body, architecture, city Murray & Roberts Des Baker Award
The 2005 Murray & Roberts Des Baker Award ceremony was held at the Johannesburg Old Fort, Constitution Hill in April with the competition theme “Body, Architecture, City”, the Old Fort proved to be an appropriate venue for the occasion with the finalist entries displayed on the walls of individual prison cells.

The evening was hosted by Stephen Pell, MD of Murray & Roberts Construction, and the winners were announced by Duzan Doepel on behalf of an international panel of six judges. Brian Bruce and Professor Raymond Nkado, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment of the University of the Witwatersrand, handed over the prizes to the winners to much applause and cheer from the 800 student audience.

The 2005 Murray & Roberts Des Baker Award went to:
Competition Joint Winners:

  • University of Cape Town – Ruth Kirchman and Lauren Kemp
  • University of the Witwatersrand – Thomas Chapman and Andrew Bell
    Each joint-winning team was awarded R15 000 and the Des Baker Floating Trophy. Each team member received a certificate of recognition.

The annual Des Baker Award was introduced in 1983 in recognition of the late Des Baker, executive chairman of Murray & Roberts until 1982. Des was a well respected personality in the construction and industrial world at that time and was known for his progressive thinking.

The Murray & Roberts Des Baker Architecture competition is open to all students of architecture and is sponsored by Murray & Roberts in partnership with established architectural schools across the country. The competition strives to:

  • Grow and enrich the understanding and relationship between architects and contractors
  • Recognise and reward students of architecture for their achievements in the competition
  • Associate the late Des Baker with a prestigious award in the field of construction

The Murray & Roberts Des Baker competition is a highlight of the annual five day Architectural Students Congress attended by students from across South Africa and the southern African region, and hosted by a different university every year.


Joint winners with the Des Baker trophy


Brian Bruce with the runners up

Runner-Up:

  • University of Pretoria – Rozanne Basson and Charissa du Pisanie
    The runner-up team was awarded R5 000 and each member received a certificate of recognition.


Stephen Pell, Raymond Nkado and Brian Bruce


Students in the parade ground at the Old Fort