Winners of Australia Architect (AIA) Awards 2014

A surf club and a mental health facility are among the winners of this year's National Architecture Awards in Australia.

The award, given out by the Australian Institute of Architects, says "community-oriented projects" dominated this year's competition.

Here is a selection of images of winning and shortlisted buildings

1-Kerstin Thompson's House at Hanging Rock - built on a steep slope - won the Robin Boyd award in the category for new houses

2-This boatshed and surf life-saving club in Bicheno - the work of Birrelli architects - won the award in the category for Small Project Architecture

3-The Australian Plant Bank - by BVN Donovan Hill - was shortlisted in the category for Public Architecture

4-The winner in the Public Architecture category was The University of Queensland Advanced Engineering Building - a joint venture by Richard Kirk Architects and HASSELL. The building also won in several other categories.

5-The North Bondi Surf Life Saving Club was also shortlisted in the Public Architecture category. The wave-like building is the work of Durbach Block Jaggers in association with Peter Colquhoun

6-The interiors of the Sustainable Industries Education centre in South Australia earned a place on the shortlist for MPH Architects and Architectus

7-Room 11 Studio were shortlisted in the Urban Design category for this riverside community park in Tasmania, known by its acronym, GASP!

Pros and Cons of Doing Work from Home

Working from home is becoming increasingly popular both for employers and employees. Although there are many good reasons to work from home, it is a decision that requires quite a consideration because there are also reasons why working from home may not be optimal. Besides, what works for one person may be a nightmare for another. This is why it is important to evaluate all alternatives before committing our self to work from home.

Why choosing to work from home - the Pros

Independence

Working from home gives the privilege of being your own boss. We can manage our tasks as our like and we report to our self unless we work as a virtual administrative assistant. Having our own business will provide you the energy to work hard and make our dreams come true.

Flexibility

Working from home allows us to fit our work around the family routine. We can be flexible with our working hours without neglecting to be a parent or a spouse. Especially, if we are the type of person that loves being around family, then working from home is our dream job. We can have more free time to spend with our family.

 Save on commuting

Working from home allows us to save on commuting as we do not have to drive miles and miles to go to work every day. Our office is literally next door, in our living room and all we have to do is get our coffee and start working.

Quality of life

All the above advantages inevitably lead to quality of life. We have time for ours elf, our family and our friends; we have time to organize our work and meet the deadlines; we are flexible and independent to work as we like and as much we like without compromising the level of services we provide to our customers.

Why not choosing to work from home - The Cons

Lack of focus
Working from home can have many distractions. Kids playing, phone ringing, neighbors visiting and so on, often make it hard to stay focused on our work. Especially, if we don't have a separate room set up as our office and we have to share our work space with other family members in the sitting area, it is particularly hard to mitigate the distraction factor.

Mixing Personal and Professional Life

Depending on the nature of work, personal and professional life can be mixed up. Since working from home means spending most of the time at home, it is not unusual to work at odd hours or to delay their tasks in order to spend more time with their family. Most of the times, there is a really thin line between personal and professional life and this may cause family problems.

Same scenery

Working from home deprives we from a change of scenery. Besides, being non-stop at home can be extremely boring and non-productive. Typically, people who work outside from home are more stimulated and do not have this strong need for a change of scenery. On the contrary, people who work at home often need interaction with other people to feel motivated.

Overall, working from home offers the liberty of working at our suitable time, but, on the other hand, it may involve certain risks. Before entering into the wonderful world of the Internet that opens up extremely profitable opportunities, you need to evaluate the pros and the cons of working from home in order to make a well-informed decision.

S. J. V. Chelvanayakam

Samuel James Veluppillai Chelvanayakam (March 31, 1898 - April 27, 1977) was a SriLnkan politician and leader of the Tamil community.

Early life Chelvanayakam was born in Ipoh, Malaysia, but returned to Sri Lanka (then called Ceylon) at the age of four. He studied at Union College, Tellippalai, and St. Thomas' College. At age 19, he had a bachelor's degree, and by 25, was called to the bar. He married Emily Grace Barr Kumuarakulasinghe two years later.

Political career Chelvanayakam became active in the All Ceylon Tamil Congress during the drive for independence, becoming the party's deputy leader. He was elected to Parliament in the 1947 elections.

The ACTC was torn between Chelvanayakam and G.G. Ponnambalam, who pushed for greater cooperation with the United National Party government. Chelvanayakam broke with Ponnambalam in protest over the latter's support for the denial of citizenship to the estate Tamils in 1949. He went on to found a new, more aggressive party, the Federal Party.

In the 1956 election, the Federal Party emerged as the leading party in the Tamil regions, but the new prime minister, Solomon Bandaranaike, pushed through the Sinhala Only Act, which met with stiff opposition from the Tamils.

Chelvanayakam led a satyagraha protest against the new law. The campaign succeeded at first in swaying the government, which negotiated the Bandaranaike-Chelvanayakam Pact which agreed to provide government services in Tamil and devolve powers to a set of provincial councils. Bandaranaike abandoned the pact after stiff opposition from Buddhist monks.

After his fruitless experience dealing with the Sri Lanka Freedom Party governments of 1956-65, Chelvanayakam turned to the UNP. After that party's victory in the 1965 election, the Federal Party joined the government of Dudly Senanayake. He signed the Senanayake-Chelvanayakam Pact which also provided for Tamil services and district councils.

Senanayake's regime failed to implement the Pact and as a result, Chelvanayakam and the FP left the government in 1968.

By the 1970s, Chelvanayakam had grown bitter over his failure to win any meaningful concessions from the Sinhalese, and became sympathetic to the cause of Tamil separatism. The FP and other parties merged into the Tamil United Liberation Front towards that end, with Chelvanayakam as their leader.

Death His health was increasingly poor; he had suffered from Parkinson's disease and growing deafness since the 1950s. In 1961, Chelva underwent surgery in Edinburgh to relieve the stress from Parkinson disease at the hands of a neurosurgeon, Francis John Gillingham and the operation "proved successful." Despite the success of this operation, he died in 1977 at his home and was buried in Jaffna.

Profile

Leader of the Tamil United Liberation Front In office1972–1977

Leader of the Federal Party In office1949–1972

Deputy Leader of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress In office1944–1949

Member of the Sri Lanka Parliamentfor Kankesanthurai In office1947–1952 Succeeded by Subaiya Nadesan, UNP

In office1956–1977 Preceded by Subaiya Nadesan, UNP

Born March 31, 1898(1898-03-31)Ipoh, Malaysia

Died April 27, 1977 (aged 79)Jaffna, Sri Lanka

Political party Tamil United Liberation Front

Spouse(s) Emily Grace Barr Chelvanayakam

Alma mater Union CollegeSt. Thomas College

Profession Lawyer