Last night we celebrated the success of recent Cumulus Studio work at the Tasmanian Architecture Awards.

Perhaps the biggest news of the night was the 2020 Emerging Architect Prize awarded to Cumulus Architect Pippa Jensen. Pippa has established herself as a tenacious, approachable and highly talented architect in recent years and we were thrilled to see her receive such a prestigious honour.

While the 2020 presentation took the form of a well choreographed livestream, the Cumulus team were still able to get together in Hobart and Launceston to watch the exciting events unfold.

This year we had two projects in the running – Symmons Plains, a residential restoration and adaptive reuse project in rural Northern Tasmania and Stillwater Seven, a new boutique accommodation offering within an 1830s flour mill.

Both projects were recognised by the jury within hotly contested categories. Symmons Plains was awarded a Commendation for both Steel Architecture and Residential Architecture – Houses (Alterations and Additions). Stillwater Seven received the Chapter Award for Commercial Architecture.

In summarising our recent work on Stillwater Seven the Jury provided the following statement:

“Both the clients and architects should be commended for their commitment to the adaptive re-use of this historical building. Despite the difficulties often associated with working within heritage building fabric, the architects have overcome complexities of fire separation and associated compliance with creative, colourful and innovative solutions, while acknowledging the regenerative qualities of Australian bushfires.”

While the annual presentation is always a great time to get together with our friends from the industry, this year’s virtual event was a whole lot of fun and a remarkable effort under rapidly changing social conditions.

We would like to extend a big thank you to the 2020 judges, Lucy Burke-Smith, Bevan Rees, Will Harkness, Bek Verrier and Bernadette Wilson as well as the Australian Institute of Architects Tasmanian Chapter for all their hard work this year.

Congratulations to all winners!