The Mackay Entertainment and Convention Centre, designed by Cox Rayner Architects, was named 2010 Building of the Year at Friday’s Australian Institute of Architects’ 2010 North Queensland Regional Architecture Awards.

Queensland State Awards director Bud Brannigan says the building provides a new 1500-seat auditorium and infuses the city’s cultural precinct with “new momentum”.

“The various required functions have been managed well by the architects, with performance, meeting, gathering, and back of house spaces simply and discreetly separated. Internal surfaces also engender a sense of warmth,” Mr Brannigan says.

“Externally, a series of continuous, closely spaced, eight-metre high hardwood columns to the street edge of the building provides both civic scale and contributes to the prevention of sun penetration. The new connection with the adjacent existing Regional Theatre is also seamless.”

On a whole, 17 architectural projects were entered in this year’s awards with a total of seven regional commendations including a commendation for one of the last projects designed by late and renowned architect Harry Seidler.

Troppo Architects was awarded the prestigious House of the Year Award for Horseshoe Bay House, Magnetic Island and also received a commendation for the Tyto Wetlands Cultural Centre, Ingham.

Also amongst the commendations were Hamilton Island’s Wave on Hamilton by Harry Seidler and Associates, Townsville North Railway Yards designed by Fairweather Proberts Architects, Mackay’s Blue Water Lagoon by Aecom and BVN Architecture’s Lanai, also in Mackay.

All commendation recipients are now in the running for the Queensland Architecture Awards, to be announced in Brisbane on June 19. 

The Royal Australian Institute of Architects
architecture.com.au

Houseshoe Bay House, photography by Hannah Storronning

The Mackay Entertainment and Convention Centre photography by Christopher Frederick Jones