Press Release: Little Aussie sports and recreation hall wins silver at 2013 International Design Olympics

23.10.13

Milson Island Sport & Recreation Centre, designed by Australian architects Allen Jack+Cottier for Communities NSW, has won the highest award in its category (the Silver Medal) at the 2013 International Olympic Committee/International Association Awards for Exceptional Sports & Leisure Facilities around the globe. The Communities NSW building is one of a handful of projects from around the world, to win an award at the IOC/IAKS 2013 awards, and the only Australian project to win. Other finalists include the London 2012 Olympic Stadium, which also won silver, together with indoor venues in Switzerland, Iran and Japan, and a range of stadia and other outdoor facilities. The award was announced in Cologne, Germany overnight at a ceremony attended by some of the world’s leading sports administrators. “An International Olympic award is the ultimate accolade: given by the world’s leading sporting organisation, won against some of the world’s best sports venues. As a sportsman and an architect, I can say it absolutely doesn’t get any better than this!” said Michael Heenan, CEO & Principal of Allen Jack+Cottier, who was in Cologne to accept the award. “Most importantly, this award shows that Australian architecture is up there with the very best design in the world, and that good architecture doesn’t have to be exclusive architecture,” Michael Heenan added. “We are thrilled to have won with a relatively modest building, achieved on a budget, that was designed to give young people access to the natural environment, in a remote and very Australian coastal and bush location.” NSW Minister for Sport and Recreation Gabrielle Upton congratulated Allen Jack+Cottier who received the coveted medal in Germany overnight.