Lysaght Inspirations Design Awards 2019 - Student category winner

This year for the first time, the Lysaght Inspirations Design Awards included a student category.

Architectural and design students from across Australia, as well as recent graduates, were judged on their designs of a new ‘Lysaght Design Innovation Centre’ – a concept facility intended to house the Lysaght Product Innovation Group. The winning entry was submitted by Jaden M from Deakin University, who won $5,000 for his efforts. The design concept, which Jaden dubbed the ‘Tin Shed,’ drew on the familiar Australian rural shed vernacular.

Combining the large open spaces of those iconic structures with a modern commercial office space layout, he meticulously planned all the requirements to be contained in the R&D facility – from test laboratory and fabrication shop to display centre and truck access – and delivered them as a functional whole.

However, according to the judges, the key to Jaden’s victory lay in the fact that he attempted to do more than present a functional facility. He dug deeper and used his creativity to comment on Lysaght’s history as an Australian building product manufacturer. The judges felt that his design successfully reflected this heritage. They said it represented a valid effort to re-assert the company’s ongoing commitment to research and development excellence.

The incorporation of LYSAGHT® steel building products (made from COLORBOND® steel) into the concept was key. Jaden’s use of LYSAGHT KLIP-LOK 700 HI-STRENGTH® roofing and LYSAGHT ZENITH™ cladding for the exterior walls and fins were major wins.

Gently rising and falling across an expansive roof, the LYSAGHT KLIP-LOK 700 HI-STRENGTH® with its concealed fixes and bold ribs is a clear statement of the product's capabilities, while his use of the LYSAGHT ZENITH™ cladding subtly explores its vertical possibilities when used in combination with other materials.

Integrated within the Lysaght Design Innovation Centre these products themselves speak to the company’s commitment to R&D.

According to the judges, the concept confidently presents Lysaght’s capabilities to the world. In this sense, it realistically aspires to reflect (and encourage) the innovation that would take place within a ‘Lysaght Design Innovation Centre’.

More than just a functional facility, the ‘Tin Shed’ represents a credible effort to draw on and reflect Lysaght’s standing as a steel building product manufacturer with over 150 years of experience in this country. It is a worthy winner of the Lysaght Inspirations Design Competition’s ‘Student Category’ for 2019.

Details of the other award winners can be read here