1. What are the Think Brick Awards 2011?

The Think Brick Awards incorporates three premiere architectural and design competitions:

1. The About Face design Award
2. The About Face Student design Award
3. The Open Face design Award
4. The Horbury Hunt Award for built projects

In 2011, Think Brick Awards encourages innovative Australian architects and designers to push the boundaries of traditional brick design and present original ways of using brick in a contemporary environment.

2. How long have the Think Brick Awards been running for?

In 2005 Think Brick decided to embark on a small project to engage seven architects to deliver their visions of what a brick home of the future might look like. The designs and ideas that followed exceeded our expectations on every level, so the About Face design competition was born. Since that time Think Brick Australia has expanded the scope and breadth of About Face, one of the competitions that form part of the Think Brick Awards 2011. In 2008 Think Brick included the prestigious Horbury Hunt Award as part of the Think Brick Awards, The Horbury Hunt Awards rewards innovation and craftsmanship in brickwork and recognises the contribution of architects, builders, bricklayers and manufacturers in this process.

3. What are the Terms and Conditions of the Think Brick Awards 2011?

• Photographs, drawings and other illustrative material submitted as part of this nomination may be exhibited, published and used in marketing activities in the promotion of the Horbury Hunt Award and as a case study on the Think Brick Australia website.
• The winning project and any receiving commendations will also be published in Think Brick Australia’s publication
• Late material will not be accepted
• Submission of an entry implies consent of all members of the project team to the entry into this competition
• Think Brick Australia respects your privacy and will not share your contact information with any third party
• The jury’s decision if final and no correspondence will be entered into regarding that decision.

4. Who is the Jury for 2011 Think Brick Awards?

A jury of 5 has been appointed by Think Brick Australia to judge the submissions and announce a winner. The 2011 Jury includes:

Jury Chair:
Camilla Block – Durbach Block Jaggers Architects

Jury:
Neil Durbach (Durbach Block Jaggers Architects)
Justine Clark (Architectural critic, writer, editor, researcher and curator)
Nick Clark (Chairman, Think Brick Australia)
Elizabeth McIntyre (CEO, Think Brick Australia)

Each juror will be required to acknowledge personal or professional connections with any of the participants or their employees. In the case of such conflicts, the Competition Advisor will oversee a transparent process whereby these conflicts are alleviated. At the discretion of the Competition Advisor, jurors will be asked to take no part in the assessment of affected entries.

Independent Advisors to Jury:
Think Brick Australia has appointed the following advisors to the jury:

Rachel Neeson (Neeson Murcutt Architects)
Cathy Inglis (Technical Chair, Think Brick Australia)

5. What is the assessment criteria adopted from the jury of the Open Face Award?

The jury has been deliberately selected to represent a range of interests and areas of focus.
All jurors are leaders in their fields and bring a high level of expertise to the judging process.
This group of experts will assess the schemes in the context of the challenges set by the brief.

6. What are the Think Brick Awards 2011 competition key dates?

7. Where and when will the Think Brick Awards 2011 Event take place?

The awards will be presented at the Think Brick Awards Gala Dinner to be held in Melbourne on Thursday, 11th August 2011.

8. How much does it cost to submit an entry?

Entry is free, although participants are highly encouraged to take notice of the submission deadline, 7th June 2011.

9. Who are the winners of Think Brick Awards 2010?

Think Brick Awards 2010 winners and highly commended prizes for each category comprised:

• About Face 2010
• Winner: Durbach Block Architects – Infinity House
• Highly commended: NMBW Architecture Studio’s Core House and Terroir’s Prototype
• Horbury Hunt Award 2010
• Residential winner: Durbach Block Architects - Garden House
• Highly commended: Design King’s Elizabeth Bay House
• Commercial Architecture joint winners: Fitzroy High School and AM60
• Urban Design/Outdoor Spaces Winner: Balfour Pocket Park- Jane Irwin Landscape Architecture

1. What is the Horbury Hunt Award category and where does it originate from?

This award was initiated by the Horbury Hunt Club and by request from architects and designers. Its purpose is to reward innovation and craftsmanship in brickwork and recognises the contribution of architects, builders, bricklayers and manufacturers in that process.

