2012 AIA WA Chapter Award Winners

Last night was awards night for the WA Chapter of the AIA. It’s been a few years since I attended but as a lay judge (in the Heritage category) I felt duty bound to show my face. And fill it with entrée, main and dessert of course.

How firmly David Karotkin’s tongue was pushed into his cheek when he said “there will be no losers tonight” remains unknown, however as the disembodied “Price is Right” voice read out the winners for the Public Architecture category it seemed as though everyone would definitely be a winner – 11 gongs in all!

Acorn Photo clients Site Architecture and TAG Architects were among them for Serisier Building and Coady Centre, Mercedes College and Roseworth Primary College and Education Support Centre respectively (below). (respectively).
Serisier Building and Coady Centre, Mercedes College

TAG Architects Roseworth Primary School Stebbing Way Girrawheen

George Temple Poole winner of 2010, Blane Brackenridge’s spaceship chic House in Cottesloe took out the Marshall Clifton Award for Residential Architecture with one of the two commendations going to the elegant pavilion based Wright Feldhusen Eagle Bay house (below and below).

52 Broome St

Eagle Bay Residence by Wright Feldhusen Architects

The Harold Krantz Award for Multiple Residential was landed by Officer Woods Architects for their wonderful medium density development in Stevens Street, Fremantle. Jenny and Trent were kept busy with this, their only entry this year, as it also took out the Walter Greenham Sustainable Architecture Award.

Stevens St Multiple residential, Architect: Officer Woods

58 Stevens St apartment B

CODA’s Women’s Health and Family Services building in Newcastle St and Parry and Rosenthal’s Southern Seawater Desalination Plant both garnered Architecture Awards in the Commercial category. Claremont Quarter by Christou Design Group and Hassell received a commendation for Urban Design.

Women's Health and Family Services

Southern Seawater Desalination Plant  Architect Parry and Rosenthal

Claremont Quarter, Christou Design Group

The judging experience gave me a great insight into how the images we shoot are used and seen by the jury panels. As I mentioned earlier, I was invited by the Institute to be a lay juror this year. First time. The panels are all comprised of three architects and one layperson. This year the Institute introduced a presentation day which is open to the public. Architects speak on their projects and supplement professional shot images with plans and photographs from the construction phase. Over the following weeks site visits are made by the jurors.

Kim Burges originally suggested I join the residential jury, but having photographed almost half the entered projects I felt the conflict of interest issues were too great. Instead I joined Nerida Mourdant, Eamon Broderick and Alex Quinn on the Heritage panel.

9 projects with wildly divergent briefs and budgets made it a reasonably tough job. The ultimate winner of the Margaret Pit Morison Award for Heritage went to Donaldson and Warn for their careful restoration and upgrade of the Marsala House, a spectacular 70’s listed house designed by Iwan Iwanoff. An Architecture Award and Commendation went to Griffiths Architects and Bernard Seeber Pty Ltd for Cathedral House and Fremantle Railway Station. None of these were photographed by me so no pics here retro fiends!