2012 Queensland Smart Design Awards

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2012 Queensland Smart Design Fellowship recipient, architect Shane Thompson.

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2012 Queensland Emerging Design Leader Award recipient Amy Saunders with one of her projects, Parking Day.

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The 2012 Queensland Smart Design Awards (formerly known as the Queensland Premier’s Design Awards) recognize those dedicated to positioning design at the heart of Queensland life and making the state a hub for design excellence in Australia and the rest of the Asia-Pacific region.

The Queensland Smart Design Awards present:

A $40,000 Queensland Smart Design Fellowship to an individual who has significantly contributed to developing a design culture in Queensland; entrants may be from any sector
A $10,000 Queensland Emerging Design Leader Award to an emerging designer who embodies excellence in their expertise, talent, skill and commitment to design.

2012 Queensland Smart Design Fellowship

Shane Thompson

As director and principal of BVN Architecture from 1987 to 2011, Thompson expanded the Brisbane-based firm to include studios in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra and London. During this period, BVN’s projects received numerous national and international awards and appeared regularly in built design publications.

As well as his newly established enterprise Shane Thompson Architects and work as adjunct professor at the University of Queensland, Thompson is the president of Australian Institute of Architects’ Queensland Chapter and an Institute national councillor. He was also creative director of the Brisbane-hosted 2012 National Architecture Conference. Thompson’s advocacy roles include board membership of the Architecture Practice Academy Advisory Board, Green Cross Australia and the Board for Urban Places.

The judging panel commended Thompson on his strategic leadership of government bodies and industry and education initiatives to strengthen the viability of design and industry for Queensland. It applauded Thompson’s strong participation in community consultation, his cross-sector collaboration and his ongoing work with the education system to create a more active, resilient and robust design sector for Queensland’s future.

2012 Queensland Emerging Design Leader Award

Amy Saunders

Amy Saunders is a landscape architect at ecological design firm Yurrah and a design tutor at the Queensland University of Technology. She also volunteers as communications manager for [co]design studio. Saunders has also been instrumental in community-focused design projects and is editor of the Brisbane PARK(ing) Day book, which contribute to local business, tourism and environmental sustainability.

The judging panel applauded Saunders for her innovative, professional and collaborative approach to public space design and community engagement. It also commended her awareness of social space design, her approach to large-scale projects with a strong level of stakeholder engagement, her collaboration with community and organizations, and her focus on actively expanding and challenging the boundaries of her discipline. The judging panel expressed confidence in her ability to maximize the opportunities presented by this award.

As the successful recipient of the 2012 Emerging Design Leader Award, Saunders will attend international design events, including the London Design Festival, to explore new design thinking concepts and industry networks to support further public-space design development in Queensland.