The 2021 NT Architecture Awards were held last Friday night, and in4D’s Malabar Apartments was awarded the COLORBOND® Award for Steel Architecture.

The jury citation reads …

Multi Residential in Darwin is commonly constructed in concrete block, which whilst robust and efficient to erect is relatively thermally inefficient as the block work stores and re-radiates heat into the apartment environments.  The block work also requires ongoing maintenance to seal it from the constant and heavy wet season rains experienced in Darwin.  

Malabar Apartments addresses these issues through the use of COLORBOND® corrugated sheeting as a sun and rain screen to clad the perimeter block work shell. The use of the COLORBOND® cladding is strategic being restricted to external exposed block work walls, with the deeply recessed block walls to balconies left unclad.   

The jury found the project’s application of COLORBOND® to be highly commendable providing a good environmental outcome by improving the insulation and energy performance of the building skin as well as reducing life cycle costs for the development and its occupants. In addition the COLORBOND® sheeting provides a cost effective and meaningful way of adding expression and articulation to the built form of the development providing an important benchmark for residential apartment buildings in Darwin.