In the year that Lysaght celebrates a century as an Australian manufacturer, its annual Inspirations Design Awards have prominently featured its traditional yet timeless CUSTOM ORB® corrugated profile.

While CUSTOM ORB® may be the first product line that Lysaght manufactured in Australia, today a breadth of bold colour options combined with the design vision of leading architects, is showing the product’s versatility, offering a bold and modern take on an old favourite.

Open to Australian-based architects, building designers, and architectural or design students, entrants in 2021 were again of an extremely high standard, and brought to life a range of wonderful projects across ‘Commercial and Industrial’, ‘Residential’, ‘Regional’ and ‘Student’ categories, in addition to a special one-off CUSTOM ORB® award.

Prize money in this year’s awards was increased to a generous $55,000 prize pool – each category winner received $10,000 with a further $10,000 provided to the project judged to demonstrate the finest example of design using LYSAGHT® steel building products. The student category winner received a $5,000 cash prize. The work of all category winners will also be featured in the next edition of Lysaght’s Design Inspiration publication.

The respective category winners are:

Overall Winner/Commercial and Industrial – ‘The Waterhole Cafe’ (Taronga Western Plains Zoo) by Jackson Teece using LYSAGHT LONGLINE 305® (Roofing)

Residential – ‘Kenny Street House’ by Chan Architecture Pty Ltd utilising LYSAGHT LONGLINE 305® (Walling)

Regional Projects – ‘Coopworth’ by FMD Architects incorporating CUSTOM ORB® (Roofing and Walling)

Celebrating CUSTOM ORB® – ‘St Claire’s Primary School’ by ROAM Architects using CUSTOM ORB® (Walling)

Student Design – Nguyen Le Thuong, Canberra Institute of Technology, using: LYSAGHT LONGLINE 305® (Roofing), LYSAGHT DOMINION® (Walling), LYSAGHT IMPERIAL™ (Walling) and FORMFLOW® C90™ (Walling)

The Waterhole Café is located at the Taronga Western Plains Zoo and is a popular meeting place for zoo visitors to recharge with a snack or meal. Jackson Teece Architects was commissioned to replace existing infrastructure on site with a new building. The resultant design conforms with the natural environment while still being visually striking and dynamic, and providing a functional space where patrons can relax, taking in 360° views of their surroundings. A standout of the build is the innovative use of LYSAGHT LONGLINE 305® in a circular application.

In North Balwyn a leafy suburb of Melbourne, Chan Architecture has created ‘Kenny Street House’, a beautiful modern home with sustainability and passive design principles at its heart. The design takes styling cues from a modern barn while also incorporating a range of low maintenance building materials.

‘Coopworth’, a project on Bruny Island, Tasmania, overseen by FMD Architects is a contemporary interpretation of a country farmhouse. Offering majestic vistas across open paddocks towards mountain ranges and the ocean, Coopworth fits seamlessly within these rugged elements while providing a combination of volume and snug places internally bringing comfort and warmth through a use of different materials.

The winner of the CUSTOM ORB® category is St Clare’s Primary School, located in Truganina within Melbourne’s western growth corridor. The project saw the additional of six new learning areas to meet the increased student needs of the region. Positioning of the new structures has created a courtyard environment with the site’s existing buildings, and offers students and teachers a variety of flexible learning environments.

Student winner, Nguyen Le Thuong from Canberra Institute of Technology has taken inspiration from a rural windmill and wildflower in designing his residential creation. His double story design features multi-zone living, a central outdoor space and captivating rooflines.

Marketing Manager, Blake Tasker, said that this year again showcased the versatility of LYSAGHT® steel building products and their suitability for use across a diverse range of building types.

“From civic and commercial buildings through to agricultural-inspired rural homes and modern city designs, this year’s Lysaght Inspirations Design Awards highlighted the adaptability of the Lysaght range,” Blake said.

“The combination of superior durability and a wide choice of profiles and colour options is seeing the materials being applied in a very creative manner by Australia’s leading architects as evidenced in this year’s awards. “

“It was again extremely difficult to select winners from a large quality field of entrants – congratulations to all whom achieved success in the 2021 awards, and I’d also like to extend a big thank-you to all who took the time to submit their entries,” he said.