to create a highly liveable and functional place and achieve design excellence under the Newcastle Local Environment Plan (LEP).”
“Good architectural design is about gaining maximum benefit within a given space.The CKDS team is always focused on getting the balance right between innovative design, commercial considerations and sustainability.
“At Verve, there is solar connection throughout, with splayed balconies and articulation of the base meaning that many apartments enjoy corner positions, with extended sunshine and extensive views.”
Stuart said community connectivity and recognition of history and place was also an important design element.
“As an urban gesture, the King Street façade presents a horizontal street-wall arrangement with a grand opening echoing the stratification of Newcastle’s mining history.”
“While the primary frontage is King Street, the north-east boundary adjoins Cottage Creek, which will become an important public connection between King and Hunter streets extending northward to the harbourfront, and southward to National Park.
“It was an honour to work on such an iconic project that will play an important role in the revitalisation of Newcastle’s West End,” Stuart concluded.
The 66 m tall, 197 apartment, retail and commercial development was completed in 2019.
The Awards’ Jury Chair Sam Crawford, of Sam Crawford Architects, said the culture of design in Newcastle is evidently very strong.
Sam said this year’s entries were of the highest calibre, highlighting the diversity of work being undertaken in the region.
“The award-winning projects showcase the extraordinary breadth of talent in the Newcastle architecture community and the ingenuity of local architects working within constrained budgets,” Sam said.
The annual Newcastle Architecture Awards has ten categories. This year’s awards were announced online, with the gala event having to be cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
These awards follow other accolades for the firm. CKDS took out two awards at both the 2019 and 2018 Australian Institute of Architecture Awards.
IMAGE | The award winning CKDS designed Verve Residences in Newcastle West.
