The AIA London/UK Chapter announced it 2002 Excellence in Design Award winners February 12 at the chapter's eighth annual Excellence in Design Awards gala at the British Museum. The awards program recognizes and honors excellence designed by:
• UK-based architects for projects anywhere in the world
• Architects anywhere in the world for projects in the UK
• Students of architecture currently enrolled in UK universities.

The jury members were:
• Chair Rory Coonan
• Sir Colin Stansfield Smith
• Professor Adrian Gale
• Larry Oltmanns, AIA, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
• Vivien Lovell, Modus Operandi
• Piers Gough, CZWG.
In summarizing the award winners, the jury statement reads: "These are four very good schemes reflecting a range of building types. We see this as a very serious set of awards."

The winning projects (with the jury's comments) are:

Thames Barrier Park
by Patel Taylor
designed for London Development Agency

"There are so few good landscape schemes on major sites in the UK," said the jury. "It is hugely habitable; it takes advantage of the opportunity to design a landscape environment. It is confident in its use of planting and very witty."

(Photo courtesy of the architect)

88 Wood Street, London
by the Richard Rogers Partnership
designed for Daiwa Europe Property

"It is so beautiful, so elegant," the jury remarked. "It is a Rolls Royce of a building."

(Photo © Richard Bryant)

Gateshead Millennium Bridge
by Wilkinson Eyre Architects
designed for Development & Enterprise Group, Gateshead Council

"It is functionally brilliant . . . clever in the way it changes shape," said the jury. "The eyelid metaphor has broad appeal. It is a 'one idea' scheme that is very successful."

(Photo © Graeme Peacock)

Terminus and Car Park, Hoenheim North
by Zaha Hadid Architects
designed for Compagnie des Transports Strasbourgeois

"The more I look at it, the more perfect it gets," remarked one of the jurors.

(Photo © Daniel Chou)

Student Travel Award Winners
• Frederick Pittman, University of Newcastle upon Tyne
• Cheuk Sang Max Ngai, University of Newcastle upon Tyne |view photo|
• Michael Shaw and James Taylor, Edinburgh University Department of Architecture. |view photo|

About the awards program

Professional awards: Eligible projects may be buildings or structures or groups of either. Projects need not be limited to new-buildings. Renovations, interior designs, designs for monuments, and urban design/master planning projects also are eligible. Projects must be the work of registered or licensed architects, and construction had to have been completed between January 1, 1996, and December 2001. For urban design/master planning projects only, unbuilt work undertaken within this period will also be eligible. Eligibility is at the sole discretion of the jury. The jury reserves the right to make as many awards as they see fit. The AIA London/UK Excellence in Design Awards Program is sponsored by MACE Limited.

Student awards: Students award winners are currently enrolled in a Part I or Part II validated architecture program at a UK university or college. Monetary awards totaling £2,000 (about $3,000) will be made to sponsor educational travel. The student award program is sponsored by ASITE.

Copyright 2002 The American Institute of Architects. All rights reserved.