Arabic version: سوزان دوغديل تنال أعلى وسام معماري
According to ABC News, Alice Springs architect Susan Dugdale has received the Australian Institute of Architects gold medal for 2027, the industry’s highest honour. The founder of Susan Dugdale Architects said she was “gobsmacked and surprised” by the award, which recognises her outstanding contribution to Australian architecture.
Dugdale opened her own practice in 2000. The institute’s jury recognised work dedicated to deeply considered interactions between people, remote places and cultures, saying her projects craft regional built form across dry desert plains, wet tropics and extreme heat. Dugdale said she may be the first recipient from a regional area rather than a capital city.
The medal follows several Northern Territory architecture awards for Susan Dugdale Architects’ Congress Mparntwe Health Hub in Alice Springs. The project won five titles at this year’s Northern Territory Architecture Awards and brought staff previously working at different locations around town into one central site.
The health hub is the first and only building in the Northern Territory granted a 6-star green rating, which the Green Building Council of Australia describes as a world-leading sustainability rating. Dugdale said the project considered energy consumption, passive design suited to the local climate, recycling and employment initiatives. Katherine Ashe, who served on the Northern Territory jury, said the building lowered water consumption and improved indoor air quality through operable mechanical systems and passive thermal principles.
Located beside the Todd River, the hub was elevated above the 100-year flood level. SDA architect Miriam Wallace said it remained unaffected when the river broke its banks earlier in the year and neighbouring buildings flooded. Site planning also protected and supported regeneration of a river red gum sacred to Arrernte men. More than 30 per cent of Asbuild NT’s direct labour during its more than 81,000 construction hours was completed by Aboriginal workers.
