Charles Sturt University's Thurgoona Campus has won further critical acclaim, this time for the design of its environmentally sensitive buildings.

The NSW chapter of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects (RAIA) has commended the Thurgoona Campus in two major categories: the Ecologically Sustainable Design award and the Blacket Award for a building project outside the Sydney metropolitan area.

The prestigious honours were presented to CSU Thurgoona Campus project coordinator and Director of Design, Marcie Webster-Mannison, at the annual RAIA awards ceremony held last Friday, 30 June, in Sydney.

The NSW Chapter of RAIA praised the new main lecture hall at Thurgoona as a complex developed with full commitment to the process of ecologically sustainable development. According to the commendation, the complex would be particularly valuable for testing and monitoring the environmentally sensitive processes used in the buildings, which can be further developed in future designs.

The judges also applauded the CSU design team for the School of Environmental and Information Sciences buildings, particularly for the visual delight provided by buildings in their rural setting of bushland and watercourses. Highlights include the buildings' construction materials, which include rammed earth walls and columns, metal tanks and recycled timber.

Thrilled with the honours for Thurgoona, Ms Webster-Mannison said the awards recognised Thurgoona as a model of ecologically sensitive design that clearly expressed CSU's commitment to environmentally sensitive living.

"Thurgoona addresses present and future environmental impacts and resulting costs to communities, such as global warming, air and water pollution and loss of genetic diversity," she said.

The Thurgoona Campus has already won recognition for its water management system, with two RiverCare 2000 awards in three years from the NSW Government and a first prize in 1999 from the Australian Water and Wastewater Association.