The design of this 200 bed residence embraces its spatial and temporal role as a place of transition for first time university students while advancing both micro and macro environmental objectives. It is sited and configured to preserve environmentally sensitive plant communities which include mature trees and a wetland. The elongated plan gives form to the ‘main street’ of the campus by providing a protected colonnade for a significant portion of the main campus pedestrian route. Distinguished by a serpentine wall of massive stone panels and glass the colonnade is designed to be a focus of social interaction. Generous glazing with opening vents throughout the building invites sensory enjoyment of the landscape while contributing daylighting and natural ventilation that are part of an aggressive strategy of energy efficient design.

The obvious quality of the groundfloor integration to the site is the main motivation of the jury to give Erindale Hall a medal. The meandering gallery skillfully addresses the problematic of the length of the building and highlights the entrances and the various programs that populate the groundfloor. It manages to inject a subtle variety in a typology that is commonly understood as monotonous and strictly linear. Here the linearity is sequential, with contextual relations to the landscape and the programs above. All apartments have good living qualities and generous common spaces, as well as simple but effective finishes.
Julien de Smedt