Innovation in Design Award for Architectus’ Hope Dryden

Congratulations to Senior Team Member, Hope Dryden for winning the National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC) NSW Hassell Award for Innovation in Design.

The Award for Innovation in design recognises women in New South Wales who have made a significant contribution to the design of a project that has reached practical completion of a significant milestone.  

Recognising her achievement in delivering innovative design while responding effectively to the client brief through architecture, Hope has demonstrated vision and talent through her work on award-winning projects, including the Macquarie University Incubator and Ainsworth Building.  

Joining Architectus as a graduate in 2016, in the years since, Hope has become a valuable Senior Team Member and contributed significantly from concept design to completion of both the Incubator and Ainsworth buildings. Both projects expanded on her university studies that focused on mass timber. In 2020, Hope became a registered architect.  

During the design and delivery of these projects, Hope acquired new skills that can help bring about a more sustainable building methodology in Australia. The mass timber structural system allowed for exploration and innovation to and achieve efficient structural spanning as well as the potential for 100 per cent reuse. As the industry leans towards Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DfMA) as the benchmark for new buildings, both buildings contribute to the debate on urban densification. As the Ainsworth Building was not initially meant to span a 4000sqm building, it can be looked upon as a precursor for future sustainable buildings of its size and scale.  

Congratulations Hope!