Stephen Lawrence Prize: RIBA Special Awards

Stephen Lawrence Prize 2013, Architecture, Buildings, Winners, Shortlist, RIBA Award News, UK

Stephen Lawrence Prize

Royal Institute of British Architects Award Winner

14 September 2021

RIBA reveals shortlist for Stephen Lawrence Prize 2021

Stephen Lawrence Prize 2021 Shortlist News

16 Oct 2014

Stephen Lawrence Prize 2014 Winner

2014 Stephen Lawrence Prize Winner

Denizen Works’ house no 7 winner of the Stephen Lawrence Prize 2014

This unusual house is located on Tiree in the Western Isles of Scotland.

House no 7 on Tiree

House no 7 on Tiree

House no 7, Isle of Tiree

7 Sep 2014

Stephen Lawrence Prize Shortlist for 2014

Stephen Lawrence Prize Shortlist 2014

New architecture talent and smaller budgets celebrated

Stephen Lawrence Prize shortlist announced

4 September 2014 – The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has today announced the shortlist for the 2014 RIBA Stephen Lawrence Prize – an award that recognises fresh architectural talent and smaller construction budgets.

A contemporary blackhouse on the Isle of Tiree, a crisp steel liner staircase linking the costal path to a former Georgian naval yard in Plymouth, two playful homes with triangular forms sited on a constrained site bounded on all sides by Victorian terraced houses in north London, a jewellery workshop in south London that echoes the art being created within by using light catching hand-folded zinc sheets for its external cladding, an elegant home extension wrapping around a tree in the garden of a grade II listed 1830s brick weavers’ cottage in east London and a temporary work space inspired by a basket of eggs for an artist in the New Forest; comprise the 2014 RIBA Stephen Lawrence Prize shortlist:

• Tree House, east London by 6a architects (residential project)
• Ott’s Yard, north London by vPPR Architects (residential project)
• Alex Monroe Studio Snowfields, south London by DSDHA (work space)
• The Exbury Egg, New Forest by PAD Studio (work space)
• Royal William Yard Staircase, Plymouth by Gillespie Yunnie Architects (infrastructure project)
• House No 7, Isle of Tiree, Scotland by Denizen Works (residential project)

Stephen Lawrence Prize founder Marco Goldschmied said: “The standard and range of projects eligible for shortlisting in 2014 was higher than ever and is proof of the very high standard of (mostly young) practices undertaking commissions under £1m. The UK’s dysfunctional planning system gets no better with the passing of time. It is testament to the ingenuity and persistence of the profession that planning permission for original designs in urban and sensitive rural sites is still obtainable. The shortlisting jury this year included the last three year’s winners of the Stephen Lawrence Prize. After lengthy debate, we are delighted with the outcome. It is certain to produce an excellent winner.”

The judges this year will be Baroness Lawrence of Clarendon, Doreen Lawrence CBE the mother of Stephen Lawrence, Marco Goldschmied, RIBA Past President and Founder of the Marco Goldschmied Foundation, which established the RIBA Stephen Lawrence Prize in 1998, Anthony Boulanger, Partner at AY Architects, winners of the 2013 Stephen Lawrence Prize and Joe Morris, Director at Duggan Morris Architects, winners of the Prize in 2012.

The Stephen Lawrence Prize, sponsored by the Marco Goldschmied Foundation, rewards the best examples of projects that have a construction budget of less than £1 million. The prize, set up in memory of the teenager who was setting out on the road to becoming an architect when he was murdered in 1993, is intended to encourage fresh talent working with smaller budgets.

The winners will be announced at the RIBA Stirling Prize party on 16 October at the RIBA in central London.

Stephen Lawrence Prize Citations for 2014

The judges citations for each building follow:

Tree House, east London by 6a architects

Tree House in London

Tree House in London

Chair of Jury: Clare Wright
Regional representative: Tim Lynch
Lay assessor: David Shaw
Date of visit: 21.03.14
Name of Scheme: Private House – Tree House
Address of Scheme: London
Architect: 6a Architects
Client: confidential
Contractor: John Perkins Projects
Structural Engineer: Price & Myers
Contract Value: confidential
Date of completion: 03.0113
Gross internal area in sqm: 57

Tree House in London

This sensitive and subtle little building elegantly extends a Grade II listed house, so its occupant, who has become increasingly immobile and wheelchair bound, can live independently in her home as an integral member of her family, with her husband and their daughters; and can continue actively to enjoy her garden.

This is a delightful building which has transformed this home, not only in making it accessible but also in embedding it in the garden, with a very simple and beautiful aesthetic.