The award is named after John Horbury Hunt, a renowned architect who came to Australia from America in 1863. Hunt was known for introducing his distinctive and radical architecture to Sydney and rural New South Wales, including St Peter’s Cathedral and Booloominbah in Armidale, and Convent of the Sacred Heart and Tivoli in Rose Bay.

2. What categories are available in the Horbury Hunt Award?

The Horbury Hunt Award categories include commercial, residential, restoration and landscape built projects that exemplify outstanding craftsmanship and innovation through the use of clay face brick and clay pavers.

3. What are the entry criteria for the Horbury Hunt Award?

Project must meet the following:

General Criteria

• Must be located in Australia
• Building completed since January 2009
• Not previously entered in the same category of the previous Horbury Hunt Awards
• Must be constructed predominately in clay face brickwork, or use clay pavers or bricks for the Urban Design/Outdoor Spaces category.
• Must exemplify architectural innovation, collaboration between project team, and show a high- level of skill and craftsmanship
• Entry must be submitted by the closing date of June 7th, 2011 at 5pm EDT
• Only entries that are submitted in full will be accepted
• Only entries that are submitted online will be accepted
• A project may be entered in multiple categories, providing that project meets the criteria of that category as outlined below. Each project may only be entered once in the same category

Specific Criteria

• Residential Category
  Projects in this category must be individual and residential in nature and includes dwellings with alterations and additions, as well as detached or semi-detached Commercial category
• Commercial Category
  Projects in this category must be built primarily for commercial purposes and include government, public, health, education and multi-residential projects.
• Urban Design / Outdoor Spaces Category
  The Landscape category includes non-building projects that have enhanced the quality of the built environment or public domain that incorporate clay bricks/pavers.
• Restoration / Re-use Category
  Projects entered can include residential or commercial projects where the majority of the project has been restored or adapted for re-use.
  • Project Summary - including information on what bricks were used, the team involved (including architect, masonry contractor, brick manufacturer and builder). Please limit project summary to 200 words and submit as a word document.
  • Four (4) images of the project that best represent the brick work.

  Please supply these four images as high res tiff or jpeg files.
  Please note: Maximum size of each file is 2Mb.

  5. How do I submit my entry into the Horbury Hunt Award Competition?

  Your submission is due by 5pm Tuesday 7th June 2011, to be uploaded via the website and in agreed circumstance via mail, at the lodgement address below:

  Elizabeth McIntyre
  CEO
  Think Brick Australia
  Level 1, 156 Mowbray Road
  Willoughby, NSW 2068
  Phone: 02 8962 9500

  Think Brick Australia takes no responsibility for loss or damage to submissions in transit.

  6. Which prizes are up for the Horbury Hunt Competition?

  The prize is a plaque, trophy & certificate for the winning project.

  7. When do entries open for the Horbury Hunt Award Award 2011?

  Entries are open from Thursday, 10th March 2011.

  8. When do entries close for the Horbury Hunt Award 2011?

  Submissions are due by 5PM Tuesday, 7th June 2011.

4. What is the submission material and format for the Hurbury Hunt Award?

1. What is the About Face Award category and where does it originate from?

In 2005 Think Brick decided to embark on a small project to engage seven architects to deliver their visions of what a brick home of the future might look like. The designs and ideas that followed exceeded our expectations on every level, so the About Face design competition was born.

Since that time Think Brick Australia has expanded the scope and breadth of About Face, one of the competitions that form part of the Think Brick Awards 2011.

2. Who is participating to the About Face Award 2011?

Think Brick Australia has invited six innovative architects from around Australia to envisage a future for the Australian suburb which embraces increased densities while accepting the established desire to engage with suburban life.

Architects invited are:

• Ian McDougall, ARM of VIC
• Olivia Hyde, BVN Architecture of NSW
• Chris Bosse, LAVA of NSW
• Trent Woods and Jennie Officer, Officer Woods of WA
• Adrian Spence, Richards & Spence of QLD
• Thomas Bailey, Nathan Crump, Aaron Roberts and James Wilson, Room 11 of TAS and MEL

Each practice has been specifically selected from a shortlist of emerging research-based practices from across Australia. The selected architects were deemed those who have demonstrated prior ability in and commitment to research by design and who could offer specific expertise that would further the aims of this year’s competition.

