Some of the best recent architectural projects from Taranaki, Whanganui, the Manawatu and Horowhenua regions were recognised in the 2012 Western Architecture Awards, announced at Whanganui’s award-winning Sarjeant Gallery on 2 November.

It was a clean sweep for architects Boon Goldsmith Bhaskar in the Interior Architecture category with four awards received for the Antunovic Bathroom (Oakura), the Cameron Buckley House (New Plymouth), JRI Offices (New Plymouth) and Powerco Project Open, respectively. Boon Goldsmith Bhaskar Team Architects were also awarded in the Commercial section of the awards programme for Energy City Motors in New Plymouth. In the same category, GHD Architecture received an award for the 1RNZIR Workshop at the army’s Linton Camp.

The Awards jury convened by Whanganui architect, Duncan Sinclair, gave an Enduring Architecture Award to Whanganui’s Sarjeant Gallery, which was built in 1919 by Edmund Anscombe and Associates to the design of a young architect, Donald Hosie, who was killed at Passchendale. Judges commented: The Gallery’s pioneering use of “Top-Side-Lighted” lighting was hugely influential in this country, and the restrained interior has proved a remarkably successful environment in which to display a significant public art collection, just as the Oamaru stone exterior has provided a local exemplar of architectural excellence for 90 years. The Sarjeant Gallery is a wonderful testament to and validation of a city’s architectural ambition.”

Scroll through the image gallery above to view the 2012 Western Architecture Award winners or see below for a full summary. Click here for judges’ citations.

Commercial

• Energy City Motors (New Plymouth) by Boon Goldsmith Bhaskar Team Architects Ltd
• 1 RNZIR Workshop, Linton Camp by GHD Architecture

Education

• Te Wainui a Rua School (Ranana, Whanganui) by Opus Architecture

Housing

• Dickson House (Whanganui) by Bruce Dickson Architect
• House of Emotions (Palmerston North) by Architype – Shadbolt Architects Ltd
• Lloyd House (New Plymouth) by Saunders Architects Limited
• Plymouth Road Farmhouse (New Plymouth) Architects Ian Pritchard

Interior Architecture

• Antunovic Bathroom (Oakura) by Boon Goldsmith Bhaskar Team Architects Ltd
• Cameron Buckley House (New Plymouth) by Boon Goldsmith Bhaskar Team Architects Ltd
• JRI Offices (New Plymouth) by Boon Goldsmith Bhaskar Team Architects Ltd
• Powerco Project Open (New Plymouth) by Boon Goldsmith Bhaskar Team Architects Ltd

Enduring Architecture

• Sarjeant Gallery (Whanganui) by Edward Anscombe and Associates