Australian housing has always been symbolic: from stout colonial buildings and sprawling Victorian mansions to industrial era terraces and breezy weatherboard beach bungalows. Houses are forever marked with the context in which they were designed or built, showcasing the way that people have chosen – and been able – to live. This year, the new Multi-Residential Building category of the INDE.Awards will celebrate multi-residential projects and recognise the unique set of challenges and opportunities presented by the multi-residential typology.

The Multi-Residential Building category will honour projects that take into account scale, efficiency, and maximum occupancy as well as financial and time constraints to demonstrate that design need not take a back seat. The successful project in this category will grant equal consideration to community, sustainability, and experience alongside market needs, and demonstrate significant advancement of the architecture discipline by way of unique form, technology, and material selection. It will make innovative use of compact spaces and contribute to a strong overall urban or suburban character while representing milestone movement in the progress of design as a whole.

In 2018, the Multi-Residential Building category is proudly presented by Bosch, iconic German designers of kitchen and laundry appliances. For nearly 130 years, Bosch has taken a future-facing approach to design, recognising that living spaces of all sizes and nature deserve nothing short of the best home appliances. One of the most recognisable global names in appliances, Bosch powers countless kitchens, laundries, and homes around the world and has earned a reputation for reliability and innovation.

Bosch‘s passion for outstanding multi-residential design is rooted in a strong belief in the power of design innovation to solve problems and improve everyday quality of life. The company was one of the first advocates of the home refrigerator and early kitchen appliances, and in 1970s led the market in merging the washing machine and dryer into a single, efficient product. Bosch‘s pioneering spirit continues to thrive even today, as it works to convert its production facilities in Europe to manufacture products that do not release greenhouse gases and cause environmental harm.

Like the Multi-Residential Building category of the INDE.Awards, Bosch recognises the value of touching the earth lightly and sensitively, and understands that small may very well mean mighty.

Bosch is proud to support design thinking and practice that steps out of the box when it comes to multi-residential design and crafts unique, striking spaces for living that will stand the test of time.