Queensland Art Gallery Presscuttings Book 10 : Record of press coverage, March 1982 - May 1984

The Hobart Mercury 10 November 1982 • The restored Moree Lands Office. Government buildings win design awards ·· SYDNEY. - The Queensland Art Gallery, a handsome building on the banks of the Brisbane River, and the Lands Office at Moree, a delightful late 19th century office building, are the winners of the 1982 National Architecture Awards. The Queensland Art Gallery, de• signed by leading Queensland ar• chilect Robin Gibson , won the Sir Zelman Cowen Award for a new building, and the Lachlan Macquarie Award for a restoration project went to the Moree Lands Office by the New South Wales Government Ar• chitect, project architect David Wilson. The first ACI Award for the greatest contribution to architectural theory has been given to controversial Melbourne architects Peter Corrigan and Maggie Edmond. The Robin Boyd Award for hous– ing was not given this year because the jury could not reach agreement. The president of the Royal Austra• lian Institute of Architects, Prof R. N. Johnson, said the failure to give an award was not a sign of declining standards, or of slackening interest, but was an indication that in housing t!we was a state of ferment in which idees were being conceived and developed. Instead of an award, three Robin Boyd commendations were given 10 Melbourne architects, John Gurry and Peter Corrigan, and to West Australian Peter Overman. The Governor-General, Sir Ninian Stephen, announced the winners of the awards at a luncheon in the Great Hall , Sydney University, yesterday. ACI International , Australia's largest manufacturer of building pro• ducts, sponsored the awards for the second time. Most of its $95,000 contribution will go into the_production of a special issue of Architecture Australia con• taining details of all the Stale and national award-winning buildings. The winners of the awards were selected by a jury drawn from nil States and Territories from among.the architects qf those buildings which won 1982 State awards. The Moree Lands Office wa, designed by W. L. Vernon and bu functioned as a Lands Office since iti. completion in 1894. In 1980 It was severely damaged by fire and the Government Architect was briefed tc:i restore faithfully as possible the fabrii;. of the building as an Important, element in regional history.and in , town of Moree. The Queensland An Gallery, pa of the new Cultural Centre beside th.-: Brisbane River, is an open, light and, spacious building appropriate for, iti. Queensland location. Organi around a water mall, it has two .ro of galleries of varying height and size.· The Robin Boyd commendation,. were given to John Gurry for a Por(. Lonsdale house designed for hi~ parents to evoke memories from theiG past; Maggie Edmond and Petet:. Corrigan for a house at Kew represen-> tative of the styles of architecture oi Melbourne suburbia; and Peter Over.'.: man for a house and duplex, ,,;. sculptural group of buildings locate& in landscaped gardens. • J