Architects fly high with awards
Building and sculpture win top national recognition
ASTAINLESS steel Helenvale art piece of a child flying a kite, which has proved so popular that it is used as a backdrop for wedding photo shoots, has won a prestigious national award.
The piece, known as Kite Boy, is the winner of one of two stainless steel awards collected by a Port Elizabeth architecture firm in Johannesburg last week, with the other being for new features at the revamped Port Elizabeth Opera House.
The Matrix Urban Designers and Architects were announced in first place and overall winners in the architecture, building and construction category for the additions and alterations to the Opera House.
They also received a merit award in the art category for an installation at the Helenvale Community Centre.
The Matrix director Professor Albrecht Herholdt said: “[This is] testament to the quality of work being produced in the Eastern Cape which is able to rival world-class building on every level.”
For the Helenvale Community Centre award, Herholdt said the stainless steel art piece referred to as Kite Boy “evokes movement, upon which a figure of a young child [made] out of cast resin, balances, while looking towards the centre and flying a kite”.
“This art piece has truly become a centrepiece in the community and is often used as the backdrop for photo shoots for weddings.”
Herholdt said the work done on the Opera House, which included multiple installations and renovation work, provided a contrast between old and new.
“In line with contemporary heritage practices, to avoid recreating a false impression, the new extensions are intentionally contrasted with the old through form, materials, tectonics as well as spatial character,” he said.
The design of the revamped Opera House includes two specific stainless steel features – a screen as part of the new foyer extension’s street facade and a bridge which provides a physical link between the foyer extension and the historical building.
“The screen offers an elegant visual filter during the day while revealing the illuminated interior at night – a modern ‘curtain’.
“The badge flooring [of the bridge] consists of glass panels to further emphasise the break between the two spaces and enhance the contrast between old and new,” Herholdt said.
The Matrix, which works closely with the Mandela Bay Development Agency, is working on the revamp of the Campanile. Other projects include the Mendi MultiPurpose Centre in New Brighton as well as renovations to the Port Elizabeth Main Library.
Herholdt said although it was not the first time the firm had been acknowledged by the South African Stainless Steel Development Association, the awards were great further recognition.
The firm – based in Richmond Hill – has a list of awards and achievements under its belt.
They include five Eastern Cape Institute of Architects awards and three South Africa Institute of Architects awards.