The Narre Warren North Mosque has been recognised in the inaugural Casey Design Excellence Awards, held at Bunjil Place on 8 September. The unbuilt project received two awards: Non-residential Development, and Sustainability and Innovation in Design, proudly accepted on the night by Jon Clements, Hanah Wexler and Will Christian.
Many thanks to the awards jury and also the City of Casey Planning Team, City of Casey Councillors and Contour Consultants for supporting the ambition of this project and recognising the cultural and social values that underpin thriving multicultural communities.
The Narre Warren North Mosque has been an important project for our studio and our consultants and we look forward to progressing the first construction stage of the project for the Saarban Islamic Trust who've placed incredible trust in our team.
L-R: James Collins (Director City Planning and Infrastructure), Jon Clements, Hanah Wexler, Will Christian
JCB congratulates the City of Casey on the establishment of the Casey Design Excellence Panel, Design Excellence Guidelines and Design Excellence Awards. These important initiatives will support Council to embrace high quality design outcomes and advance their strategic ambition to be recognised as a Design-led City.
Citation - Non-residential Development Award
The result of a high level of engagement with local community, the design for the Narre Warren North Mosque is sophisticated, place-responsive and delightful. Perhaps atypical of its type, it is a powerfully landscape-based response rather than one that treats the building as an ‘object’ on its site. The building seamlessly combines Moorish references such as vaulted ceilings and arches with a contemporary Australian architecture more akin to sculpture in a landscape, ensuring its carefully considered, highly specific and fit-for-purpose interiors are also spatially immersed to context. Ensuring the ambition of the design proposal is delivered in all its detail will result in an inspiring and uplifting example of design excellence.
Citation - Sustainability and Innovation in Design Award
The design for the Narre Warren North Mosque is highly place- and community-responsive, immersing the building’s form and functional spaces within the topography and landscape of its site. This subverts the prevailing treatment within the surrounding area of the landscape as a flat, neutral canvas, and instead celebrates its particular character and amenity. The solution is a unique and special response to its users and their site, and offers much to sustainability as well as innovation because of this approach, which treats the design problem as a ‘system’ challenge best address by a holistic, enduring and resonant solution for the site as a whole. Ensuring the ambition of the design proposal is delivered in all its detail will result in an enduring, resonant and special place for Narre Warren North and beyond.