Local Architect Short Listed for Award

By Monique Birdsall, Nor’Ain Sulaiman and Samantha Drysdale, Bond University Journalism Students

A LOCAL architect has been short listed for the World Architect Festival Awards which will be held in November.

Design Forum Architects will compete against internationally acclaimed architectural firms in the Future Projects Residential category.

The Design Forum proposal for a development within the Gold Coat Hinterland Ecovillage will be presented at the festival.

Architectural Director Amy Degenhart said she would make a presentation about their proposal in front of eight judges the day before the winners were announced.

“I put many hours of work into the proposal, and as the presentation boards were already complete I decided on the last day of entries that I would submit a nomination,” she said.

Amy said the inspiration for the proposal came from visiting the Ecovillage site.
 “It was such a beautiful block of land that I determined the brief should be more inclusive and perhaps more like a retreat than a home for just an individual family.”

Design Forum Architects along with Land Matters Currumbin PTY LTD also won the Gold Coast City Council Helen Josephson award for Innovation in Urban Design 2009.