Professionals from various organisations were set to gather at a gala dinner in Montecasino Ball Room on the evening of 19 March 2020 to honour the best amongst them. However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the SAPSA Awards were indefinitely postponed. The organisers of the event have subsequently undertaken to progressively announce the winners for the 2019/2020 edition prior to hosting a gathering for all finalists and guests. This marks the fifth edition of the Awards following a rigorous process of determining winners through strict criteria.
Special commendation in the Architecture Firm of the Year category
The firm awards were based on the following criteria – business growth, customer service, technical excellence, contribution to the community, contribution to the profession, transformation record and commitment to ethics and professionalism. The criteria were not equally weighted, a strong showing in one category was sufficient to put the firm above the rest. Boogertman’s projects have scooped accolades on various platforms: Africa Property Investments, GIFA, Steel Awards, Archiboo Web, CORE, PMR and SAPOA. The firm is set apart from other architecture companies by active participation in the Graduate School of Architecture lecture series as well as the Design Scholarship for Africa. From a business growth perspective, the judges noted that the Group has launched an Interiors Turnkey division.
Young Professional of the year Architecture category
Janette Minnaar, the chair of the adjudication panel explained how the winners were determined.“Individuals were judged based on a host of attributes including demonstration of leadership skills, changing of paradigms and innovation within the bounds of available resources. We also conferred a number of Lifetime Achievement Awards to deserving recipients who had served their professions faithfully for many years,” said Minnaar.“As regards Alasdair, he rightfully sees his position as an opportunity to engage directly with clients on new ways to approach old problems in a way that makes business sense for them and pushes the envelope of design possibility,” the judges remarked. “He is an achiever having come second in the Des Baker design competition and is cited by Bob van Bebber as his number 2 in the Award-winning project of Discovery Place. He is unafraid of projects at scale having been fortunate to be exposed to large urban design thinking from very early in his career.”