Ott’s Yard, north London by vPPR Architects

Ott's Yard London by vPPR Architects

Ott's Yard London by vPPR Architects

Chair of Jury: Jonathan Ellis-Miller
Regional representative: Yeoryia Manolopoulou
Lay assessor: Nina Due
Date of visit: 18.03.14
Name of Scheme: Ott’s Yard
Address of Scheme: 1 & 2 Otts Yard, Southcote Rd, London N19
Architect: vPPR Architects
Contractor: Varbud
Structural Engineer: Heyne Tillett Steel
Services Engineer: Pearce and Associates
Contract Value: £693,922
Date of completion: 17.08.13
Gross internal area in sqm: 243

Ott's Yard London by vPPR Architects

The project consists of two houses located in a trapezoidal shaped backland site bounded on all sides by Victorian terraced houses. The constraints and challenges were considerable and dealing with no fewer than twenty-three neighbours and associated party wall agreements. This was the first independent project for this firm of young architects and developers.

Alex Monroe Studio Snowfield, south London by DSDHA

Alex Monroe Studio Snowfield London by DSDHA Alex Monroe Studio Snowfield London by DSDHA

Chair of Jury: Neven Sidor
Regional representative: Carl Turner
Lay assessor: Patricia Brown
Date of visit: 09.04.14
Name of Scheme: Alex Monroe Studios, Snowfields
Address of Scheme: London
Architect: DSDHA
Client: Alex Monroe
Contractor: Neilcott Construction
Structural Engineer: Structure Workshop
Services Engineer: Con-Serve
Contract Value: £439,000
Date of completion: 14.09.12
Gross internal area in sqm: 115

Alex Monroe Studio Snowfield London by DSDHA Alex Monroe Studio Snowfield London

Internally the choice of an unfinished cross-laminated timber panel structure complete with all its imperfections together with the compressed scale of the principal rooms already give the working environment a welcoming lived-in quality. This is exploited in what the architects call the ‘social staircase’ with its numerous alcoves for small scale artefacts and curiosities.

It was extraordinary to learn that the zinc cladding was opposed by the local planners right up to the planning committee meeting on account of it being out of keeping with the largely masonry nature of buildings within the Bermondsey Street Conservation Area. Both client and architect should be applauded for sticking to their guns.

The Exbury Egg, New Forest by PAD Studio

The Exbury Egg building pod England

The Exbury Egg building pod England

Chair of Jury: Deniz Beck
Name of Scheme: Exbury Egg
Address of Scheme: Exbury
Architect: PAD Studio
Client: SPUD
Contractor: Beau Wood Structures
Contract Value: £40,000
Date of completion: May 2013
Gross internal area in sqm: 17

The Exbury Egg building pod England

The Egg is a collaborative project between the artists and the architects, after the artist was inspired by a nest full of eggs. It has been created through partnership between the artist and local craftsmen using age-old boat building techniques; becoming an object of art in itself. The cladding gives a unique pattern to the structure which is different on every angle and forever changing.

This small but spacious structure houses the bed, wet room, and a desk space for the artist to sufficiently live for a year. The egg shape must have given the design team many challenges including the restrictions of buoyancy which clearly requires specialist technical expertise. It is very clear that the team had complimenting skill areas between themselves to execute this very successful and very individual project.

Royal William Yard Staircase, Plymouth by Gillespie Yunnie Architects

Royal William Yard Staircase in Plymouth

Royal William Yard Staircase

Chair of Jury: John Pardey
Regional representative: Bob Whittington
Lay assessor: Pippa Goldfinger
Date of visit: 12-14th March 2014
Name of Scheme: Royal William Yard Staircase
Address of Scheme: Plymouth
Architect: Gillespie Yunnie Architects
Client: Urban Splash
Contractor: Urban Splash Build
Structural Engineer: Hydrock Structures 1
Contract Value: £250,000
Date of completion: 1/6/13
Gross internal area in sqm: 45

Royal William Yard Staircase Royal William Yard Staircase

A staircase links the coastal path to the Royal William Yard negotiating a 12 metre high defensive wall that encloses one end of the former naval base. Now while the conversion to cafes and apartments of many of the former administration and barrack blocks is surely one of the best examples of its kind in the UK, the new staircase at the far end of the yard, provides a moment of joy.

