New Zealand Architecture Award For Franklin: The Centre

Franklin: The Centre has been awarded a New Zealand Institute of Architecture (NZIA) Resene New Zealand Award for Architecture 2008. Franklin: The Centre will now go forward to compete in the Supreme Awards to be announced in Auckland on May 24.

Franklin District Council’s Mayor, Mark Ball, is thrilled with the award and says it is another example of how Franklin punches above its weight.

“Franklin: The Centre is a great facility for Franklin, and we are pretty proud of achieving it on time, on budget. This award is further recognition of a job really well done,” says Mark.

This is the third architecture award Franklin: The Centre has won since opening last year. In October last year it won two NZIA Resene Local Wards for Architecture in the Community and Cultural buildings category and for its use of Colour.

The NZIA website says judges evaluated entries against criteria including the relationship of a building to its site and context, design quality, building form, structure and spatial qualities. User satisfaction and environmental aspects were also taken into account.

The main consideration for the judges in assessing projects is how well a building resolves key design issues and then builds on this solution to “contribute to the advancement of architecture.”

The NZIA website says Franklin: The Centre is “a deftly handled and dignified extension to the town's civic precinct”.