EVENTS AND EXHIBITIONS
15
Corobrik
Design excellence applauded at Corobrik-SAIA Awards
One hundred and eighty architects and built environment professionals gathered in Pretoria for the prestigious Corobrik-SAIA Awards 2018 evening. Through this event, top architectural projects of recent times were recognised.
Winners of the SAIA Award for Excellence.
“ The Corobrik-South African Institute of Architects( SAIA) Awards programme is run nationally every two years and this year, as president of SAIA and convenor of the awards programme, I had the privilege of being part of this prestigious awards programme,” says Maryke Cronje.
“ SAIA’ s mission is to pursue excellence and responsible design. It is also to uphold the dignity of the architectural profession and contribute meaningfully to the enhancement of society and the environment. These awards ratify SAIA’ s mission by recognising and promoting excellence in architecture. We are delighted to have received a more varied cross-section of projects than in previous years. This is also a tribute to the impressively high standard of entries at regional level.”
Cronje adds,“ In travelling to the sites of all shortlisted entries, we have seen that sustainability and care for the environment have been prominent, with architects emphasising the nurturing of the environment. There is a great use of natural and sustainable materials, as well as consideration for the landscape.
“ While some materials used were imported, local tradespeople were used so that when a project was complete, the tradespeople walked off the site with a set of skills that could be applied elsewhere. This is good for our country,” says Cronje.
Bryan Wallis, acting CEO of SAIA, supports Cronje’ s sentiments by saying,“ The standard of projects submitted seems to improve exponentially at each of the national awards, and this year is no exception, with the quality higher than ever before. We are delighted that the members of SAIA are constantly advancing in technicality and design and this year’ s entries can be benchmarked against global standards.”
“ Awarded projects are manifestations of how architects successfully interpret their clients’ aspirations in the buildings produced,” says Wallis.
Sixty-one regional winners were entered in the national awards. Each region submits their winning projects to go
www. plumbingafrica. co. za July 2018 Volume 24 I Number 5