JUDGING is underway for the Australian Institute of Architects’ 2015 ACT Architecture Awards, to be announced at an exhibition and presentation dinner in QT Canberra on June 20.

According to prominent Australian architect and Jury Chair, Hal Guida, the 48 entries in the awards reveal “a new Canberra emerging”.  Guida said: “This year confirms Canberra as a growing and dynamic place with initiatives such as the light rail, the new Canberra International Airport terminal [his firm designed it, so he should know], and coming developments along Constitution Avenue.”

In his view, Canberra is revealed as “a dynamic global city with serious depth in what it offers.” The entries, he said, had a combined construction value of more than a billion dollars completed within the last 3-4 years, providing evidence of a vibrant construction industry that represented around 5.4 per cent of GDP in Canberra in 2013/2014.

Entries this year range from small projects such as shading devices and home additions, to new terrace housing, apartment buildings, a new urban centre and a new swimming pool at the Chinese Embassy, completed to coincide with the visit by Chinese President Xi Jinxing in 2014.

But Guida believes the annual awards have a serious side to them. “These award entries always show Canberra’s best side,” he concedes, ‘they also reveal how far we have to go.”

ACT Chapter President, Andrew Wilson agrees, saying “The ACT Government is making a solid investment in better transport choice, and a suite of bold policies are needed…Architects, their clients and contractors are the ones who make this planning real so we look forward to making this reform agenda a reality too.’

Members of the public will have the opportunity to vote on their favourite projects of 2015 in the People’s Choice Award for the residential projects. Voting closes  June 15 at wp.architecture.com.au/news-media/act-peoples-choice-award