Building and Architect of the Year 2017 winners announced

Nearly 300 architecture and construction industry figures came together to celebrate excellence and creativity at the inaugural Building and Architect of the Year Awards 2017. 17 trophies were awarded across the key areas of architecture.

The Overall Award for Architectural Excellence went to Elizabeth's Tree House, Barretstown Camp by McCauley Daye O’Connell Architects. “The awards were a very enjoyable event and evening for the Barretstown and McCauley Daye O'Connel Architects team. We were delighted that Elizabeth’s Tree House won, it is a great recognition and achievement for the wonderful teams, donors and helpers at the Barretstown Fun Camp” said the team at McCauley Daye O’Connell Architects.

The recipients of the Outstanding Contribution to Architecture were Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara, Directors at Grafton Architects. Earlier this year they became the first Irish architects ever invited to be the curators of the Venice Architecture Biennale for 2018. The two architects were warmly applauded to the stage with a standing ovation in front of an audience of their peers and colleagues.

RKD Architects were prominent on the night as they received two awards. David Petherbridge, director of RKD Architects, commented that, “there was real design buzz in the Mansion House - a fitting celebration of the high standard of innovation and design demonstrated by the architecture profession here in Ireland. We were particularly happy that the awards collected by RKD on the night (Building of the Year – Office (Medium) for Baggot Plaza and Multi-Discipline Collaboration Achievement for DIT Research Hub) represent great design work delivered through excellent team effort and client vision.”

Reddy Architecture and Urbanism took home the award for Building of the Year - Small Office Project 2017. This is the fourth project they have collaborated on with Deloitte, as part of their strategy to develop modern working environments at key locations throughout Ireland.

“Whitaker Court was created as an innovation and office space to house the exciting industry disruptors, Deloitte Blockchain Lab, and the Digital Technology Team. Such a bespoke project was in direct response to the great energy and enthusiasm generated in the workshop sessions with the Deloitte user groups. We are very proud of the end result and hope that many ground breaking ideas are generated and implemented at Whitaker Court,” said the team at Reddy Architecture and Urbanism.

The judges commenting on the entry from Reddy Architecture and Urbanism said it was a “very strong submission, an example of high quality fit out design, creating an individual and unique sense of place.”

The judging panel consisted of practitioners, academics and commentators drawn from the world of architecture, including international judges Peter Murray, chairman of NLA, London’s Centre for the Built Environment and founder of Blueprint Magazine, Lynne Sullivan OBE, one of the UK’s foremost champions of sustainable architecture and Ann Marie Aguilar, director of client relations UK and EMEA with the Washington-based International Well Building Institute.

Frank McDonald, the judging coordinator and former environment editor with The Irish Times said, “the standard was fantastic for these inaugural awards. The architecture profession has embraced this initiative which was made evident by the submissions received from all over the country. I was delighted to see the awards reflect such diversity with international, urban and rural entrants being recognised.”

The Platinum sponsors of the Building and Architect of the Year 2017 were Actavo and speaking about their involvement in the event their director of operations, Liam Brew said, “the inaugural Building & Architect of the Year Awards were a fantastic new platform for Actavo to get involved with as a platinum sponsor. We were very impressed by the excellence of the nominated projects in the various categories, and by the organisation of the event from start to finish.”

The ‘Building and Architecture of the Year Awards’ will return in 2018 with an expanded format and judging panel featuring international figureheads.

The awards were devised and organised by Business River and produced by Event Strategies. It is part of a series of events for the design and building sector which inludes The Fit Out Awards, The Construction Industry Awards, The Fit Out Conference, The FM Awards and the Irish Property Developer Conference.

Judging was by an independent panel of distinguished experts led by judging cooridnator Frank McDonald.

Below are the winners from the Building and Architect of the Year Awards 2017.

1. Building of the Year / Overall Award for Architectural Excellence