2012 ACT Architecture Awards Winners

Congratulations to all of the winners of the 2012 ACT Architecture Awards. Click on the project images below to read what the jury had to say about each winning project.
To read the President's introduction and to view information about the recipients of the Presidents Medal, Emerging Architect Prize, Clem Cummings Medal & Student Prizes click here.
Click here to view and order event photos from Redzebra Photography.

AND THE WINNERS ARE....
At awards time, we get to see the best work by architects from Canberra and across the ACT. This year, the Canberra Medallion and the Romaldo Giurgola Award for Public Architecture went to a wonderful school hall in Queanbeyan by Collins Caddaye Architects. A produce market down by the railway by Colin Stewart Architects received the John Andrews Award for Commercial Architecture, and a modest fibro shack on the coast by Joanna Nelson Architect won the Malcolm Moir and Heather Sutherland Award, named for two of Canberra’s early architects. A light-filled junior school in a brand new town centre by Munns Sly Moore Architects was a worthy winner of the Education Prize. All these impressive projects were the work of small local offices and a local sole practitioner.

We were nevertheless grateful to see nominations for excellent projects by out-of-towners. The ACT Chapter award for interior architecture is named for W. Hayward Morris, who designed and decorated the famous Institute of Anatomy. This year that award went to Cunningham Martyn Design from Melbourne for their creative interventions at the heart of Walter Bunning’s National Library. Other architects from the big places on the coast to win awards were NMBW Architecture Studio, for Aranda House, a memorable suburban house; BVN Architecture in association with FMSA for Belconnen Police Station, a gutsy police station; and BVN Architecture for Gym HMAS Creswell, a very healthy gymnasium. It was a good year for Canberra and a good result for architecture.

We were lucky this year to have a jury with more than the normal reserves of enthusiasm plus the energy to talk the talk for long hours. I have known Janet Thomson for many years. She is highly respected as a practising architect and as a teacher, and our discussions were the better for her creative and academic analysis. It is always good to have the input of an architect from outside Canberra, and I am grateful to Phil Thalis for the time and the considered comments he gave so willingly.
Dominic Pelle and Rob Henry supplied the rest of us with an awareness of contemporary design issues that can come only from those involved daily at the coalface of architecture and young enough to say what is actually happening. And we were thrilled that Alex Sloan was able to spend so much time with us and make some sense of our arcane discussions on the meaning of architecture. At one site at least, the client was far keener to chat with Alex than with the rest of us, and it was good to watch a media star close up.
My thanks for your commitment and tenacity go to all of you.
Roger Pegrum, Jury Chair

The 2012 main awards Jury consisted of;
Philip Thailis RAIA, Roger Pegrum LFRAIA (Jury Chair), Rob Henry, Janet Thompson RAIA, Alex Sloan (Lay Juror) and Dominic Pelle RAIA.

Thank you to our Principal Corporate Partners Colorbond, Supporting Coporate Partners Dulux, ACT Platinum Sponsors Inlite and ACT Silver Sponsor BCA Certifiers.