A COMPETITION to design a new, lakeside Canberra residence for the Prime Minister will be launched tomorrow. 

The University of Canberra Lodge on the Lake Design Ideas Competition, a Centenary of Canberra initiative by the University and the Gallery of Australian Design,  invites Australian designers to submit their ideas for the Lodge at Attunga Point on the south bank of Lake Burley Griffin.

The competition is open to Australian design professionals, design graduates and design students.

Entrants will be required to come up with a design that takes into account the ceremonial, private and security functions of a Prime Minister’s residence.

They will need to produce designs for the private home and study, function spaces and support services and a landscape design for the 6.8 hectare site, including a jetty, swimming pool and areas for garden parties for up to 400 people.

The first prize is $80,000, with second and third prizes of $20,000 and $10,000.

University of Canberra adjunct professor and university architect Annabelle Pegrum says it has been clear for some time that the building must be replaced by a new Prime Minister’s Lodge.

“The existing Lodge is more than 80 years old has been home to 16 of Australia’s 27 Prime Ministers,” she says.

“It has been altered and added to from time to time to address functional and security needs, but some of these changes have been less than sympathetic and the scale and quality of the building and grounds cannot meet contemporary family, ceremonial and official requirements.

“The competition site at Attunga Point is identified as a potential site for the Prime Minister’s residence in Canberra. The winning designs will be submitted to the relevant areas of government for consideration, so this competition could make history.”

The judging panel is University of Canberra dean of arts and design Professor Lyndon Anderson, National Gallery of Australia director Ron Radford AM, leading architects Kerry Hill AO, Kerstin Thompson and Howard Tanner, leading landscape architects Oi Choong and former president of the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects Neil Hobbs, and Louise Bell, a distinguished interior designer.

The competition documents will be launched on line at noon on Australia Day with details available here: canberra.edu.au/lodge