Prize Giving Ceremony took place on 26 Oct 2011

The International Association for Sports and Leisure Facilities (IAKS), the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) announced this year’s winners of their international architectural awards for sports and leisure facilities. The prize-giving ceremony took place during the 22nd IAKS Congress in conjunction with FSB – International Trade Fair for Amenity Areas, Sports and Pool Facilities – on 26th October 2011 in Cologne.

A jury with international personalities honoured five projects with IOC/IAKS Gold Medals, nine with Silver, five with Bronze and argued for three Special Prizes. Seven participants were awarded with an IPC/IAKS Distinction. The winning entries come from 14 countries worldwide.

The prizes were handed out by IAKS Vice President Horst Huber, IPC President Sir Philip Craven and IOC Member Dr. Ching-Kuo Wu.

This year’s country with the biggest number of winning projects is South Africa with one Gold, one Silver and one Bronze Medal as well as one Special Prize.

The most successful sports facility is the Richmond Olympic Oval in Vancouver: The Oval won the IOC/IAKS Gold Medal as well as the IPC/IAKS Distinction for Accessibility.

The IOC/IAKS Award is the only international architecture competition for sports and leisure facilities. This year 135 teams of operators and designers from 38 countries took part in the IOC/IAKS Award. In the 24 year old history this competition for sports facilities has never previously seen such number of registered participants.

The IPC/IAKS Distinction is aimed at increasing the accessibility of all sports facilities and architectural projects in order to give opportunities to persons with a disability to practise and view sport freely and without barriers. For the IPC/IAKS Distinction, 50 entries have been received, this also is a new all-time high.

This year, the IOC, the IPC and the IAKS also launched the first Architecture and Design Award for Students and Young Professionals on innovative designs and concepts for sports, leisure and recreational facilities. This award aims at young architects and designers currently studying architecture, landscape architecture, interior design and general design, and at young professionals being in their first 2 years of their professional practice.

A total of 29 entries from 14 countries of North America, Europe, Africa and Asia have been submitted. The jury awarded one Gold, one Silver and two Bronze Medals.

Download: Award 2011 results

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