Aireys PS building commended at Dulux Colour Awards

A playful paint job inside a buildng at Aireys Inlet Primary School has received a nod at the 2024 Dulux Colour Awards.

The awards represent the pinnacle of design excellence and the most innovative, refined and transformative use of colour in the built environment.

The music hub at Aireys Inlet Primary School was one of three projects to receive a commendation in the Commercial Interior – Public and Hospitality category.

Designed by Sibling Architecture and completed in 2019, the hub used paints including Dulux’s Herbalist, Show Business, and Ecru.

Judges noted the hub was conceived as a harmonious convergence between the bush and ocean, and embodied the school’s core values of environmental appreciation and artistic expression, with the modest building maximising its small budget and deftly using colour to great effect.

“It’s incredibly challenging to get good architecture over the line in this typology, so we salute the architects’ efforts and commitment to fostering creativity, collaboration, and community engagement.

“The interiors feel calming yet playful, with zones demarcated by distinct colour blocks in bushy greens and soft, yet vibrant, oranges inspired by local flora.

“Earthy rather than bright whites maintain the balance of softness with visually stimulating tones, which come together in pragmatic spaces to nurture and inspire little creative minds.”

Selected from 83 finalists across Australia and New Zealand, this year’s winning projects are exceptional in their paradigm-shifting approach to colour usage.

They challenge the accepted norms of their respective typologies and set new benchmarksfor innovation with colour in utterly surprising yet universally successful ways.

“It is fitting that this year’s awards were presented at the Sydney Opera House, for it

is the embodiment of exceptional design and precedent-setting architecture, qualities that the program epitomises,” Dulux colour and ccmmunications manager Andrea Lucena-Orr said.

“We aim to identify the ultimate expressions of colour in the built environment and, in doing so, to highlight the transformative potential of colour when combined with outstanding design.”

The judging panel for this year’s awards – the 38th time they have been held – comprised Shaun Carter, founder of Carter Williamson; Monique Woodward, co-founder of WOWOWA Architecture; Eva-Marie Prineas, founder of Studio Prineas; Nick Travers, co-director of Technē Architecture + Interior Design; and Sarosh Mulla, director of Pac Studio.

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