3. What is the submission material and format for the About Face Award?

4 separate documents/pages are to be submitted online (the firm’s name and/or logo should not be located on the page submission; however, each firm will present their scheme to the jury):

Please note:

4. How do I submit my entry into the About Face Award competition?

You submission is due by 5pm Friday 19th June 2011, to be uploaded via the website and in agreed circumstance via mail, at the lodgement address below:

Elizabeth McIntyre
CEO
Think Brick Australia PO Box 751 Willoughby, NSW 2068 Phone: 02 8962 9500

Think Brick Australia takes no responsibility for loss or damage to submissions in transit.

5. Which prizes are up for the About Face Competition?

The total prize money for the competition is $20,000, which will be awarded at the Jury’s discretion.

6. When do entries open for the About Face Award 2011?

Entries are open from Thursday, 10th March 2011.

7. When do entries close for the About Face Award 2011?

Submissions are due by 5PM Friday, 19th June 2011.

8. Who are the About Face Alumni?

The About Face Alumni include:

Order Architects, Donaldson + Warn, Kerstin Thompson Architects, Donovan Hill, Iredale Pedersen Hook, Leigh Woolley, Mulloway Studio and John Wardle Architects, Neeson Murcutt Architects, Pendal and Neille, M3Architure Choi Ropiha, Bellemo & Cat, Rowan Opat architects, Adrian Lahoud, Coda Studio, DRAW, Minifie Nixon, Marsha Cashman Koolloos, Owen and Vokes, Paul Morgan, Durbach Block Architects, James Russell Architect, NMBW Architecture Studio, spaceagency, TERRIOR and Tridente Architects.

1. What is the About Face Student Award?

The About Face Student 2011 is first and foremost a design competition intended to elicit sophisticated speculations for the future of the Australian suburb. Where the invited competition explores implications of social and spatial changes in the public domain, the focus of the Student category is the private realm – the design of a sustainable suburban house.

2. Who is eligible to enter the About Face Student Award?

Architecture and design students will be eligible to enter the About Face Student Award.

3. What are the entry criteria for the About Face Student Award?

The brief calls for the design of a model dwelling to accommodate 4 people.

• The dwelling should incorporate up to a maximum 12,000 bricks – half the number of bricks used in the average interwar suburban bungalow on a typical quarter acre lot.
• The dwelling should be considered within its context, and like the humble brick, designed to be enduring.
• Participants will select their own site based on a specific suburban location, or else describe a setting in generic terms. Significantly, the project should demonstrate a shift in thinking about the suburban house and encourage innovative approaches to the densification of our suburbs.
• All designs should explore the environmental capabilities of bricks while featuring at least 75% face brick in the non-glazed areas.
• The use of bricks should be explored in multiple and innovative ways to achieve these aims, responding to any number of brick specific criteria addressed in past About Face competitions such as durability, recycling, detailing, meaning, colour, pattern and texture, form and space and light.
• Finally, each submission is asked to identify key strategies that can be extrapolated out of their proposals for application to larger scale suburban planning. The format for the presentation of these strategies is at the discretion of the individual teams and should be developed out of the specific emphasis of their proposal.
  • Page 1 – The project described in 1:100/50 plans and elevations, including details and/or detailed renderings to show key aspects of brick use.
  • Page 2 – Three-dimensional representations (digital or photos of card/timber/plastic models) including high quality digital render (minimum 300dpi resolution at 100% and minimum A4 in size) that will adequately represent the design as a ‘hero image’ to be used for PR and marketing purposes such as website, at the awards event, in AR magazine and in wider media.
    • Maximum size of each PDF is 2Mb.
    • TIFF versions of all graphic material (plans, model photos etc.) contained in the submission images for the purposes of the exhibition design.
    • A separate folder containing the following images in JPEG or TIFF format to be used for the slideshow on the About Face Awards website.
    • One high resolution JPEG of the main CAD rendering to be used as the main image on the website and other communications
    • A floor plan
    • An elevation
    • A brick detail
    • One additional rendering of the design (optional, to be supplied by entrant)
    • Up to 4 additional images such as landscape plan, furniture details etc. (optional, to be supplied by entrant)

  Please note:

  5. How do I submit my entry to the About Face Student Award?

  Participants will have to lodge their submissions by clicking on brick at www.thinkbrick.com.au and in agreed circumstance via mail, at the lodgement address below:

  Elizabeth McIntyre
  CEO
  Think Brick Australia
  Level 1
  156 Mowbray Road
  Willoughby, NSW 2068
  Phone: 02 8962 9500

  6. Which prizes are up for the About Face Student Competition?

  The prize for the winner of the About Face Student Award is one (1) return economy class ticket to Milan, Italy to be used for the period of the Venice Biennale and three (3) nights accommodation.
  There will be 3 Highly Commended prizes of $500 cash each.
  Airline and accommodation are at Think Brick’s total discretion and cannot be exchanged for cash.

