AIA INTERNATIONAL DESIGN AWARDS / Merit Award for SOM’s Covent Garden Plan
Fiona Mckay
On 3 Nov 2018, the AIA International Region announced its 2018 Design Award winners at an Awards Ceremony in Singapore – the 4th such ceremony since 2014.
This year’s jurors - Ms Elizabeth Chu Richter FAIA, 2015 President of the American Institute of Architects; Mr Taro Ashihara Hon FAIA, JLA, Immediate Past President of the Japan Institute of Architects; and Professor Tom Heneghan AA Dipl, Tokyo University of the Arts – reviewed submissions in four design categories - Architecture, Interior Architecture, Urban Design and Open International.
Representing the AIA UK Chapter, Skidmore Owings & Merrill received the Merit Award for Urban Design for their work at London’s New Covent Garden, an area that stretches from Vauxhall in the east to the Battersea Power Station in the west, including the new US Embassy and several proposed locations for the controversial Nine Elms/Pimlico pedestrian bridge.
Daniel Ringelstein AIA, Director of Urban Design and Planning, expressed his support for the redevelopment on London’s South Bank: “We could not be more pleased professionally to have supported Vinci St Modwen and the Covent Garden Market Authority in the delivery of ‘the final piece’ of the Vauxhall Nine Elms Battersea Opportunity Area vision, to create a much-improved market integrated into an emerging and vibrant new district for London.”
“Our vision for the surplus lands integrates future residential-led mixed-use development into the ever-changing local area. The schemes for the Northern and Entrance Sites will become gateways into the Nine Elms Linear Park, and provide a significant percentage of the district’s future open space network. The project also provides an exemplar for comfort of living and community amenity integrated within high density urban regeneration.”
Other International Region Design Award winners were:
Honor Award for Open International I Architecture: Nordea Bank, Copenhagen, Denmark, Henning Larsen Architects (Louis Becker, Int’l Assoc AIA)
Merit Awards for Open International I Architecture:
West Kowloon Station, Hong Kong, AEDAS, China (Andrew Bromberg, Assoc AIA)
Cluny Park Residence, Singapore, SCDA Architects (Soo K Chan AIA)
University of British Columbia Aquatic Centre, Vancouver, Canada, MJMA & Acton Ostry Architects (Ted Watson, Int’l Assoc AIA)
Skyterract@Dawson, Singapore, SCDA Architects (Soo K Chan AIA)
Commendation Award for Open International I Architecture: Garden Restroom, Hong Kong, LAAB Architects (Otto Ng, Assoc AIA)
Honor Award for Interior Architecture: South China morning Post, Hong Kong, M Moser Associates
Merit Award for Interior Architecture: Nested Learning Spaces Seoul Foreign School, Seoul, South Korea (John Hong, AIA)
Commendation Award for Interior Architecture: f22foto space, Hong Kong, LAAB Architects and Carlow Architecture & Design (Otto Ng, Assoc AIA & Jason Carlow, Assoc AIA)
Honor Award for Urban Design: Shenzhen BKG Triangle – Regeneration Master Plan, Shenzhen City, China, Callison RTKL and IUPDR, Shenzhen University (Gregory A Yager AIA)
Given the success of UK architectural companies in this and past year’s International Region Design Awards, the AIA UK Chapter strongly encourages the chapter membership to participate. AIA Members making submittals to the AIA UK’s own Design Awards - to be held in late April 2019 - have an opportunity to re-submit their projects in the next IR Region programme to be announced later in the year.
Following AIA awards programme guidelines, all full AIA licensed architects in the International Region are allowed to submit projects in all categories; however, all International Associate AIA members are also invited to submit in the Urban Design and Open International categories. The Open International category has been established to encourage International Region members to participate. This category recognises architectural design solutions that are respectful of their local culture and have unique programmes in an international context.
Written by: Lorraine King, AIA
