AHMM, ZCD and Jan Kattein in running for youth-focused accolades

Practices including AHMM, ZCD Architects, Jan Kattein Architects and Curl La Tourelle Head have been shortlisted in an awards programme that aims to champion work to empower young people to shape the built environment.

Thornton Education Trust’s Inspire Future Generations Awards bring together more than a dozen categories that reflect different age groups and goals.

AHMM is shortlisted in the “one-off activity – youth” category for its partnership with the RIBA and inclusive theatre organisation Chickenshed. The project explored whether RIBA’s 66 Portland Place headquarters could be made more inclusive welcoming – feeding into refurbishment work on the building by Benedetti Architects.

ZCD Architects is shortlisted in both the “research” and “social value” categories of the awards for its work with young people in east London on a project to explore how Chingford Mount could be made more child-friendly. The children and young people conducted their own analysis, including extensive survey work, and their findings provided a set of recommendations for the local authority and a pilot for future research.

Jan Kattein Architects is shortlisted in both the “youth community engagement” and “school collaborations” categories for its work with young people on play space in Thamesmead, south-east London.

Curl la Tourelle Head Architects is shortlisted in the “diversity in action” category of the awards for its Art of Inhabitation project with young care-leavers in Newham, east London. The programme aimed to help young people move into and look after their flats, as well as teaching them how to measure rooms, draw scaled elevations, and think about materials, colours, textures and light.

Awards judge and TET trustee Neil Pinder said 2022 had been a vintage year for entries to the programme.

“Submissions this year were outstanding and show how children and young people are increasingly being given agency in their own built environment,” he said.

Winners will be announced at a Building Centre event on 28th November.