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Evergreen

Walter Brooke

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Gold
Gold
External Overall - Sam Noonan
Entry Blade - Sam Noonan
Entry Garden - Sam Noonan
External Overall - Sam Noonan

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Comments
Innovation
Functionality
Creativity
Eco-Social Impact
Total
JURY VOTES
Cultural Space
8.17
8.33
8.50
8.50
8.38
Alexandra Cantacuzene
Alexandra Cantacuzene Director of Interior Design at Al Futtaim Real Estate Group
Thoughtful spatial organization and...
8
8
8.5
8
8.13
Paolo Torri
Paolo Torri Exhibition Design Manager at Pedrali
9
9
9
9.5
9.13
Peter Greenberg
Peter Greenberg Partner at Ester Bruzkus Architekten
7.5
8
8
8
7.88
Comments
Innovation
Functionality
Creativity
Eco-Social Impact
Total
JURY VOTES
Material
8.00
8.00
8.00
8.00
8
Alexandra Cantacuzene
Alexandra Cantacuzene Director of Interior Design at Al Futtaim Real Estate Group
9.5
8.5
8.5
8.5
8.75
Paolo Torri
Paolo Torri Exhibition Design Manager at Pedrali
8
8.5
8
8
8.13
Peter Greenberg
Peter Greenberg Partner at Ester Bruzkus Architekten
6.5
7
7.5
7.5
7.13
Client
Adelaide Cemeteries
Floor area
2700 ㎡
Completion
2023
Budget
$23M AUD
Social Media
Instagram Facebook Linkedin
Finishes
Finishes
Finishes
Finishes
Finishes
Accessories
Finishes
Finishes
Finishes
Furniture
Furniture
Furniture
Furniture
Furniture
Lighting

Located at Enfield Memorial Park in Adelaide, Evergreen Community Precinct challenges conventional funerary architecture, creating a civic space that prioritises wellbeing, community, and planet.

Responding to a complex brief to deliver a multifunctional, inclusive, non-denominational memorial and community precinct, the design presents a composition informed by site context, climate, rituals, and celebration. Inspired by the circle of life motif, intersecting circular forms organise space, promote flow, and foster moments of intimacy and reflection.

The design offers clarity and flexibility across reflection rooms, café, florist, play space, back-of-house, and administrative areas. Spaces are configured as wedges radiating from a central spine, daylit at both ends to enhance spatial connection and wayfinding. Operable walls allow rooms to adapt for different cultural, ceremonial, and community uses. Openings with views up to the sky uplift spaces, maximising daylight and creating emotional significance.

The site’s edge location provides a natural buffer between the public realm and burial grounds, gently inviting visitors into the precinct. The layout has encouraged community use with café and play areas frequently visited by the public and passersby. Particular attention to materiality ensures a sense of calm, familiarity and strength offering comfort in moments of reflection and connection.

Materiality is both purposeful and poetic. Textured and honed limestone references earth and views to the sky grounding the building. Materials shift to support the use of each space, from warm oak in reflection and function areas to vibrant greens and mirror finishes in hospitality areas. A lightweight stone tile cladding was selected to mimic solid stone, the clients brief, but also reduces embodied carbon without sacrificing durability or visual strength.

The precinct exemplifies sustainability. Designed with passive principles, including a tilted façade that shades the North, high-performance glazing and daylight optimisation to achieve a daylight factor greater than 2% in all primary spaces. Drone technology monitors irrigation to minimise water waste, while a 15,000L retention tank captures stormwater. Cremator systems exceed EPA standards by 90%, are adaptable for electric use, and smart systems monitor energy consumption, achieving a 22% reduction.

Biophilic design integrates the surrounding park's beauty, inviting the public to enjoy the natural greenery. A nature play connected to the café creates an active streetscape that encourages the community to engage with the precinct. It offers visitors both quiet refuge and vibrant social interaction, making it a place that invites reflection, connection, and renewal.

Engagement with community, industry, and environmental consultants informed every phase of the design. This human-centred approach has created a resilient, welcoming, luminous space that supports both personal reflection and communal life.