The jury presentations for the 2017 SA Awards program occurred on Saturday.  79 entries across 12 categories made for a busy and interesting day, with ODASA once again providing a wonderful venue. Thanks go to the entrants, the jurors and the SA Chapter staff, all of whom come together to make the awards program possible. SA Awards Manager Gillian Redman-Lloyd, Awards Director Adam Brown and Deputy Awards Director Pippa Buckberry deserve a special mention for coordinating and delivering a highly successful, well managed outcome.

Public attendance was modest but it was great to have interested people attend. It was an opportunity to improve their understanding of the complexities of the issues that require consideration when working on a project and the innovative thinking that architects employ to produce highly resolved outcomes that add real value to people’s lives. It also demonstrates the considerable talent within the SA architectural profession.

The exhibition of entries is at ODASA until 28 April. Following the Awards presentations on June 10 an exhibition of winning projects at Adelaide Airport and the Lightening Talk showcasing key projects will provide further opportunities for public exposure. These will be complemented by the Institute’s award publication and local media coverage.

The jury presentations also provide a forum for perfecting architects’ presentation skills. As a profession, architects are constantly presenting their work – to clients, funding bodies and assessment panels; in graphic, written and verbal forms. This comes more naturally to some architects than others.

Successful presentation requires consideration of audience, constraints and your own personal style. Developing an ability to identify and clearly articulate the elements of a project that are most relevant in a particular context requires preparation and practice. Being able to present this information within the required time/word limit is also an art.

Presenting well is vital for winning submissions, bringing clients along on the architectural journey and achieving innovative outcomes that test regulatory constraints. The SA Chapter will continue to support our members in developing presentation skills, with the Awards jury presentations being one forum for doing this.

Mac Young: 1969 – 2017

It is with considerable sadness that the SA Chapter learned of the death of Mac Young last week. Mac, who had recently left Hassells to return to Tasmania, was a quiet achiever who brought considerable design skills to his projects. He will be missed by many within the Adelaide design community.  Our thoughts are with his family.

The start of the year is often a time of change and renewal.  For the SA Chapter of the Institute this means a number of things.

Firstly, we have a new Chapter Council and President.  Joining the Council in 2017 are Sarah Paddick and Simon Best.  They already contribute in a number of ways and we look forward to having them involved in the Council.  Incoming President Mario Dreosti has also been an active member over many years and his extensive practice experience and engagement with professional bodies, government and stakeholders will enable him to be a highly effective advocate for the profession, particularly as we head into the election next year.

We extend our sincere thanks to outgoing Councillors Sally Bolton, Sean Humphries, David Brown, Leah Salamon, Eddie Lukac and Steve Grieve and thank them for the contributions they have made to the Institute and the profession.  Their departure leaves three vacant positions on the Council and we are working to fill these places soon so that we can operate at full capacity.

We also acknowledge the incredible energy, passion and intelligence that David Homburg has brought to the role of Chapter President over the last two years.  He has been instrumental in fostering productive relationships with government bodies and the community at a time of ongoing change.  This has greatly assisted the profession in being viewed as a valued contributor to a number of issues including planning reform, local content and government procurement.  David has also championed the role of architects in strategic decision making, highlighted the role of design as the connector between people and technology and advocated for early engagement to maximise the benefit that architects’ unique set of skills can deliver.

The second change has been in our Major State Sponsor.  As noted last week the SA Chapter has enjoyed a productive relationship with Fielders over many years.  However, in 2017 we welcome Revolution Roofing as our new Major State Sponsor.  We look forward to working with them across a broad range of programs over the next five years and beyond.  The Revolution Roofing team are already actively engaging with a number of programs, so please make them welcome.

Finally, the SA Chapter has reviewed all of our programs so that we can direct our resources effectively and maximise benefit to the full spectrum of our members.  Programs including Co-opertition, EmAGN and SONA have a refocused and re-energised scope in 2017.  The Academic Practice Forums, ArchiEd, STEM forums and Architecture on Show are also continuing this year.  All provide valuable perspectives on architectural practice, explore our ability to add value in different contexts and expand the understanding of those outside the profession regarding what we do.

If this has resulted in some members receiving an unusually high volume of Comms, we apologise.  The aim is not to overwhelm but to make sure that members are aware of the many and varied opportunities that exist to participate.  We look forward to your doing just that.

First of all, welcome back to everyone from what I trust was a relaxing break over Christmas (even if it now seems a long time ago!).

Although Chapter Council hasn’t met yet for 2017, we have still been active in promoting the message that Good Design is Good Business across a number of activities.

The FAD (Festival of Architecture and Design) Advisory Group has met twice in this period to assist the Institute in developing a strategic plan to deliver FAD as a regular and well regarded fixture in Adelaide’s Festival’s calendar. We are fortunate to have on this advisory group the services of Greg Mackie OAM, Trish Hansen (SAHMRI), Nikki Hamdorf (Jam Factory), Nick McArdle (Adelaide Crows), Associate Professor John Spoehr (Flinders University) and Dino Vrynios (GGA). They are providing valuable input into establishing the FAD brand long term. While this work is being progressed, the Chapter is developing the program for this year’s FAD event in October.

We have also continued our engagement with DPTI regarding revised conditions of contract for state government projects. The meetings have been heading in the right direction and we are aiming to arrive at a mutually agreeable set of contract conditions soon. Allied to this has been a discussion around how to assist the government in preparing better briefs for projects, and getting architects involved at the inception stages for projects. This discussion is occurring at multiple levels within government and we are aiming to see some results during the first half of this year.

With DPTI discussions proceeding well, we have turned our attention to local government procurement. Many members have advised that they are doing work with local governments across South Australia, and have expressed the view that procurement processes could be streamlined. There are many similarities with the DPTI discussions that we can draw on and we’d be interested in hearing about your experiences as we develop a policy in this area. I’d encourage you to contact the Chapter Office to share your thoughts.

Finally, with my term concluding at the end of February, this will be my last e-News as SA Chapter President. I would have to say it’s been a great experience representing the profession here in South Australia and I’d like to thank all of you who’ve contributed to our efforts over the past two years. I think we’ve achieved a lot in that time in raising the profile of architecture within the decision makers in this state.

Congratulations to incoming President Mario Dreosti. There’s always much to do, and I know that with your support, he’ll continue to drive the relevance of the profession within South Australia on behalf of you, the members.