Fanciful ideas on the next The Lodge - Canberra has another design competition

Canberra's foundations stemmed from a design competition.

And as part of the celebrations for the Centenary of Canberra in 2013, the University of Canberra and the Gallery of Australian Design invited designers to participate in a design ideas competition for a possible new official residence for the Prime Minister of Australia which they envisage as on the shores of Lake Burley Griffin in Canberra.

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The competition has the endorsement of the Australian Institute of Architects and the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects.

The first prize is $80,000 with second and third prizes of $20,000 and $10,000 with the jury chaired by Professor Lyndon Anderson, dean of the Faculty of Arts and Design at the University of Canberra.

The competition entrants are being looked at by the jury at a local Canberra high school hall (pictured above).

There have been 238 entries - many of which are pictured below surrounding competition adviser Annabelle Pegrum - in the competition, which is titled Lodge by the Lake Design.

Of course there are no actual intentions to replace the exisiting Adelaide Avenue landmark residence, known as The Lodge.

The competition is not connected to any agency of the Australian Government or to any Australian political party.

The official residence of the Prime Minister of Australia - The Lodge at 5 Adelaide Avenue, Deakin, ACT - has been the Canberra home of 16 of Australia’s 27 Prime Ministers and their families.

The building and grounds have important cultural and heritage significance.

Prime Minister Stanley Melbourne Bruce (pictured below) moved from Frankston into the Lodge with his wife Ethel on 4 May 1927, five days before the first sitting of the Federal Parliament at Canberra.

The Lodge has been altered and extended from time to time to accommodate Prime Ministers and their families and to address functional and security needs.

The competition guidelines fancifully suggested a new Lodge was needed to match the opportunities of the future, but Prime Ministers have been historically reluctant to spend the money required to purchase and build elsewhere such as at Attunga Point, on the southern foreshore of Lake Burley Griffin.

Some conestants thought the competition ought have stuck with expanding the existing Lodge facilities into Lodge Park. Or made its location Collins Park in Tasmania Circle in Red Hill or the grounds of Government House in Yarralumla.

Property Observer will report the winners of the design competition upon their announcement.

Images of design competition courtesy of Michelle McAulay, University of Canberra.

Image of Prime Minister Stanley Melbourne Bruce and his wife Ethel at The Lodge, Canberra, February 1928, courtesy National Archives of Australia.