Dazzling designs take out awards

Two Tauranga buildings - the Kathleen Kilgour Centre and Bay Oval Trust Carrus Pavilion - have been named winners in the 2015 Waikato-Bay of Plenty Architecture Awards.

The New Zealand Institute of Architects announced the awards last night after a four-person jury shortlisted 28 projects, of which there were 18 winners.

Jury convener Camden Cummings said the overall standard of design was high.

Other members of this year's jury were architects Lindley Naismith, Les Matthews and Tauranga lay juror Alasdair Christie.

The Kathleen Kilgour Centre, designed by Wingate + Farquhar, won the public architecture category.

The jury said that the radiotherapy clinic was "a striking addition to Tauranga Hospital's health precinct".

The regard the architects had for the physical and psychological needs of patients, and steps taken to ensure greater energy efficiency, meant this building succeeded on "human, healthcare and environmental scales", the jury said.

The Bay Oval Trust Carrus Pavilion, designed by Jasmax, also received honours for public architecture.

The new home of Bay of Plenty cricket was described as "robust and elegant".

"Thick timber beams and in situ concrete walls ensure the building will endure any hard knocks.

"While the distinguished curve of the pavilion roofline, echoed by the sweeping terraces of the foreground, reflects the sweeping geometry of the oval itself," the jury said.

At Waihi Beach, the discrete design of the Bagge-Des Forge House by Roger Course Architect won one of 10 housing architecture awards.

The jury described the house as "refreshingly compact" achieved with an "economy of means".

The house was also praised for being "warmly expressive of its place and the personality of the family that lives there".

The New Zealand Architecture Awards programme has been supported by Resene since 1990.

It is judged by juries appointed by the New Zealand Institute of Architects and its branches.

All winners of 2013 Waikato-Bay of Plenty Architecture Awards are eligible for consideration at the top tier of the annual Architecture Awards, which take place in November.