  7. When do entries open for the About Face Student 2011?

  Entries are open from Thursday, 10th March 2011.

  8. When do entries close for the About Face Student 2011?

  Submissions are due by 5PM Tuesday, 7th June 2011.

  9. Where and when will the presentation of the About Face Student Award take place?

  The finalists for the Student Award will be informed by 19th July 2011. The winner About Face Student Award 2011 will be announced at the Think Brick Awards Ceremony which is proposed (subject to change) to be held in Melbourne on Thursday, 11th August 2011 where the awards will be presented. Additional tickets to attend are available for each participant by request. Our event manager will be contacting you closer to the time to assist with travel and accommodation arrangements.

4. What is the submission material and format for the About Face Student Award?

2 x A4 Pages in portrait format submitted online:

1. What is the Open Face Award category?

2011 sees the launch of the Open Face Award, which is first and foremost a conceptual design competition, intended to elicit sophisticated speculations for the future of the Australian suburb. This competition calls for architectural design concepts that engage with the suburban by envisioning a future for the Australian suburb that embraces increased densities while accepting our established desire to engage with suburban life.
The focus of the Open Face Award is the private realm – the design of a sustainable suburban house.

2. Who is eligible to enter the Open Face competition?

Architects, designers, architectural graduates and any other non-student entrants will be eligible to win the Open Face Award.

3. What are the entry criteria for the Open Face Award?

The brief calls for the design of a model dwelling to accommodate 4 people. The dwelling should incorporate up to a maximum 12,000 bricks – half the number of bricks used in the average interwar suburban bungalow on a typical quarter acre lot. The dwelling should be considered within its context, and like the humble brick, designed to be enduring. Participants will select their own site based on a specific suburban location, or else describe a setting in generic terms. Significantly, the project should demonstrate a shift in thinking about the suburban house and encourage innovative approaches to the densification of our suburbs.

All designs should explore the environmental capabilities of bricks while featuring at least75% face brick in the non-glazed areas. The use of bricks should be explored in multiple and innovative ways to achieve these aims, responding to any number of brick specific criteria addressed in past About Face competitions such as durability, recycling, detailing, meaning, colour, pattern and texture, form and space and light.

Finally, each submission is asked to identify key strategies that can be extrapolated out of their proposals for application to larger scale suburban planning. The format for the presentation of these strategies is at the discretion of the individual teams and should be developed out of the specific emphasis of their proposal. The submission of your designs will constitute your acceptance of the terms and conditions contained in this document.

4. How do I submit my entry to the Open Face Award?

Participants will have to lodge their submissions online at www.thinkbrick.com.au.

5. Which prizes are up for the Open Face Competition?

The prize for the winner of the Open Face Award is two (2) return business class tickets to Milan to be used for the period of the Venice Biennale 2012 and three (3) nights’ accommodation.
There will be 3 Highly Commended prizes of $500 cash each.
Airline and accommodation are at Think Brick’s total discretion and cannot be exchanged for cash.

6. When do entries open for the Open Face Award 2011?

Entries are open from Thursday, 10th March 2011.

7. When do entries close for the Open Face Award 2011?

Submissions are due by 5PM Tuesday, 7th June 2011.
Every entry for the Open Face Award will receive two (2) tickets to the Think Brick Award Gala Dinner in Melbourne. This does NOT include travel to get to the Awards.

8. Where and when will the presentation of the Open Face Award take place?

The winner of the Open Face Award 2011 will be announced at the Think Brick Awards Ceremony which is proposed (subject to change) to be held in Melbourne on Thursday, 11th August 2011 where the awards will be presented. Finalist of the Open Face Award will be announced on the 1st August. Additional tickets to attend are available for each participant by request. Our event manager will be contacting you closer to the time to assist with travel and accommodation arrangements.