Sixteen of the 33 winners of this year's Irish Architecture Awards were projects funded by Government bodies or agencies, indicating the importance of the public sector in bettering the built environment. Frank McDonald, Environment Editor reports
The awards, which were presented yesterday by the president of the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland, Mr Toal Ó Muiré, are headlined, for the first time, by six buildings selected as the best projects in their class.
Edinburgh architects Benson and Forsyth won the Best Public Building award for the National Gallery of Ireland's Millennium Wing, where "light, shade, surface, material and space are conjured to produce a public building of presence, drama and integrity".
Murray O'Laoire's Shannon Airport Terminal was named as the Best Commercial Building. "Through the excellent use of materials, form and light, the architects have created a gateway building that is refined, legible, impressive and open," the jury said. O'Mahony Pike Architects won the Best Housing Project award for MKN Properties' development at 150 Howth Road, Dublin, which was hailed as "an essay in the ability of accomplished designers to reinvigorate the linear apartment block".
Duffy Mitchell O'Donoghue's Darndale Belcamp Village Centre, commissioned by Dublin City Council, was judged the Best Contribution to Urban Design for its scale, form and quality, making "a statement that is political and social as well as architectural".
The award for Best Conservation/Restoration Project went to deBlacam and Meagher Architects for their "muscular, modern and supremely well-considered interventions" to adapt the medieval keep of Maynooth Castle in Co Kildare for Dúchas.
The sixth special award, for Best Building in the Landscape, was given to Ferguson McIlveen Architects for the "sharp unflinching modern design" of the new Aberfoyle Research Pavilions of the University of Ulster's Magee College campus in Derry.
There were 199 entries for the competition, now in its 13th year. Of these, 33 were given awards and a further 45 selected for exhibition at the RIAI's Architecture Centre, 8 Merrion Square, until August 9th, before going on tour.
The institute's director, Mr John Graby, said the standard of the entries "illustrates that the quality of design is continuing to improve significantly", demonstrating that good quality architecture "adds value, not just to the building itself, but to the community".
He said the Building Control Bill, which will register the title "architect" for the first time, would be important in protecting the public by ensuring that those calling themselves architects would have the proper training, experience and codes of conduct. The RIAI has also organised a Conservation Accreditation system, which will provide additional training to members working in this area.