In a series celebrating BD’s Architect of the Year finalists, we look at the sustainability shortlist

The Deerings, Harpenden, Herts, Gresford Architects and Nicholas Tye Architects

The Old Water Tower, Chieveley, Berks, Gresford Architects

Apex House, Wembley, London, HTA

Savoy Circus, Acton, London, HTA

Futurehomes, Elephant & Castle, London, Mccreanor Lavington

Ryle Yard, Eddington, Cambridge, Mccreanor Lavington

The Modern Courtyard, Twickenham, London, RDA Architects

Dulwich Park Passivhaus, London, RDA Architects

Black Barn, Dallinghoo, Suffolk, Studio Bark

Knepp Bio Barn, Horsham, West Sussex, Studio Bark

Dalston Works, London, Waugh Thistleton

Bushey Cemetery, Bushey, Hertfordshire, Waugh Thistleton

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In February BD announced all the architects who made it on to the shortlists for our prestigious annual Architect of the Year Awards.

Now we are shining the spotlight on each category in turn and publishing a selection of the images that impressed the judges.

Today’s shortlist is Sustainability Architect of the Year Award

Gresford Architects

The practice’s entry features two modern, Passivhaus homes. The Deerings in Harpenden, Hertfordshire (a joint project with Nicholas Tye Architects), utilises a super-insulated timber frame constructed off-site and built from slab in just three weeks. The timber-clad Old Water Tower in Chieveley, West Berkshire, is a four-bedroom family home inspired by locally found historic timber-framed homes.

HTA Design

HTA’s Sustainable Futures team leads the sustainable design of all its projects. These include Apex House, a £30million student housing tower in Wembley that at 28 storeys is the tallest modular building in Europe. Another modular project, Savoy Circus in White City, will deliver 306 homes. The practice’s entry also includes the redevelopment of Aylesbury Estate in Southwark, due for completion in 2021.

Maccreanor Lavington

Maccreanor Lavington believes in providing quality and longevity that is inherently sustainable. Its entry includes a development of 15 Passivhaus townhouses at Elephant Park for Lendlease as part of the Elephant & Castle redevelopment in London. The practice is also featuring the 73-home Ryle Yard in Eddington, the first completed phase of the University of Cambridge’s North West Cambridge Development.

RDA Architects

RDA’s entry features a prefabricated house clad in charred timber and built in just one day on the site of two former garages in Twickenham, as well as three London Passivhaus projects. These include the ongoing, £1.1million house due for completion near Dulwich Park this summer and Eco Lodge, a three bedroom house completed in Chiswick last year.

Studio Bark

Projects range from SHED, a £4,000 flat-pack residential pop-up to Black Barn, a £900,000 ‘Paragraph 55’ home in Suffolk. The former project is for Lowe Guardians, who wanted a sustainable way to retrofit meanwhile spaces for short-term residential use. The practice has also completed two barns, the Knepp Bio Barn on the Knepp Castle Estate and Warren Lodge built in Norfolk using only UK sourced materials.

Waugh Thistleton

Timber advocate Waugh Thistleton believes that engineered timber structures should become mainstream and be commonly used for all building types. Its entry features three of its timber projects. The £24million Dalston Works housing development has a solid timber structure whilst Bushey Cemetery in Hertfordshire is built with home grown timber and rammed local earth. At the ongoing Watts Grove in east London, the practice is proposing offsite modular timber housing at scale.

 The awards will be held at Park Plaza Hotel, Westminster Bridge in central London on April 18. Book your place here

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