Technical Excellence Award - Individual

2009

• Eqo Leung, Lead Design Architect, Auckland, New Zealand

Eqo was the architect for the Wilson School project in Takapuna.  In 2009 this project received the NZ Architecture Medal from the New Zealand Institute of Architects which is the highest honour in NZ architecture. The project went on to represent NZ architecture at the international architectural awards in Barcelona. No other Opus architectural project has come close to this level of recognition.

The medal recognises Wilson School as the pinnacle of NZ architecture, and supreme amongst the many projects entered into the awards programme across NZ. The award represents technical excellence not only in terms of aesthetics, imagination and refinement but also providing special functionality.

• Ben Symmons, Asset Management Team Leader, Perth, Western Australia

Ben is the Asset Management Team Leader for the Perth office. Ben's skills have moved the Perth office forward,  to where it is now consistently in a strong position to win and deliver on various low and high level asset management projects. He has been commissioned by other Opus offices, showing their confidence in him at all times. This respect has been achieved through Ben's hard working nature, and his outstanding technical knowledge in asset management.

On more than one occasion, Ben has been asked to do work elsewhere in Western Australia, where he has been more than willing to share his expertise with other offices. Furthermore, on occasion, Ben has travelled across Australia to present at conferences and meet with other Clients. This has been another example to showcase Ben's extensive knowledge in asset management.

In Perth, Ben has created a consistent revenue stream in the asset management field. He has done this not only through his knowledge of asset managmeent, but also through his ability to share with others his experiences and know-how of asset management. To be able to do this shows a depth of knowledge in his chosen field that is unmatched by many.  A demonstration of Ben's technical excellence was the lead he took in paving the way to winning and delivering the Western Australian Local Government Association rollout of ROMAN II. The project is a credit to Ben's knowledge to move the documentation of this project forward from start to finish.

• Richard Daniels, Principal Architect, Napier, New Zealand

Over a number of years Richard has consistently demonstrated an excellence in his approach to architectural design by leading a number of projects that have received New Zealand Institute of Architects (NZIA) Branch Awards. In the past 10 years Opus has received eight NZIA awards for projects Richard has lead. There are also two Association of Consulting Engineers New Zealand (ACENZ) awards and a New Zealand Planning Institute (NZPI) award.

This culminated in 2009 where three projects he was responsible for received NZIA awards. It is a credit to him and his teams that his peers, on various juries, continually recognise his attention to design quality.

This together with delighted clients has lead to Richard obtaining commissions based on his Opus reputation. There are cases where a fee differential, even in a competitive environment, has been achieved.