PRINCIPAL and design lead at Clarke Keller, Cassandra Keller, has been awarded the President’s Medal by the ACT Chapter of the Australian Institute of Architects, it was announced yesterday evening (August 27).

Keller, ACT president Shannon Battisson said, had demonstrated a long-standing commitment over the last 25 years to the profession of architecture through leadership, acumen in business and her contribution to innovative design and community-making, also seen in her service to the Institute’s ACT Chapter Council, the National Association of Women in Construction ACT and the Property Council of Australia ACT.

“Cassandra is passionate about architecture and how it can change people’s lives. She is driven by a clear overarching design vision which places people at the centre of the design process,” Battisson said.

The chapter’s awards went on to acknowledge established and aspiring architects who, they said, had shown ingenuity, experimentation and confidence in the work they had designed for Canberra and beyond.

The Clem Cummings Medal, which recognises the contributions by non-architects to architecture and in the public interest, went to heritage and design practitioners Amy Jarvis, Rachel Jackson and Edwina Jans, who established their business, Canberra Modern, in 2016.

“With Canberra in danger of losing more of its mid-century buildings, Canberra Modern’s efforts in promoting the benefits of these buildings is critical both to save part of Canberra’s history but also to generate greater architectural tourism for Canberra,” Battisson said.

The Architectural Professional Practitioner Award was awarded to Nathan Judd of Judd.studio. This Award celebrates an ACT architectural professional who has demonstrated exemplary skills in the professional practice of architecture in 2020.

Holly Caton and Rachel Clements jointly received the ACT Chapter Student Medallion for attaining the highest grade point average over five years of architectural education at the University of Canberra, and were also the 2019 co-recipients of the Institute’s Daryl Jackson Alastair Swayn Graduate Prize, awarded for attaining the highest grade point average over the two years of the Master of Architecture course at the university.

Christine Palmer was announced as the 2019 recipient of the John Redmond Prize, awarded for the highest achievement during the first three years of architectural studies at UC.