Winners of the Auckland Architecture Association (AAA) Visionary Architecture Awards 2016 were announced at a ceremony at Auckland Art Gallery on the evening of 6 December. This year, ten projects were awarded for their exceptional visions for the future.

The annual AAA Visionary Architecture Awards celebrate unbuilt and conceptual projects by architects, architecture students and graduates. Some are theoretical while others are already in the process of being built.

This year, 140 entries were received from leading architectural practices and architectural students around the country. New in 2016 was the addition of an Undergraduate Student category.

The 2016 judging panel was made up of Rau Hoskins, Elizabeth Seuseu, Holly Xie and Wellington architect Ric Slessor.

Full list of winners below:

CONCEPTUAL

Winner: 

The Arctic Pod by Copeland Associate Architects

Highly commended:

Tangihia e Oku Raukura: Urban thresholds to Farewell the Dead by Erica Kenny

Highly commended:

Mir(r)cae and the Nostalgia Machine in a Suitcase by Nhut Nguyen

STUDENT – UNDERGRADUATE

Winner:

Keeper of the Tower by Annie Tong

Highly commended:

Wishbone by Abdallah Alayan 

STUDENT – POSTGRADUATE

Winner:

Once the Dust Settles by Danielle Koni

Runner-up:

Daming Lake Meditation Centre by Shuo (Shirley) Wang

Highly commended:

Augmenting the Antarctic by Primo Huang

WORK IN PROGRESS

Winner:

Northland Beach House by Strachan Group Architects. Project Team: Dave Strachan, Roy Tebbutt, Maria Hosking, Ross Keene, Brad Pearless

Runner-up:

Tuarangi by Hamish Stirrat, Fabricate Architecture

For more information on this year’s winners, see the AAA website.

The AAA Visionary Architecture Awards is sponsored by Polyflor and the Auckland Art Gallery, as well as Mt Rosa Wines, Pattersons Associates Architects, Strachan Group Architects, Marketecture, Katalog, Unitec Copy Centre and Digital Darkroom.