2015/2016 AfriSam-SAIA Awards winners announced

The eleven projects chosen by the award adjudicators were among a total of 22 final qualifying entries that had been selected from a record number of eligible submissions earlier this year.

“The awarded and commended projects amply demonstrate the three main criteria that the adjudicating panel was looking at - regeneration, reconciliation and restoration,” commented Richard Tomes from AfriSam. “These projects all make the world a better place by minimising their impact on the environment. They also bear the hallmarks of great architectural and social design. Together they represent the very best in sustainable architecture and innovation.”

The increasing importance of sustainable and innovative design practice in the South African built environment was confirmed across all four categories of the 2015/2016 AfriSam-SAIA Award for Sustainable Architecture + Innovation.

Category A - Sustainable Architecture, saw three projects awarded – the DEA Building by Boogertman+Partners Architects, Gorgeous Green House by Sagnelli Associate Architects and Oudebosch Camp Kogelberg by Architecture Coop. These were joined by four commended projects - Earthworld Architects’ iCat Eco Factory, Local Studio’s Outreach Foundation Community Centre, Daffonchio & Associate Architects’ Maboneng Precinct and WWF SA Braamfontein by Alive Architecture.

DEA Building by Boogertman+Partners Architects

Category B - The Award for Research in Sustainability went to Designing Hope for Pathways to Regenerative Sustainability, a book by Chrisna Du Plessis, while Paul Marais’ Otto Cottage was awarded in the Sustainable Product/Technology category (Category C).

buildCollectiveNPO with Carinthia University of Applied Science’s Bridging Mzamba

Finally there were two awarded projects in Category D - Sustainable Social Programme - buildCollectiveNPO with Carinthia University of Applied Science’s Bridging Mzamba and Architecture for a Change’s Malawi School.

Architecture for a Change’s Malawi School

Sustainable design a non-negotiable

“The awards are a resounding endorsement of sustainable and innovative design practice in the South African built environment, said Kevin Bingham, awards convenor and SAIA vice president. “We have entered a new era in which sustainable design is becoming a non-negotiable, integral part of the building industry. Alongside significantly impacting the lives of those who use them, the awarded and commended projects provide fantastic inspiration for architects – and indeed everyone playing a part in our built environment.”

The adjudicators of the 2015/2016 AfriSam-SAIA Award for Sustainable Architecture + Innovation were Kevin Bingham (convener), Daniel Irurah, Llewellyn van Wyk, Sebasti Badenhorst, Eric Noir and Richard Stretton.