SAIA Pulse 06/2026
Updated: Sep 10
A reminder that SAIA's Annual General Meeting takes place on 23 June 2026 at 17:00 via Zoom — all members are encouraged to attend.
2026 SAIA Corobrik Awards of Excellence
The 2026 SAIA Awards of Excellence, sponsored by Corobrik, took place on 28 May at the historic Rand Club in Johannesburg, bringing together architects, built environment professionals, industry partners and guests from across the country. The ceremony also marked Janet Saaiman's inauguration as SAIA President, and President Saaiman presented the President's Award to a project recognised for its exceptional contribution to the community it serves. The evening was live-streamed, and SAIA extends its thanks to Corobrik, the judges, sponsors, volunteers and student ushers who helped make the event a success.
As SAIA moves into a new financial year, it also extends heartfelt appreciation to Janet Saaiman for her dedicated leadership and service to the Institute.
Awards of Excellence
Unbound — W Design Architecture Studio
Khanyisa — Rebel Base Collective
Upside Down House — Drew Architects (Pty) Ltd
New Highveld House — Meshworks Architecture + Urbanism
Fluid Spaces — Urbis Architects
House Montrose — KLG Architects
Mostert's Mill — Gabriel Fagan Architects
Redhill Early Learning Centre — Hubo Studio
House Hill — Monograph Architects
A full slate of Awards of Merit and Commendations was also presented across residential, heritage, institutional and commercial categories — the complete list and photographs are on the SAIA site.
Docomomo South Africa National Committee
The Committee continues to review heritage-sensitive developments such as The Matrix in Cape Town's CBD, and is building a SAHRA–SAHRIS register of noteworthy Modern Movement buildings, including support for listing Joe Noero's Red Location Museum. In April, members visited the Somerset Hospital Clinic in Green Point to document original window detailing and materiality before further alterations take place. The next Docomomo South Africa Committee meeting is scheduled for 12 June 2026.
RESIDE Summit 2026
The RESIDE Summit, held at the Sandton Convention Centre on 20–21 May 2026, brought together leaders from the built environment, government, finance, development and academia to discuss housing delivery, urban regeneration and spatial inequality. Dr Mizan Rambhoros attended on a complimentary ticket provided to SAIA members and affiliates, and reports that the summit reinforced architects' critical role in shaping functional, sustainable and meaningful places.
In Memoriam
Architect Olufemi Adetokunbo "Femi" Majekodunmi — founder of FMA Architects, Founding Secretary General of the African Union of Architects, and President of the International Union of Architects from 1990 to 1993.
Dr Heinrich Kammeyer — architect, urban designer, educator and mentor, remembered for his award-winning design for the Cathedral of the Holy Nativity in Pietermaritzburg and for bridging traditional design with community-focused, African-sensibility approaches.
Celebrating Students and the Profession
SAIA congratulates Keanan Cantor, recognised as Best Architecture Student over the final two years of the Professional Degrees, and Kayla de Jager, awarded the David Haddon Prize for Best Architecture Student in Professional Practice. Student work was also showcased through the Corobrik Student Architecture Awards.
Elsewhere: the African Union of Architects Commission for Women is running its African Women in Architecture Survey 2026, aiming for 1,500 responses from across all 54 African countries; the Gauteng Institute for Architecture has issued a call for entries for the 2026 Herbert Prins Colosseum Awards (closing 30 June 2026); and the Commonwealth Association of Architects has published initial findings from its first survey of architecture students, graduates and early-career professionals across the Commonwealth.
SAIA is also issuing a general call for volunteers to serve on UAU Committees, SAIA Committees and juries — members are encouraged to get involved.
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