As the features of Parliament House were lauded on its 25th anniversary on Thursday, an esteemed panel at a Melba high school was judging designs for that other most prominent political home.
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And if the judges and contestants get their way, future prime ministers will come home to lakeside views.
There were 238 entries in the University of Canberra's Lodge by the Lake design competition - about 100 more than sought the prize of designing Canberra a century ago - and the view among the jurors at Melba Copland Secondary School was the time for a replacement of the Adelaide Avenue residence has come.
University of Canberra university architect Annabelle Pegrum said a new official residence was desperately needed.
''The old Lodge is a lovely old building but it really is not, and has never been, appropriate for a prime ministers' residence,'' she said.
''Most people won't know that the first prime minister to use it, Stanley Melbourne Bruce, indicated he thought it was substandard at that stage for a family or for official residence, and so it's gone on.''
The competition adviser said there had been a diverse range of plans for the 6.8-hectare site at Attunga Point, west of the Canberra Yacht Club.
''We've got everything from bubbles on the site through to large versions of, I suppose, more traditional suburban houses almost, to very wonderful and beautifully executed designs that integrate with the landscape, in the Canberra tradition,'' she said.
The designs, laid out on the secondary school's gym floor for judging, include futuristic doughnut designs, a ''buried'' residence, varied colours and entries using the latest construction materials.
The competition was open to design professionals and design graduates and students, and came about following discussions between the Gallery of Australian Design, the University of Canberra and the Australian Institute of Architects and Australian institute of Landscape Architects.
Ms Pegrum said Canberra's centenary year was the right time to put the issue back into the public arena.
Sydney architect and juror Howard Tanner said the present residence - a few hundred metres from Parliament House - was always built as a temporary measure.
''It's now showing itself to be completely inadequate in terms of the facilities and arrangements, its right next to a busy highway, it's not where you would put a prime minister's residence nowadays,'' he said.
Mr Tanner said designs had to follow a complicated brief. ''You've got to have security, you have to have a sense of serenity when you're there, and it's got to be very highly managed as a site,'' he said.
''I think that the ideas that come from the winner will doubtless influence events.''
Award-winning landscape architect Oi Choong said the winning design would be one that provides a symbol for Australians.
''The winner will be that one that has embraced the whole brief of what the symbolism of the whole building is, and how it relates to the landscape, and also [will be] the scheme that captures the imagination of the public,'' she said.
''At the same time, its got to be able to balance the public and the private functions of this place … it still has to be a home.''
The winner of the $80,000 first prize will be announced on May 23.
There are no known Australian government or opposition plans for a new Lodge. The competition designs were not required to consider any budget.
