The Australian Institute of Architects’ highest honour, the Gold Medal, has been awarded to NSW based architect Peter Stutchbury at a special ceremony tonight held at the Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia.

In awarding the honour, Institute National President and Jury Chair David Karotkin praised Stutchbury for his ongoing contribution to the advancement of architecture through practice, teaching and participation in professional activities and organisations.

‘In 34 years of practice, Stutchbury has mastered the art of creating architecture that speaks of the place it inhabits – buildings that are environmentally sustainable, culturally specific and locally embedded,’ the jury said.

‘Since establishing his own practice in 1981, Stutchbury and his firm have received 47 Institute awards(including two Robin Boyd Awards for Residential Housing), have won or been placed in approximately 20 national and international design competitions, have been published in around 200 books and publications, and have been exhibited in Australia, Europe, America and Asia.

‘While the work of Peter Stutchbury Architecture is best known for its residential responses to unique Australian regional landscapes, Stutchbury’s work is not limited to this genre.

‘The firm’s awarded projects include public works in urban environments and in recent years Stutchbury has successfully applied his meticulous, site-sensitive design approach in international locations as diverse as Japan, Vanuatu and Russia,’ the jury reported.

A professor in architecture at the University of Newcastle, Stutchbury has been engaged in teaching throughout his career, including tenures as a guest professor at a number of international universities.

Stutchbury is a founding director of the Architecture Foundation Australia and has taught at the foundation’s Glenn Murcutt International Architecture Master Class since its inception in 2001.

Stutchbury’s most famous works include his two Robin Boyd Award for Residential Architecture winning projects, Springwater (2005) and Bay House (2003), Deepwater Woolshed and Invisible House, winner of a 2014 NSW Architecture Award for Residential Architecture.

1999 Gold Medallist and friend of Stutchbury, Richard Leplastrier, reflected on their relationship in the March 2015 edition of Architecture Australia.

‘Since those early days we have spent much time together, raising our families concurrently, occasionally doing projects together and, most importantly, I think, teaching together…

‘That the land underpins and informs one’s architectural thinking has always been fundamental to this Gold Medallist. The contribution he has made in teaching alone substantiates his award, let alone the beauty of the work itself. ’