• • 08 January 2016
  • 
  •  Billy Mwangi
• archiDATUM News , News , Awards ,

Online entries for the 2015/2016 AfriSam-SAIA Award for Sustainable Architecture + Innovation are now open and feature two new award categories. Alongside the two mainstays, Sustainable Architecture and Research in Sustainability, we now have additional categories for Sustainable Products and Technology and Sustainable Social Programmes - making the Award South Africa’s premier platform for recognising excellence in sustainable practice and innovation.

Increasingly climate and social challenges are necessitating new solutions to persistent developmental challenges. The world needs visionaries that can imagine new answers and design new systems. This bi-annual Award recognises contributions that bring sustainable innovation to human living environments through an integrated approach to communities, planning, design, architecture, building practice, natural systems and technology.

Past projects that got the nod from the Award panel have not only made a substantial contribution to South Africa’s built and social environment, but have also greatly contributed to the professional practices of those involved.

Recognised for their 2014 submission in the Sustainable Architecture award category, Hugh Fraser part of the team at Paragon Architects responsible for the Alexander Forbes building in Sandton, says: “Apart from the honour of winning the 2014 AfriSam-SAIA Award for Sustainable Architecture; this achievement had a profound impact on our approach to design, and our relationship with our clients and occupants of future projects. The award was enormously affirming of the work we had already been doing in the lead up to the programme. Additionally it has lent a sense of credibility to our proposals for future projects. To this end we are unlikely to embark on any future projects that are not either Green Star rated, or at least based on those principles”.

Addressing the pertinent Award criteria Harmonisation, People Upliftment, Place Making Performance and Evolutionary Paradigm with rigour and critical engagement, Koop Design’s 2014 submission in the Research in Sustainability category,Vukuzakhe: Developing Systems For The Delivery Of An Alternative Building Typology, earned them top recognition. According to Richard Stretton, founder of Koop Design, “...the AfriSam-SAIA Award for Sustainable Architecture + Innovation has made credible the opportunities we have explored as a practice to make projects locally relevant”.

The AfriSam-SAIA Award for Sustainable Architecture + Innovation commits itself to recognising projects that add value to our built environment through sustainable practice and innovation. The additional categories support the guiding vision for the 2015/2016 awards – which is to recognise contributions that bring sustainable innovation to human living environments through an integrated approach to communities, planning, design, architecture, building practice, natural systems and technology.

Visit AFRISAM Awards Page for more information and Entry Criteria