6 August 2010
Dundee graduate scoops top prize in prestigious architecture competition
University of Dundee architecture graduate Alan Keane is celebrating after winning the UK's most prestigious Student Architectural competition.
Alan (33), originally from County Waterford, beat off competition from architecture students across the country to be awarded first place in the 3DReid Student Prize 2010. He received £1,500 as a reward for his winning project, which examined theatre design.
It is one more reason for Alan, who graduated with a Master of Architecture degree in June, to celebrate as his wife recently gave birth to the couple’s second child.
3DReid is one of the country’s leading and largest architectural practices, with studios in London, Glasgow and Birmingham. Their annual Student Prize is regarded as the most prestigious award for young architects to win.
'I’m absolutely delighted and more than a little surprised,' he said. 'I had been shortlisted for the award, but I genuinely didn’t expect to win. I went along to the award ceremony in Glasgow thinking that it would be a good chance to network more than anything else.
'My project concentrated on theatre design, and testing a number of ideas I had developed when I was writing my thesis. It was good to test these out and develop them further.
'During the course, we were divided into groups and given the option to study different types of building. Some chose schools, offices or residential, but theatres appealed to me because of their complex architecture which fitted with what I’d been studying in previous years.
'The process involved research concurrent with design, continually evolving and testing ideas. With regard to my thesis project, the premise for this experiment in theatre architecture is to acknowledge the limitations of designing the auditorium as a concluded exercise, to accept specific constraints and then to act on them.'
Alan is the fifth winner of the 3DReid Student Prize, which is run in conjunction with the Architect's Journal. The invitation is extended to all schools of architecture in the UK.
A record number of nominations were made in 2010 and, after a shortlist was compiled by a combination of a public vote and judges from 3DReid, an esteemed panel of industry professionals then identified Alan’s project as the best from an exhibition of the shortlisted entries.
Becoming an architect has been a lifelong dream for Alan, who first came to Dundee to study the discipline in 1996. Ill-health forced him to leave his studies three years later but Alan’s desire to study architecture refused to fade, and he began the course again in 2004.
He is currently looking for a 12-month work placement to enable him to undertake his professional qualifications and says he hopes that winning such a prestigious award will help him secure work.
In the meantime, Alan says the prize money will come in very handy.
'I think I’ll buy a couple of books on architecture, but beyond that I think the fact we have a new mouth to feed will account for most of it! I’ve always wanted to be an architect and had regretted having to give up my course so it came to the point when I just thought 'I’ve got to go back and do this'. I’m delighted that I did, and graduating and winning this award vindicated my decision.'
Graeme Hutton, Dean of the School of Architecture, congratulated Alan, saying, 'The 3DReid award is undoubtedly the UK's biggest and most prestigious student architectural competition and we are delighted that it has been won by one of our graduates this year.
'Alan’s excellent project makes him a worthy winner, and the fact he was up against entries from almost every other architecture school in the UK makes it a very significant achievement of which he should be very proud.'
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