The Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) has announced David and Susan Scott, a Vancouver couple whose architectural careers have been intertwined for 19 years, as winners of the 2016 Young Architect Award.
The husband-and-wife team works together as Scott & Scott Architects within their family home, a street-level studio and workshop built in 2012, which allows them to work alongside their two young daughters.
Their projects, located mostly in British Columbia, include cabins at Whistler, and Lac le Jeune; houses at Bowen Island, Tofino, Squamish and North Vancouver; the restaurants Kin Kao, Torafuku, and Bestie (all in Vancouver) and a barn on Pender Island. They also design furniture, lighting fixtures and architectural hardware for their buildings.
“The work is fresh, unique and direct,” said the five-member jury. “The quality of light and proportion contributes to the designs. The detailing of the projects, in particular, displays considerable craft and warmth.”
The RAIC Young Architect Award recognizes architects 40 years old or younger for excellence in design, leadership, and service to the profession. The award is intended to inspire other young architects to become licensed and to strive for excellence in their work.
Last year, the Scotts were selected as part of an international team, with architects from Sweden and Norway, to create a snow-bound alpine community in the Sierra Nevada mountains in California. The three-year project encompasses master planning and design of housing, a public lodge, warming structures, and furniture.
Both received their masters of architecture degree from Dalhousie University in 2000. From 2000 to 2012, they worked in prominent offices in their hometown of Vancouver. Ms. Scott worked at James Cheng Architects and Mcfarlane Green Biggar Architecture + Design. Mr. Scott worked in the office of Peter Cardew Architects.
The Scotts have an interest in the process of construction; they launched their practice with an award-winning remote snowboard cabin on Vancouver Island, built with friends using locally felled lumber.
They also contribute to architectural education. Ms. Scott is an intern mentor with the Architectural Institute of British Columbia, and Mr. Scott has taught at the University of British Columbia, the University of Calgary and the British Columbia Institute of Technology.
The duo will receive their award at the RAIC Festival of Architecture which takes place in Nanaimo, BC from June 8 to 11.
