Karinya House wins MBA Judges' Commendation

3 July 2017

Monarch Building Solutions and Clarke Keller Architects were proud to accept a Judges' Commendation award for Karinya House at the 2017 Master Builders Excellence in Building Awards. Karinya House was entered in the Special Purpose Dwelling/Adaptable Dwelling category. The presentation was made at the MBA's gala awards dinner, held at the National Convention Centre on Friday 30 June.

In attendance to accept the award were Marco Galeotti and Joe Pratezina (Monarch), Cassandra Keller (Clarke Keller) and Amanda Toms (Karinya House committee member). The commendation is a wonderful recognition for the quality of work involved and the level of consideration given to the design of the Karinya House development.

Karinya House for Mothers & Babies, established in 1997, is a community based, not-for-profit organisation providing supported accommodation, transitional housing, outreach services and support groups to pregnant and parenting women and their families who are in crisis. The service operates on a 24 hour, seven days a week basis, offering professional and specialised support to women from Canberra and the surrounding region.

In August 2016 Karinya House moved into a new purpose-built facility in Belconnen. Consisting of six separate buildings the new facility doubles Karinya’s residential accommodation capacity, as well as providing a designated area for the provision of outreach support.

The project was fully funded by the ACT Government. In addition, Clarke Keller and Monarch Building Solutions, contributed several thousands of dollars worth of in-kind support during the development’s construction. Both companies continue to offer ongoing in-kind support to Karinya when appropriate.