An architectural project demonstrating ‘a maturity that stood out from the rest’ was among the three winning entries in the 2011 AAA Cavalier Bremworth Unbuilt Architecture Awards, announced last night at Auckland’s St Paul St Gallery.

Yumian (Dino) Chai’s winning design in the student section was entitled ‘100 rooms of solitude’ and featured 100 tiny models representing 100 days of memories. The judges described the project as ’intelligent, experimental, poetic, universal, endlessly inventive, delicate and sensitive’.

A new ‘Open category’ for New Zealand professional architects was introduced to this year’s competition. The Open category was divided into two sections – Open Work-in-Progress and Open Conceptual.

Winner of the Open Work-in-Progress section was Gerald Melling of Melling Morse in Wellington for the St Mary’s Convent residential project in Lyttelton. Judges commented, “the design of this house is an elegant solution in recycling the ravaged remains of St Mary’s Convent. The proposal displays great clarity and maturity in planning, proportions, and materiality. The jury sincerely hopes this project comes to fruition.”

Taking out the Open Conceptual section was a quartet from Burgess & Treep - Graeme Burgess, Michael Strange, Vance Bentley and Sybil Bloomfield. Their project to create a new floating park on the East River in New York incorporating a decommissioned aircraft carrier ‘demonstrated the imaginative type of thinking that could be applied to the Auckland waterfront’ noted the judges.

A full summary of the 2011 award winners is below:

Student Winner: Yumian (Dino) Chai
100 Rooms of Solitude

Judges citation’: An intelligent, experimental, poetic, universal, endlessly inventive, delicate and sensitive project that fully expressed the potential of the award and demonstrated a maturity that stood out for the judges.

Student – Runner Up: Clayton Prest
Tipu Spiritual Retreat

Judges’ citation: Well presented, romantic, haunting project that is easy to believe. Demonstrates a credible NZ typology and references a refreshing relationship between the natural and the manmade. Judges enjoyed the clarity and simplicity of presentation.

Student - Highly Commended: Claudia Weber
Implementing Permaculture into a Refugee Camp

Judges’ Citation: A very humane, generous and self-effacing scheme that demonstrates the practical service that architecture can give to even a simple life. It’s easy to understand that this could create real change and benefit. It exhibits an architectural humility and appropriateness that could easily be applied to existing situations.

Open Conceptual – Winner: Graeme Burgess, Michael Strange, Vance Bentley, Sibyl Bloomfield, Burgess & Treep Architects
A Design for the East River between 38th & 60th Street, NYC

Judges’ citation: There was a boldness to this project that the judges responded to. It is an example of the type of creativity that needs to be applied to the Auckland waterfront. Its message of peace is right for NY and illustrates the recycling of a decommissioned aircraft carrier is a highly imaginative solution. The interlinking components are no less strong.

Open Conceptual – Runner Up: Jonathan Gibb
The Green Cage

Judges’ citation: Beautifully evocative project with a balance of delicacy and robustness. A place that is haunting and imagines a different potential for an abandoned space. Demonstrates a collection of highly liveable spaces in an otherwise tough and unused environment

Open Conceptual – Highly Commended: Fraser Moore, Kenneth Li
Olympic Pavilion

Judges’ citation: An easy grace in the way this pavilion folds itself out of the square and in the landscape-like nature of its approach.

Open Work-in-Progress – Winner: Gerald Melling, Melling Morse
St Mary’s Convent

Judges’ citation: The design of this house is an elegant solution in recycling the ravaged remains of St Mary’s Convent. The proposal displays great clarity and maturity in planning, proportions, and materiality. The jury sincerely hopes this project comes to fruition.

Open Work in Progress – Runner Up: RTA Studio
Mixed use cafe/retail/office - Ponsonby 

Judges’ citation: The jury commends the appropriate size and simplicity of this small commercial development. Set in one of Auckland’s best loved retail precincts, its fine human scale and market arrangement respects and develops this neighbourhood to a new level.