RIBA’s best new homes in London
We pay close attention to RIBA’s regional awards, which acknowledge outstanding contributions to the built environment, from cultural centres and schools to projects with sustainable merit and the best new homes in London and beyond.
Of course, it’s the residential projects that pique our interest the most, and this year’s winners, from BPN Architects’ Ghost House, a sunken, Tado Ando-inspired scheme, to James Gorst Architects’ sprawling contemporary farmhouse, showcase an inspiring range of 21st-century architecture.
Here, we’re sharing the homes that took prizes in the 2019 RIBA London Awards.
Alwyne Place, Mitzman Architects
Facing the challenging prospect of building in the Canonbury conservation area, this house, designed by Mitzman Architects, solves that problem by being somewhat invisible from the street, set back behind a high garden wall. Inside, a courtyard garden provides a focal point, while bespoke cabinetry and joinery form beautifully-crafted interior spaces.
Crossfield St House, Jonathan Pile Architect
Jonathan Pile looked to the timber-clad vernacular of 17th and 18th century Deptford when conceiving his self-designed home, which sits on an awkward site near the 1730 St Paul’s church. An internal courtyard – do we see a trend forming? – provides unexpected outdoor space, proving that even the most tricky, hemmed-in sites can provide some square footage of patio.
Kenwood Lee House, Cousins & Cousins
The judges of the London regional awards were impressed by this Cousins & Cousins-designed pad, which they commented sits ‘curiously in the territory between a home for either a Bond hero or a Bond villain’. While the street-facing façade is somewhat understated and sympathetic to the suburban locale, the rear elevation is dominated by expanses of glazing, giving the house its distinctive contemporary feel.
House in a Garden, Gianni Botsford Architects
The upwardly-swooping, wave-like copper roof of this new project from Gianni Botsford Architects makes for a bold and accomplished architectural gesture, and is surely one of the most shapely of its kind to exist in London. Together with additional light wells, the glazing-topped roof feeds light down into three levels, where a material palette of Carrara marble, Douglas fir and more copper form the refined interiors.
1A Earl’s Court Square, Sophie Hicks Architecture
Sophie Hicks Architects solved the problem of not being able to build above one storey in a conservation area in Kensington by designing this stealthy concrete and steel structure, which replaces two garages. We love the directness of the design, which is enhanced by the simple material approach.
Max Fordham House, bere:architects
The RIBA London Sustainability Award this year went to this considered contemporary mews house in Camden, which was designed by bere:architects to incorporate automated shutters to aid heat retention. Boosting the eco credentials is a biodiversity-helpful rooftop, Passivhaus accreditation and heat pumps, natch.
Pocket House, Tikari Works
The primary building materials of brick, timber and concrete have been left in beautiful openness at this new family home by Tikari Works, creating interior spaces that are ever-so-easy on the eye. We’re also taken by the use of recessed doors in the basement that can be opened to create a large open-plan space.
RELATED ON THE MODERN HOUSE
Book Preview: ‘I never met a straight line I didn't like’ uncovers Christchurch’s mid-century modern movement
Step through the looking glass at Sally Mackereth’s story-book inspired house
Book Preview: the 20 most influential houses of the 20th century
Book Preview: Urban Geometry celebrates the abstract beauty of contemporary architecture
What to see at Open House London 2020
‘A Roman ruin wrapped around a modern concrete house’ – step inside Adam Richards' Nithurst Farm
My Modern House: Chris and Susannah Burke on updating their 1960s modernist house in Suffolk for the 21st century
Architect Barbara Weiss takes us on a tour of her upside-down house, a converted pub in Westminster, central London
Photo Essay: support the Trussell Trust with this architectural photography sale
Open House: designer David Pocknell on his converted barn in Essex, the culmination of a lifetime’s work