Ashley Halliday Architects has been presented with The SA Architecture Medal for its Mount Gambier Regional Airport redevelopment at the South Australian Architecture Awards.

The medal is the highest industry honour and the airport also received the Jack McConnell Award for Public Architecture.

Ashley Halliday associate Rupert Lindon said the award was a recognition and reflection of the effort of the entire team who worked on the project.

“It’s always lovely, you’re essentially judged by your peers, a number of other architects who were on the jury so it’s always nice to receive the recognition of your peers,” Mr Lindon said.

The airport was constructed by Kennett Builders and Mr Lindon believed there were several aspects which set the airport apart from the rest.

“In our minds, it came down to creating a piece of infrastructure which was a bit more than just an airport,” he said.

“It was obviously creating a gateway to the region, because the airport is the first place people touch down and the last place they leave when they’re visiting the region.

References to the region’s environment were incorporated throughout the airport including the colour scheme and textures, the forestry industry and a large skylight referencing Umpherston Sinkhole.

“It’s about creating something that can be used by the wider community, so it’s been set up to be pretty flexible,” Mr Lindon said.

He said it was also about creating an airport that accounted for the ‘peaky’ nature of regional airports, which can be uninhabited for a large portion of the day.

Mr Lindon thanked clients Grant District Council, the Ashley Halliday team, Kennett Builders and all other consultants who they worked with to complete the project.