Projects by James Gorst Architects and Lynch Architects latest to be named in contest for UK’s best new home
A newbuild home in rural Suffolk and a restored timber-framed barn in Essex have been shortlisted for RIBA House of the Year 2025.
The two projects are the latest to be announced on the shortlist for this year’s award for the UK’s best new home, which will unveil a winner on an episode of Grand Designs on 10 December.
Three shortlisted homes have already been announced, Caochan na Creige by Izat Arundell, Hastings House by Hugh Strange Architects and Triangle House by Artefact.
The latest projects, revealed on an episode of Grand Designs yesterday evening, are Amento by James Gorst Architects and Jankes Barn by Lynch Architects.
Two further shortlisted homes will be revealed in the final episode of the series next week.
Amento was built for a couple in Suffolk who had bought a field behind their previous period home after their children moved out, intending to construct a single-storey home for their retirement.
The clients, who did not want the home to look like a typical bungalow, appointed James Gorst Architects following a recommendation from the practice principal’s brother, who lives in the same village.
The design of the home hinges on two perpendicular white brick walls, each 70cm thick and almost five metres tall, which support timber lean-tos within their four quadrants.
The two north quadrants contain the home’s family bedrooms and garage, while the two south-facing quadrants contain the main dining and living areas.
The jury said the scheme gives off a “calm and airy atmosphere of post-war Scandinavian architecture through its fair-faced brickwork, Douglas fir rafters, open-plan arrangement, and continuous full-height sliding doors opening onto a small patio”.
Lynch Architects’ Jankes Barn has restored and transformed a rural barn which sits in a gated enclosure within a farmyard. The two-stage project started with a restoration of the building’s original structural timbers before the main building works were contracted, an approach which the jury said had “liberated the design thinking” of the scheme.
Replacement oak elements have been crafted to contrast with the older, worn timbers, while other new details including windows, doors and guttering are all “explicitly modern while sympathetic to the building”.
The jury said: “The jury were impressed by the care in conservation taken by all involved, but also enjoyed the contemporary interventions made without fear of undermining the quality of the original building.
“The final product is graceful, resolutely modern and a robust piece of enduring rural architecture.”
Past recipients of the award include Six Columns by 31/44 Architects in 2024, Green House by Hayhurst & Co in 2023, and The Red House by David Kohn Architects in 2022.
Channel 4 had previously dropped Grand Designs: House of the Year in 2023, choosing not to recommission the series after it had aired annually since its 2015 launch. The series was reinstated in 2024.
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