The contenders for Young Architect of the Year 2018

Today’s shortlist is Young Architect of the Year Award (YAYA)

Ruff Architects

Paul Ruff’s practice has grown to a team of seven in just three years. Projects include a £1.3m pavilion as part of Argent’s major regeneration project at Tottenham Hale and the £11.5m East Street, 100% affordable family housing scheme in Barking. The practice embraces modular construction on projects such as McLeod Road in Abbey Wood, a £10.3m, 50-unit residential scheme due for completion in 2020.

Clancy Moore Architects

The Dublin practice was founded in 2008 by Andrew Clancy, who is professor of architecture at Kingston University, and Colm Moore, who runs the MArch at Queen’s University Belfast. Its entry includes Big Red, a temporary pavilion for the 2015 London Festival of Architecture and the multi-generational Quarry Houses at Slievebawnogue. The practice feels it is entering a new stage in its development after recent competition wins for two galleries and a sewerage treatment plant.

Gruff

Gruff was set up in 2010 by Rhys Cannon and Emily Burnett in Brockley, south-east London. Its entry features a number of local projects including its first new-build Breakspears House, completed in 2016, and the ongoing Pitched Black, a house for Cannon. Gruff has also completed the Shooters Hill Tennis Clubhouse as well as Brickfields Bar, where the practice furthered its interest in digital manufacturing.

Architecture for London

Founded by Ben Ridley in 2010, Architecture for London is dedicated to the creation of better buildings and places. The practice’s foundation was in private residential work with recent projects including Holland Park House, a £500,000 remodelling of a terrace house by Maxwell Fry and Jane Drew. It is now also working on larger commercial schemes including a £4.5m development of 26 homes for private rent in Walthamstow.

Daykin Marshall Studio

Set up in 2009 by James Daykin and Mark Marshall, the practice is a six-person team based in West Dulwich, south-east London. Daykin Marshall describes its work as linked by a desire to embed the building in its setting by finding resonances with historic, material and social contexts. Its entry features four residential projects including the recently completed Highgate Apartments, which created nine apartments in a £3m contemporary interpretation of a mansion block.

Group Ginger

Leeds practice Group Ginger describes itself as a young, small, dynamic studio that strives to make great spaces for people while enjoying the journey each project brings. It works

with clients to identify opportunities which amplify development potential and celebrate activity. These include a £900,000 extension to the Leeds College of Music, the £2m refurbishment of Scarborough Markets and a bird hide at Tophill Low Nature Reserve.

Richard Bell Architecture

Sole practitioner Richard Bell aims to create reasoned, uncomplicated architecture with an emphasis on simple forms and the careful selection of materials. He is particularly fascinated by the craft of architecture and enjoys collaborating closely with specialists and artisans. His entry includes London Spa, a spa and wellness area extension to a house in central London, and an unbuilt design for a refurbishment and new-build extension to an existing lodge in Fulham Cemetery.

Platform 5 Architects

Led by Patrick Michell and Claire McKeown, Platform 5 Architects was set up in 2006 and has since grown in size to seven people. Its entry ranges from individual houses to large-scale projects including the ongoing residential-led, mixed-use development of the historic Toynbee Hall estate in Spitalfields, London. The practice has also worked extensively for Lewisham Southwark College on a £40m redevelopment of its Southwark campus (with Richard Hopkinson Architects).