A look at the five practices that have been shortlisted for the AYA sustainability category

To celebrate BD’s Architect of the Year 2019 finalists, we look at each shortlist in turn. 

Here we showcase the practices in the running for Sustainability Architect of the Year, with images from their entry boards.

There are five finalists, with entries containing projects that range from what will be the tallest modular building in the world to artist pods in a pop-up studio space.

HTA Design

Source: HTA Design

HTA Design’s George Street student housing in Croydon is set to be the world’s tallest modular towerworld

HTA Design has a dedicated unit that leads on sustainable design across the practice’s four offices. Its entry features two projects built using prefabricated elements – Savoy Circus student housing in White City and the George Street residential tower in Croydon. Both significantly exceed Building Regulations CO2 reduction targets. HTA also entered the regeneration of a south London housing estate and a strategy for Tresham Garden Village, conceived as an exemplar for sustainable rural development.

Mikhail Riches

Source: Mikhail Riches

Mikhail Riches’ 100% Passivhaus social housing at Goldsmith Street for Norwich city council

With 105 homes, Mikhail Riches’ Goldsmith Street in Norwich is the largest entirely Passivhaus and social housing project in the UK. In Sheffield, the practice is on site with the second phase of the Park Hill estate regeneration in Sheffield. Here, its light-touch approach retained the concrete frame (with its associated embodied carbon) and upgraded the building’s fabric as an alternative to demolition.

Lee Evans

Source: Lee Evans

Lee Evans’ modular timber Family Stand for Dover Athletic Football Club

Three Kent projects comprise the entry from London- and Canterbury-based practice Lee Evans Partnership. In Margate, the regeneration of a historic building at Dalby Square included measures to future climate-proof the property. In Dover, the Samphire Hoe Education Shelter was built using locally sourced or recycled materials while a new stand for the town’s football club was created from a modular system using sustainably sourced timber.

Studio Bark

Source: Studio Bark

Studio Bark’s Boar Lane Studios, a pop-up arts space in Leeds city centre

This entry from last year’s winner, Studio Bark, demonstrates the practice’s continued commitment to testing opportunities for sustainable construction. Projects include a self-initiated research project to test cork as a primary structural material and further development of Studio Bark’s modular self-build system, U-Build. Applications of this include Our Boar Lane Studios in Leeds, where artists’ studio pods were created using flat-pack spruce plywood pieces.

IPT Architects

Source: IPT Architects

IPT Architects’ Garden Wall Consulting Rooms in Bristol

IPT Architects’ entry features projects that demonstrate its particular interest in innovative ways of using wood. The National Trust’s Wood Yard Café on site at Charlecote Park uses sustainable and lightweight modular construction for the main timber skeleton. In Bristol, the Garden Wall Consulting Room creates a timber-clad garden room with rooftop garden that reduces the client’s carbon footprint by eliminating the daily commute to work.