Cutting through the top of the wall with a crisp steel liner, it snakes down the massive stone wall, held away and cantilevered to a half landing with tall glass balustrading that for a brief moment makes you feel like a diver about to drop into the ocean. The stair then turn back on itself and makes a final leap away from the wall to land with no fuss on the stone flagged floor. It is matter of fact, muscular, yet poetic. The structure is formed in steel box sections to form visible girders to each side, clad externally in a perfectly chosen dark blue-grey powder coated panels that wrap over the top concealing LED lighting that changes from red to blue to yellow, making the off-white painted staircase simply magical at night.

If staircases offer ascent (to a better place?) then this one certainly does.

House no 7, Isle of Tiree, Denizen Works

House no 7 on Tiree

House no 7, Isle of Tiree

This restoration and extension of a ruined, B-listed, Tiree black-house effectively provides two houses within a single curtilage. The extensions follow the spirit of local agricultural buildings in their materials, roof forms and particularly in the use of corrugated cladding. The tradition of reconstructing Hebridean black-houses with black tarred roofing, rather than their original thatched roofs (held down by stone weighted netting), is sufficiently long established to have become an alternative local vernacular. This approach, allied to the utilitarian agricultural appearance of the extensions, creates an external form that is both contextual and appropriate.

Stephen Lawrence Prize Shortlist 2014 information from RIBA

26 Sep 2013

Stephen Lawrence Prize Winner for 2013

Stephen Lawrence Prize Winner in 2013

Montpelier Community Nursery, Brecknock Road, N19 by AYA
Montpelier Community Nursery
photo : Nick Kane

10 Sep 2013

Stephen Lawrence Prize Shortlist 2013

Shortlist for Stephen Lawrence Prize 2013

RIBA announces shortlist for Stephen Lawrence Prize

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) today announces the shortlist for the Stephen Lawrence Prize – an award that recognises fresh talent and smaller construction budgets.

Drawn from RIBA award-winning buildings presented earlier this year, the winner will be announced at the RIBA Stirling Prize party on Thursday 26 September in London.

The Stephen Lawrence Prize, sponsored by the Marco Goldschmied Foundation, rewards the best examples of projects that have a construction budget of less than £1 million. The prize, set up in memory of the teenager who was setting out on the road to becoming an architect when he was murdered in 1993, is intended to encourage fresh talent working with smaller budgets. The judges included for this year’s prize were: Baronness Lawrence; Marco Goldschmied, architect and Mary Duggan, architect and winner of the 2012 RIBA Manser Medal. The winner receives £5000.

2013 Stephen Lawrence Prize Shortlist

• 25 Tanners Hill (private home and gallery), London – Dow Jones Architects
• The Chapel of Saint Albert the Great, Edinburgh – Simpson & Brown Architects
• Church Walk (housing), London – David Mikhail and Annalie Riches
• The Filling Station, London – Carmody Groarke
• Montpelier Community Nursery, London – AY Architects
• Slip House, London – Carl Turner Architects

25 Tanners Hill by Dow Jones Architects
Tanners Hill Building
photo : David Grandorge

The Chapel of Saint Albert the Great, Edinburgh by Simpson and Brown
Chapel of Saint Albert the Great
photograph © Chris Humphreys

Church Walk Houses, N16 by David Mikhail
Church Walk Building
photo : Tim Crocker

The Filling Station at Kings Cross, London by Carmody Groarke
The Filling Station
photo : Luke Hayes

Montpelier Community Nursery, Brecknock Road, N19 by AYA
Montpelier Community Nursery
photo : Nick Kane

Slip House, Brixton, London by Carl Turner Architects
Slip House Brixton
photograph © Tim Crocker

Stephen Lawrence Prize Shortlist 2013 information from RIBA

22 Jun 2012

Stephen Lawrence Prize Winner 2012

Stephen Lawrence Prize 2012

Kings Grove, 16A Kings Grove, London SE15
Kings Grove London
photo : Edmund Sumner
Kings Grove London
This is a taut, exemplary response to the development of a landlocked site: an intelligent house built by an architect couple for themselves. The site, reached by a narrow lane, is contained by back gardens.

Comments on the Stephen Lawrence Prize Shortlist welcome

Location: UK

Royal Institute of British Architects Awards

Stirling Prize

RIBA Awards

RIBA Royal Gold Medal

RIBA Manser Medal

Stephen Lawrence Prize 2009

Stephen Lawrence Memorial Lecture
Speaking alongside Attorney General Baroness Scotland QC at the annual Stephen Lawrence Memorial Lecture tomorrow (10 September], Chief Executive of international architecture firm RMJM Peter Morrison, is to call for increased investment in sporting facilities in deprived inner city Britain to promote community cohesion and crime reduction.

Comments / photos for the Stephen Lawrence Prize Shortlist page welcome