An Otago architecture firm behind a 190,000sq m fashion headquarters in China has been voted people’s choice for an international architecture award.
Architecture Van Brandenburg, a South Island-based architecture firm with studios in Dunedin and Queenstown, took home a People’s Choice Award at the 12th annual Architizer A+ Awards in New York recently.
Architecture Van Brandenburg designer Damien van Brandenburg said it was an unexpected honour and a significant achievement to win the award.
To create buildings that had a positive impact and were appreciated by both viewers and visitors was very important to them, he said.
“For us, this reflects not only an excellence in architectural design but also the broad appeal and support from the public.
“This is most impactful, as architectural recognition from the public is independent of taste and styles of industry, jury and judges.”
Mr van Brandenburg said the firm had worked on builds ranging from large-scale commercial buildings through to small public works, with a number of national and international projects in the works.
The firm won the A+ award in the commercial mixed-use typology category, for projects larger than 25,000 square feet, for their work on the Marisfrolg Fashion Campus project in Shenzhen, China — the headquarters for one of the country’s leading fashion apparel brands — which opened in September last year.
The 190,400sq m campus was designed and built over the past 14 years and resembles a bird in flight.
It houses design studios, production facilities, a boutique hotel, events space, an 80m-long catwalk and exhibition spaces.
Mr van Brandenburg said Marisfrolg was comprised of seven different fashion labels which the headquarters brought together into one central location to become a “hub of creativity” for their fashion industry.
The Architizer A+ Awards were open to an international audience and was recognised in the architecture profession as “quite significant” he said.
On its website, Architizer said its A+ Awards spotlighted the work of architects and designers who were “not content with the status quo”.
Both jury and popular choice winners would be featured in its annual publication, Architizer: The World’s Best Architecture.
Mr van Brandenburg said it was validating for the public to have commented on their work through a forum such as the Architizer A+ Awards, and their feedback made the award really meaningful and impactful.
“It’s validation for us.”