Harare, May 10, 2011 - Arguably Zimbabwe's top architects, the late Vernon Mwamuka, has won this year's Zimbabwe Institution of Engineers (ZIE) award for the Best Architectural Work in the country.

He was given the award posthumously for his designing the Joina City, currently the most prestigious high rise building in Zimbabwe.

Joina City is owned by several tycoons inluding Shingai Mutasa of TA Holdings Limited (TA) and Executive Chairman of Musawara Limited which is listed on the London Stock Exchange (ZSE).

Mwamuka was among the first black architects operating in Zimbabwe with his firm Bufe and Mwamuka (Private) Limited.
The late architect also designed Eastgate Shopping Centre in Harare which is owned by the wealthy Old Mutual Limited Properties (Old Mutual) based in South Africa.

Joina has state-of-the-art facilities including underground parking, shops, offices, as well as supermarkets. It is similar to many top class buildings in wealthy Sandton suburb in Johannesburg, South Africa.

In an exclusive interview Mutasa said he was happy that Joina City was "now finished" because it was beginning to cost "a fortune".

This was because of Zimbabwe's hyperinflationary environment when inflation soared to record breaking levels of more than 231 million percent, the highest in the world.

The late architect Mwamuka died in Zimbabwe more than 10 years ago.