At an awards ceremony in Canberra last night, the Sir Zelman Cowen Award for Public Architecture went to the north-western Sydney rail interchange, which also won the NSW Sulman Award for Public Architecture for architects Hassell earlier this year.

Despite the uproar about the demolition of the former Baron’s building in Roslyn Street, Kings Cross, its replacement, designed by Durbach Block Architects, won the Harry Seidler Award for commercial architecture.

The National Award for Sustainable Architecture went to Surry Hills Library and Community Centre, by Francis-Jones Morehen Thorp. The underground ”archaeological ruins” of Paddington Reservoir Gardens, by architects Tonkin Zulaikha Greer with JMD Design, won the National Award for Heritage. The Walter Burley Griffin Award for Urban Design was awarded to Pirrama Park at Pyrmont Hill by Thalis Architecture + Urban Projects/Aspect Studios/CAB.

”For a city enamoured with its harbour image, Sydney has surprisingly few places where you can dangle your feet in the water,” the judges said of Pirrama Park, the former Water Police headquarters that has been transformed into a multi-use 1.8-hectare harbourside park.

Its sandstone artefacts, innovative playground, shoreline promenade and ”Stevedore Walk”, recalling the area’s wharves and workers, ”offers a model for the future redevelopment of the foreshore,” the judges said.

”This is a great public space because it respects the past without treating it as a museum artefact … It feels like every activity the community could want is catered for,” they said.

The judges commended the City of Sydney and Cr Moore, who recently resigned from her role on the Barangaroo redevelopment, for courage in commissioning high-quality public projects that ”teach us new things about our approaches to sustainability and reducing our carbon footprint”.

”I would hope the recognition through these awards gives public-sector clients more courage to commission more of these sorts of projects,” the jury chairwoman, Melinda Dodson, said.

The Sydney architect Peter Stutchbury won one of the International Awards for a house he designed in Japan, and for the first time a Tasmanian house – Trial Bay house, by HBV Architects – has received the top honour in the Robin Boyd Award for residential architecture. In the multiple residential category the new UNSW Village by Architectus was commended.

This is the sixth time a NSW building has won Australia’s highest architectural accolade. The awards began in 1981.