Surface World June 2019 Surface World June 2019 | Page 30
THE GALVANIZERS ASSOCIATION
Sensitive design scoops awards
at Anniversary GAGAs
The 25th anniversary of the Galvanizers
Association Galvanizing Awards celebrated
conservation, innovation and sustainability
when it was held on Friday the 7th June.
Projects that prioritised public engagement
with landscape and resident culture were
favourites with the judges, with winners
evidencing strongly the connection
between the built world and nature.
Picking up awards this year were The Rising Path by chadwick, dryer,
clarke studio. This visitor centre for Cambridge University Estates
impressed the judges by creating an immersive journey through a
New Pinetum at the Botanic Gardens, Cambridge. It won the Award
for Architecture for its structural use of galvanized steel and hand
driven concrete-free galvanized steel pile footings, which underpin
a climbing path amongst the root protection zones of mature
specimen trees.
Judges were also united on the sensitive restoration and conservation
of Catrine Weir in East Ayrshire by Addison Conservation + Design,
which has conserved a piece of heritage engineering for the next two
hundred years. It won best in Engineering for its use of a galvanized
steel apron, which forms a shimmering crest to the weir and helps
pick out the extraordinary light of the Ayrshire sky.
This year the Sustainability Award was presented to Brightblue Studio
for Hauxley Wildlife Discovery Centre in Northumberland. Their
creative use of galvanized steel gabions as a structural element was
an inspired means of using a volunteer workforce to help create
a stunning, site sensitive building that both inspires and engages
visitors with nature.
The Duplex Award was given to Studio Weave for their standout green
roofed pavilion, which forms a central role in the redevelopment of
the Thames Riverside Walk at Nine Elms, whilst the Galvanizing in
Detail Award was picked up by dePaor for the Pálás Cinema in
Galway. This striking blasted concrete building uses galvanized steel
for the bespoke hardware of the cinema; windows, sills, grills, canopy,
handrails and gaurdings to create an extraordinary setting for
European Cinema.
A highly commended award was given to Stephen Taylor Architects
in the Detail category, for their work on the 100% affordable Cadix
Housing project in Belgium where galvanized steel was used to form
the important communal design features for the project. The RHS
commission for the Chelsea Flower Show, Root Bench, by Jailmake,
received a special mention too. Beautifully folded sheet metal
resembles a sprawling root system and works beautifully around
the single tree planted seamlessly in the middle.
Speaking of this year’s winners, Iqbal Johal, marketing manager at
Galvanizers Association said: “This has been a great year for the
awards, not only have we celebrated a quarter of a century of
the awards, we have once again made visible the extraordinary
contribution that galvanizing makes to our built environment. We
were especially pleased to see it play a role in projects that bring
people closer to nature and which support local culture and talent.”
Further information about the awards can be found at:
http://www.galvanizing.org.uk/construction-awards.
Alternatively, please contact
Iqbal Johal at: [email protected]
SPECIAL MENTION
RHS Root Bench which are the roots of the tree.
Jailmake - London Folded from 2mm steel plate, and reminiscent
of a biological cross-section drawing brought
to life, the mass of complex folded steel can
support the weight of 4m long fully laden
benches, through its intersecting geometry and
extruded form. Designed using parametric
Commissioned by The RHS for Chelsea
flower show, the Root Bench gives its simple
visual aesthetic over to the single tree planted
within it. Representing the ground surface are
six large planks of English Oak, beneath
software and all fabricated in house, the
design is a simple ode to the miraculous
strength of root systems.
Once galvanized, the result left the benches in
a shining bright zinc finish. Each European Oak
plank for the top of each bench was sanded
and oiled to protect the wood from weathering.
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JUNE 2019
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