Stephen Ashton, Howard Raggatt, Ian McDougall. Winners, 2016 Architecture Gold Medal.

“ARM has been a genuine leader, influencer, provocateur, culture builder and disseminator of ideas for nearly three decades…”

—Jon Clements, National President, Australian Institute of Architects

“Ashton, Raggatt and McDougall’s writings, designs and built work have consistently gone to the heart of what matters in architecture, presenting local and universal meaning…there are no other architects quite like ARM, and we value their presence on the international scene as trenchant practitioners.”

—Charles Jencks, cultural theorist, architectural critic and historian

The Gold Medal is the highest honour awarded by the Australian Institute of Architects. It recognises our founding directors’ contribution since 1988 to architecture and urban design around the nation.

Besides ARM’s built work, Steve, Howard and Ian have made profoundly influential contributions throughout their careers to shaping architectural culture and thought around the nation. They have also nurtured the next generation of design thinkers. All have participated in exhibitions, lectures and national conferences. Howard and Ian are both Adjunct Professors of Architecture at RMIT. Ian is also Professor of Architecture and Urban Design at the University of Adelaide.

“We work in a team. We have long argued against the lone wolf design idea. Great works are made by multiple architectural skills—it’s all done around the table. So our honour this evening is shared with the people in our office.”—Ian McDougall, acceptance speech.

The revered Gold Medal was presented on Friday 29 April 2016 at a special ceremony at the Adelaide Oval. Howard and Ian accepted Steve’s medal on his behalf, just three months before he died.

ARM has won many other awards from the Australian Institute of Architects. We are the only firm to have won the Victorian Architecture Medal six times.

“The Gold Medal recognises their work for what it is: a profound and extended meditation on the nature of architecture and on Australian architecture in particular.”

—Architecture Australia magazine, May/June 2016

Architecture Australia, May/June 2016