A modular island home designed by Blok Modular with Vokes and Peters has been honoured as the Australian House of the Year at the 2024 Houses Awards.
Blok Three Sisters, which also won the category award for Apartment or Unit, was praised by the jury "as an example of successful experimentation not only in design, but also in procurement, assembly and - most importantly - the ways an extended family can live alongside each other."
"Each unit is an example of the minimum needed to get the most out of this coastal location. The project is pragmatic and shows that architecture doesn't need to be flashy," the jury citation reads.
"Australia needs more examples of stealth density that demonstrate how our freestanding residences might gradually evolve. […] The jury felt this terrace-like, modular design was not only a successful response to this laid-back coastal setting, but also a worthy and replicable model for co-living that could be readily adapted."
Winning the New House over 200 square metres category was Studio Bright's Hedge and Arbour House - in the words of the jury, "an intriguing yet rigorous built form interlaced with landscaped spaces" situated on the edge of suburbia and bushland. The award for New House under 200 square metres was bestowed upon Sawmill Treehouse by Robbie Walker, which was described by the jury as "a beautiful sculpture, perched on slender columns among the trees."
The full list of winners are as follows:
Blok Three Sisters - Blok Modular with Vokes and Peters
Hedge and Arbour House - Studio Bright
Sawmill Treehouse - Robbie Walker
Cloaked House - Trias
Carlton Cottage - Lovell Burton Architecture
Blok Three Sisters - Blok Modular with Vokes and Peters
Window, Window, Window - Panov Scott
Mess Hall - Architecture Architecture
Cake House - Alexander Symes Architect
Ellul Architecture
See the 28 commended projects.
Houses Awards are organised by Architecture Media, supported by Artedomus, Blum, Brickworks, James Hardie, Roca, Fulgor Milano, Architectural Window Systems, The Heritage Council of Victoria and Latitude.
