Royal Society of Ulster Architects
The Royal Society of Ulster Architects (RSUA) is the professional body for registered architects in Northern Ireland. Chartered RIBA members in Northern Ireland are automatically members of the RSUA. RSUA Members use the suffix RIBA; there is no separate title for members of the RSUA.
Office bearers
Its current office bearers are: Mervyn Black (President); Ciaran Mackel (Immediate Past President); Paul Mongan (Honorary Treasurer); Peter Niblock (Honorary Secretary) and Trevor Leaker (Vice President). Alan Jones is Vice President of foundation division; Rachel Bevin is Sustainability Convenor. Other prominent council members include past-presidents Clyde Markwell and Barrie Todd, as well as Alastair Hall and Mark Hackett.
Activities
Bookshop
The RSUA operates a bookshop at 2 Mount Charles, Belfast. This bookshop is the Northern Ireland regional branch of the RIBA bookshop and as such caters mainly to architect members of the RIBA.
PLACE
The RSUA is actively involved with PLACE, an architecture and urban design exhibition centre on Fountain Street, Belfast. The centre has no permanent collection, but rather mounts temporary, and sometimes rather ephemeral, exhibitions on local and national architecture.
Perspective
The Society issues a journal, Perspective, on a bi-monthly basis. In effect this publication is not so much a journal as it is a magazine; that is, it does not report on the proceedings of the society but rather provides an overview of new architecture in Northern Ireland in the previous months.
Perspective is written and edited by a RSUA committee and is published by the Ulster Tatler group.
Design Awards
The Society hosts an annual awards ceremony, celebrating the work of architects in Northern Ireland. Primary among these awards is the Liam MacCormick Prize, awarded to the building judged to be best overall in the relevant year.
The jury for these awards is composed of experts from outside Nothern Ireland, for example Dublin City Architect Jim Barrett held the chair in 2006. However, it is notable that members of the RSUA council are frequently favoured with awards, including (in 2006) Hackett+Hall, Alan Jones Architects and Todd Architects.
Education
The Society is heavily involved in architectural education and awards the annual Alan Barnes Travelling Scholarship to a Northern Ireland-born student of architecture.