Celebrating the 30 Year Anniversary of Gold Coast/Northern Rivers Regional Architecture Awards

Celebrating the 30 Year Anniversary of Gold Coast/Northern Rivers Regional Architecture Awards

The Australian Institute of Architects’ Gold Coast/Northern Rivers Regional Architecture Awards are celebrating 30 years of recognising the best local architecture at a gala event on Saturday 20 April.

Host of the LifeStyle Channel’s award-winning series Selling Houses Australia, Andrew Winter, will be the Master of Ceremonies for the evening and will be joined by eminent guest speaker, His Excellency Michael Bryce AM AE.

Eighteen projects, spanning the region from South Stradbroke Island in the north to Casuarina in the south and Binna Birra in the east, are in the running for 2013 honours to be awarded on the night.

The projects entered this year include a hotel, surf training centre and a school chapel among others entered in commercial, interior, public, residential – houses, residential – multiple housing, small project architecture and urban design.

Gold Coast/Northern Rivers Regional Jury CoordinatorDavid Brown, Executive Development Manager at Sunland Group, will be joined on the jury by Matt Cooper, Principal at Aspect Architecture; Finn Jones, Principal Architect and Urban Designer at the Gold Coast City Council; Alison McDonald, Lecturer at Griffith University; Paul Robertson, Principal at Paul Robertson Architect; Zac Tooth, Principal at ZT A+B; lay jurorShannon Willoughby, Journalist at Gold Coast Bulletin and lay juror Peter Scott, Presenter on ABC Coast FM.

The Gold Coast/Northern Rivers Jury will assist the 2013 Awards Jury Director, Mark Damant (Woods Bagot), and Deputy Director, Liam Proberts (bureau^proberts), with selecting the worthy recipients ofRegional Commendations, the Building of the Year and the House of the Year.

Past winners of the Gold Coast/Northern Rivers Building of the Year include the Sheraton Mirage by Media 5 (1988), Gold Coast City Council Chambers by Bligh Voller Nield (2005), Q1 by Sunland Design Group & Innovarchi (2006) and Skilled Park by Populous (2009).

Winners of the 2013 Regional Commendations, Building of the Year and House of the Year will progress to the coveted Queensland Architecture Awards to be announced in Brisbane on 21 June.
Queensland 2013 Awards Jury Director, Mark Damant will present the Regional Commendations to Gold Coast/Northern Rivers winners at the special Awards ceremony at the Palazzo Versace, commencing at 6.30pm Saturday 20 April.

As part of the gala celebrations, the evening will include the launch of the film Drawn Here produced by Jeff Licence of Tigermonkey Productions along with a preview of the soon to be released book GC30+ by Images Publishing.

Drawn Here, funded by a grant from Arts Queensland, is a multimedia exposé showcasing the artistic, cultural, educational and economic value of Gold Coast design. Drawn Here aims to promote the role confident design has made over the last 30 years in making places that attract people and investment to the Gold Coast; including how the celebration of such architecture has triggered the state-wide valuing of regional diversity.
Supported by Griffith University and the Australian Institute of Architects, GC30+ by Dr Andrew Leach, Katherine Rickard and Finn Jones documents the work of many projects that have received awards and commendations in the Institute’s regional (and formerly divisional) awards cycle for the Gold Coast and Northern Rivers. Published by Images Publishing, the book presents photographs and drawings as submitted to the awards since the inaugural event of 1984 and frames this work with a series of historical and critical essays.
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For media enquiries and high resolution images contact:

Alexandra Cato
National Media and Communications Officer
Australian Institute of Architects
P. + 61 (3) 8620 3813 | M. +61 (0) 416 022 818
alexandra.cato@architecture.com.au

The Australian Institute of Architects is the peak body for the architectural profession, representing 11,500 members across Australia and overseas. The Institute actively works to improve the quality of our built environment by promoting quality, responsible and sustainable design. Learn more about the Institute, log on to www.architecture.com.au.