St. John's Church Design Competition
The national capital is a symbol of Australian national life and as such it is appropriate that iconic heritage sites within the capital such as St John's Church, Reid that testify to the early development of the limestone plains are accommodated within the National Capital Authority's planning for the growth of the city.
The NCA was pleased to be the competition organiser and project manager for the St John's Church Design Ideas Competition on behalf of the St John's Church Precinct Development Task Force during the first half of 2006.
16 entrants prepared proposals for the St John's Church site, responding to the opportunities offered by the NCA's Griffin Legacy, its planning vision for the 21st century.
The site is located on Constitution Avenue, the base of Griffin's 'national triangle' and adjacent to Anzac Parade, the nation's most significant ceremonial road. The Griffin Legacy envisages that over the next 20 to 30 years Constitution Avenue will develop into a busy mixed use corridor.
The jury for the competition included:
- Dr Dianne Firth (Chair)
- Mr Greg Thompson,
- Mr Len Goodman,
- Ms Catherine Townsend, and
- Mr Stuart MacKenzie.
JURY REPORT
Recognising the importance of the Anglican Diocesan headquarters and associated servicess, these schemes recognise the importance of the site and thoroughly explores development opportunities for the St John's precinct. They seek to improve engagement between St John's and the general public and illustrate a balance of heritage, ecclesiastical, community and environmental values, as well as national capital aspirations, in particular, the role of Constitution Avenue as a major avenue as projected in the Griffin Legacy.
Common elements between the schemes illustrate and reinforce the capabilities of the site and point the way for master planning its future in sensitive and inspired ways. As an ideas competition, these entries show that St John's, after 160 years, can continue to make an active and enriching contribution to Canberra, the region and the nation.
The following four entries succeeded in meeting the brief in creative and comprehensive ways:
Highly Commended: Entry SJ0021
Colin Stewart Architects
Highly Commended: Entry SJ0037
Robert Thorne Architect
Highly Commended: Entry SJ0079
Cox Humphries Moss
Honorable Mention: Entry SJ0032
Roger Pegrum Architect
