Riba Competitions Office : Sustainable Housing Competition Shortlist
Rated:
Julia Davies, RIBA
The RIBA Competitions Office and the Royal Society of Architects in Wales (RSAW) have to announced the names of the practices short-listed to the competition for a new sustainable housing development in Lawrenny, Pembrokeshire.
The first stage of the competition attracted a phenomenal response with 92 Expressions of Interest from architectural practices throughout the UK and Europe. Lawrenny Enterprises were astounded by the range and variety of practices who applied and the exceptional quality of the submissions.
The Jury Panel consisted of Directors from Lawrenny Enterprises together with Richard Nightingale (Cullum and Nightingale Architects Ltd) acting as the RIBA Adviser. The Panel faced a difficult task in selecting a long-list, but selected those practices who they felt had demonstrated a real empathy for the project and would be best suited to rise to the challenges and opportunities of the rural development site.
‘There is no doubt that we have got four incredibly talented teams lined up for the final stage. I am certain we would never have found them had we not run the RIBA competition. Now we move to the design stage where it's going to get really exciting. We can't wait to see what the teams come up with.’
The eight practices invited to attend an interim interview (in alphabetical order) were: • Ash Sakula Architects • Davies Sutton Architecture • Featherstone Associates • Inglis Badrashi Loddo Architects • David Kohn Architects • Letts Wheeler Architecture and Design Ltd. • Riches Hawley Mikhail Architects • Tom Russell Architects.
The interviews gave each practice an opportunity to discuss their possible approach to the project and to explore potential future working relationships with Lawrenny Enterprises. The following practices have been invited to develop design proposals for the development: • Ash Sakula Architects • Davies Sutton Architecture • Letts Wheeler Architecture and Design Ltd. • Tom Russell Architects Adrian Lort-Phillips (Managing Director, Lawrenny Enterprises) commented: ‘There is no doubt that we have got four incredibly talented teams lined up for the final stage. I am certain we would never have found them had we not run the RIBA competition. Now we move to the design stage where it's going to get really exciting. We can't wait to see what the teams come up with.’
The four teams will present their design proposals to the Jury Panel at a final assessment to be held in Lawrenny in late July 2008.
