2022 David Oppenheim Award for Sustainable Architecture

Jury citation

Sustainable buildings must address more than just the carbon required to operate them. They and the places they are located within also play a significant role in enabling lives to be less impactful in other arenas – mobility, food and embodied carbon, to name a few – as well as addressing the broader and more complex idea of connecting with and caring for Country. They can, and should, contribute to the regeneration of nature and people. Inspired and informed by this range of concerns, Live Work Share House showcases replicable ideas that explore better ways for families to thrive in this particular part of the world.

The planning, arrangement and construction of this home enables great flexibility in how it can be inhabited now and into the future. It currently provides a range of spaces for the family of five, along with a work studio and delightful tiny-house accommodation for a single mother and her child. Two street fronts provide garden space for recreation, growing food and connecting with the neighbours, while internal courtyards and verandah spaces offer a variety of outdoor experiences through all seasons. Bicycle storage and proximity to local facilities make cycling and walking easy transport options. Energy efficiency, solar panels and water tanks ensure that the building’s operations are almost zero carbon.

The house’s spatial arrangements and connections can be easily altered in the future, as life evolves. With its architecture joyfully responding to this agenda, this project ably shows that outer-suburban blocks can be developed in ways that help to regenerate our communities and nature.

— Live Work Share House was reviewed by Judith Abell in Houses: Kitchens and Bathrooms 17. Read the review here.

Project credits

Architect Bligh Graham Architects; Project team Christopher Bligh, Sonia Graham, Lindsay Taylor; Builder Gowdie Management Group; Engineer Bligh Tanner; Interior designer Bligh Graham Architects

Live Work Share House is located in Samford Village, Queensland on the land of the Jinibara, Kabi Kabi, Waka Waka and Turrbal people of the Jagera nation (contested).