40
CONSTRUCTION WORLD
OCTOBER
2014
PROJECTS AND CONTRACTS
“This is a notable achievement in an industry where
women are only recently coming to the fore,” said Nina
Saunders, past vice-president of SAIA. “The Corobrik-SAIA
Awards of Excellence recognise exceptional contributions
to the field of architecture and have been conferred every two years
since their introduction in 1990.”
“Less than 20% of SAIA members are currently women.
However, almost 28% of members have earned the title PR Arch
(Professional Architect), the highest level of membership, and we
are seeing an encouraging trend emerging with 40% women in the
Architect in Training category.”
The four award-winning architects are Anne Graupner, principal
at 26’10 south Architects in Johannesburg, Michele Sandilands,
principal of MSa Michelle Sandilands Architects in Cape Town and
Charlotte Chamberlain and Nicola Irving, partners at Charlotte
Chamberlain Architects in Cape Town.
Springfield Convent School
Chamberlain and Irving won their Award of Excellence for the new
pre-school and Art buildings for campus of Springfield Convent
School in the southern suburbs of Cape Town. Graduates of UCT,
the two worked together at Louis Karol Architects and both spent
time gaining experience in Europe, Chamberlain in France and
Irving in England. It was after Irving and Chamberlain had spent
five years in Australia, and Chamberlain had started a practice of
her own that the two joined forces to create Charlotte Chamberlain
Nicola Irving Architects, both with a strong motivation to build a
practice that worked towards a better life for the wider community.
“Acknowledgment from one’s peers is a really good indication
that what we are up to is going in the right direction. However it is
important to acknowledge the people who we work with and for.
We are often asking our clients to extend their briefs and vision for
their projects way beyond their initial thoughts,” says Chamberlain.
Regarding the role of women in architecture, Irving says, “We
do not really see that women have a specific role, but we truly do
need representation and diversity in our society, and in all aspects
and forums to do with our built environment, in order to continue
evolving and growing in a worthwhile direction.”
Phase II of UNISA
Sandilands’ award is for her work on Phase II of UNISA on the
Cape Flats – creating an inspiring house of learning to accommo-
date administrative offices, student registration, exam rooms and
teaching venues. She established her own practice, Michele Sandi-
lands Architects, in 1998 and has a wealth of experience, having
designed many of Cape Town's foremost corporate, commercial
and public buildings. Her practice has won several national and
regional awards.
Sandilands says she is be thrilled to win a Corobrik-SAIA Award of
Excellence not only for herself but also her team, who worked many
late hours and weekends.
Educational buildings are a particular interest of hers.
“We want tomake a positive difference by everything that we design
and so the design and construction of places of learning fulfils this
ideology. Buildings that have a minimal impact on the carbon foot-
print and that set sustainable examples are a focus of ours.”
Studio home
A studio home in Brixton, Gauteng won a Corobrik-SAIA Award of
Merit for Anne Graupner of 26’10 south Architects who was lead
architect on the project.
This project is close to her heart as it is the home in which she
lives with her partner Thorsten Deckler and because it enables her
to be both a mother to her two young children and work as a full-
time professional architect an urban designer.
Educated in Vienna at the University of Applied Arts, Graupner
graduated cum laude in 2001. She worked at the Architecture
Centre Vienna before returning to South Africa, her country of birth,
in 2002. Two years later, she co-founded 26’10 south Architects with
Thorsten Deckler, which was selected as the top emerging practice
in the country in 2012.
“Recognition in the form of awards is very welcome but is not
the main reason for being an architect,” says Graupner. “Architec-
tural and urban design projects are highly complex and could be
looked at and judged in many ways. However, being recognised for
design excellence validates some of our conceptual thinking and
values. Happy users that take ownership of our work are the best
awards,” says Graupner. “Turning constraints into opportunities
often requires reading between the lines, amplifying what already
exists and challenging the status quo. Designing spaces that crea-
tively encourage the end users to inhabit them would constitute a
successful project for me.”
win national awards
TOP
WOMEN ARCHITECTS
Four women have been honoured in the
2013/14 Corobrik-SAIA Awards of Excellence
presented by Corobrik and the South African
Institute for Architects (SAIA) at a gala dinner
in Durban in August.
>
OPPOSITE:
Charlotte Chamberlain and Nicola Irving won their Award of
Excellence for the new pre-school and Art buildings for campus of Springfield
Convent School in the southern suburbs of Cape Town.
RIGHT:
Michele Sandilands won the
award for her work on Phase II of
UNISA on the Cape Flats.
BELOW:
Anne Graupner was awarded
for her studio home in Brixton.
