The building is one of only a handful of projects from around the world, and the only Australian project, to win at the IOC/IAKS 2013 awards. Other finalists include the London 2012 Olympic Stadium, which also won silver, together with indoor venues in Switzerland, Iran and Japan, and a range of stadia and other outdoor facilities.

The award was recently announced in Cologne, Germany, at a ceremony attended by some of the world’s leading sports administrators.

CEO & Principal of Allen Jack+Cottier, Michael Heenan, who was in Cologne to accept the award, said: “This award shows that Australian architecture is up there with the very best design in the world, and that good architecture doesn’t have to be exclusive architecture.

“We are thrilled to have won with a relatively modest building, achieved on a budget, that was designed to give young people access to the natural environment in a remote and very Australian coastal and bush location.”

The hall hosts groups of school children who spend a week on the island participating in sports and activities such as canoeing, fencing and climbing.

The building’s roof design forms a protective shell, wrapping it until just short of the ground. The rounded roof shape also deflects tree debris, which falls to the ground alongside the building, and an in-ground gutter collects rainwater.

The hall’s wing-like shape also harnesses the prevailing breeze for natural ventilation.

Mr Heenan said he chose a corrugated profile made from COLORBOND^® Ultra steel for exterior cladding due to the building’s proximity to salt water, and the colour Dune^® after taking a piece onto the site and comparing it with the bark of surrounding trees.

“It was a simple choice to use COLORBOND^® steel. There’s a lot of information to assist the industry in product selection these days. Pre-rolling COLORBOND is a standard thing now; you just order it at the radius you want. Also, the corrugated profile was easy to roll into the building’s desired shape.”

Slender 600mm steel purlins were barged to the island and bolted together on site to form phenomenal 21-metre spans. These spans provide the necessary structural capacity for the building and delivered a 30 per cent materials cost saving for the client.

Milson Island Sport and Recreation Centre is covered extensively in the April 2012 issue of Steel Profile magazine, which is available free to the architectural industry.

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