The Geoffrey Bawa Trust shortlists eight architects for coveted award

The Geoffrey Bawa Trust with the Steering and Judging Committees for The Geoffrey Bawa Award 2010/2011 for Excellence in Architecture has announced the short-listed finalists for its one million rupee award, which will be presented in July.

The next step for the eight short-listed submissions is an on-site technical review, followed by a final judging session which will culminate with July’s announcement of the winners.

Encompassing current concepts such as contemporary design, restoration, re-use and area conservation, The Geoffrey Bawa Award 2010 / 2011 for Excellence in Architecture will adhere to principles similar to those of the world-renowned Aga Khan Awards for Architecture, organised by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture in Geneva. As such, the Geoffrey Bawa Award for Architecture will recognise and reward only the most superior examples of

architecture, with the end objective being the encouragement of excellence in this field and the increasing awareness of the importance of the built environment.

The eight short-listed submissions will again be carefully adjudged by a panel of eminent personalities, who will now also include, as a part of their deliberations, a series of technical and physical reviews of each project prior to a final decision being made.

The judging panel for the 2010/2011 cycle comprises:

Suhanya Raffel, Trustee, Geoffrey Bawa Trust, Deputy Director, Curatorial and Collection Development at the Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane Australia

Kerry Hill, one of the foremost architects of Asia and has won numerous awards including the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 2001, Ajita de Costa is a Chartered Textile Technologist by profession, heads a well known family owned clothing enterprise. He is also the Chairman of the Heritage Foundation for the Environment and Arts

Architect Jayantha Perera FIA (SL), Past President of the Sri Lanka Institute of Architects (2008 –2009 ).

Archt. Channa Daswatte and Archt. C. Anjalendran joins them to help facilitate effective on-site Technical and Physical Reviews.

Nominees

The following are the eight short-listed submissions in the running for The Geoffrey Bawa Award 2010/2011 for Excellence in Architecture

nUdayapuram School, Periyakallar, Kallar, Batticaloa -  submitted by Archt. Yudish Ganesan

nTsunami Housing Payagalawatte, Kalutara -  submitted by  Sheran Henry Associates

nLion Museum, Biyagama -  submitted by Sheran Henry Associates

nHoliday Bungalow,  Avissawella  -  submitted by Archt. Palinda Kannangara

nKalundewa Retreat, Dambulla  -  submitted by  Archt. Sanath Liyanage

nThe New British High Comission, Colombo 7 - submitted by Richard Murphy Architects, Scotland, Scotland UK

nHoliday Bungalow, Ulpatha, Matale   - submitted by Archt.Thisara Thanapathy

nSarath Abeyrathne House, Colombo 5   - submitted by Archt.Thisara Thanapathy