The winners of the inaugural Architecture for Social Gain 2015 awards were announced at a ceremony held at Glenshiel in Johannesburg on 6 August.
"The awards really promote and celebrate architecture that positively effects the integration of community and environment for the long-term benefit of both people and planet, complimenting Saint-Gobain's commitment to support social change and make a difference in the spaces we live, learn, work and play in," said Evan Lockhart-Barker, MD Weber Saint-Gobain.
An impressive 38 entries were received across the three categories - Future, Built, and Adopt-a-School. "We were thrilled with the number of online entries received as these awards challenged industry norms, with the call for strictly digital entries architects were challenged to move beyond the traditional medium of submitting hardcopies of drawings and renderings, and embrace the realm of the video entry format, which encouraged digital story-telling around submissions," added Lockhart-Barker.
Quality of entries
The judges were so impressed with the quality of entries and the quality of the digital submissions that an additional award for 'Best Movie' was added to the competition during the judging process.
The winners of the different categories are:
- Built Category - Trophy winner: Local Studio - Johannesburg. Project: Outreach Foundation Community Centre - Hillbrow, Jhb.
Merit Certificates: East Coast Architects - Durban. Project: Vele Secondary School - Limpopo Province. Urko Sanchez Architects - Kenya. Project: SOS Children's Village - Tadjourah, Djibouti.
- Future Category - Trophy winner: KHM Architects - Cape Town. Project: The Market Theatre Foundation Multipurpose facility.
Merit Certificates: Noero Architects - Cape Town. Project: Transitional Learning Centre. Savage + Dodd Architects - Johannesburg. Project: Sol Plaatje University Competition - Kimberley, Northern Cape.
Student Merit Certificate: Student architects: Anees Arnold and Jonathan Wilson - Cape Town. Project: Delft Exchange Towers - Cape Town.
- Adopt Category - Trophy winner: Kate Otten Architects - Johannesburg. Project: Motshegofadiwa Primary - Hammanskraal.
- People's Choice Award - Stauch Voster Architects, Ecobrick Exchange. Project: Penguins Preschool
- Best Movie Award - East Coast Architects - Durban. Project: Vele Secondary School - Limpopo Province.
