Two UK Architectural Companies Win AIA International Design Awards

On 12 Nov 2015, the 2015 AIA International Region Design Awards were announced at the Awards Ceremony held at Island Shangri-La, Hong Kong, with two winners from UK architectural companies – David Chipperfield Architects (DCA) and Allford Hall Monaghan Morris (AHMM).

This is the second year for the IR Design Awards, and the jurors – George H Miller FAIA (chair), Prof Fumihiko Maki Hon FAIA, and Giancarlo Alhadeff FAIA, RIBA – reviewed submissions in four design categories – Architecture, Interior Architecture, Urban Design and Open International.   Following AIA awards programme guidelines, all full AIA licensed architects in the International Region were allowed to submit projects in all categories; however, all International Associate AIA members were also invited to submit in the Urban Design and Open International categories.

The Open International category was established to encourage International Region members to participate.  The category recognises architectural design solutions that are respectful of their local culture and have unique programmes in an international context. This year’s Honor Award – the highest recognition - for Open International Architecture was won by David Chipperfield Architects, represented by David Chipperfield Hon FAIA, for the Museo Jumex project in Mexico City, Mexico.  The Project Architect was Peter Jurschitzka who worked from DCA’s London office in collaboration with a Mexican partner, TAAU.   

This was DCA’s second AIA Award for 2015 as the practice also won the overall AIA UK Design Excellence Award last year for its office building at Moganshan Road, Hangzhou, China, completed in 2013.  

DCA currently has offices in London, Berlin, Milan and Shanghai and has been taking on an increasingly international workload to complement its European roots.  This includes at least two recent museum projects in the United States – the Saint Louis Art Museum, Missouri (2013), and the Anchorage Museum, Alaska (2009).

Photo Credit: Simon Menges

Photo Credit: Simon Menges

In the same Open International category, a Merit Award was won by Allford Hall Monaghan Morris (AHMM), represented by Wade Scaramucci AIA, Associate Director, for the Burntwood School, London.  The Project Director was Paul Monaghan; the Project Architect was Lukas Ochendal.   

Not only was AHMM successful at the International Region Design Awards this year, it was also one of last year’s winners. 

The Burntwood project has been the winner of multiple architectural awards, most notably as the unanimous decision of the judges for the 2015 RIBA Stirling Prize.  The school was described by the RIBA as being a genuine collaborative effort, with superb integration of artwork, landscaping and engineering. 

Wade Scaramucci served for many years on the AIA UK Board and was responsible for initiating the successful building tour programme that has continued to run for the past several years.  Fittingly, the AIA UK Chapter hopes to arrange a tour to Burntwood later this year.

Photo Credit: Timothy Soar

Photo Credit: Timothy Soar

Other International Region Design Award winners were:

• Honor Award for Architecture – Flower + Kindergarten, Seoul, Korea (Jungmin Nam AIA, representing OA_Lab)
• Merit Award for Interior Architecture – Arvato Shanghai Headquarters, Shanghai, PRC (M Moser Associates)
• Merit Award for Interior Architecture – Millennium Mitsui Garden Hotel, Tokyo, Japan (CL3 Architects)
• Merit Award for Urban Design – Wolong Lake Waterfront Park, Shenyang, PRC (AECOM)
• Merit Award for Urban Design – Yong River Platform Park, Ningbo, PRC (AECOM)

Given the success of UK architectural companies in the International Region Design Awards, the AIA UK Chapter strongly encourages the chapter membership to participate in the 2016 awards programme.  Please be alert for the invitation to submit projects that will be issued later this year.

Author: Lorraine King