Hackney Design Awards name best buildings in borough 

Woodberry Wetlands. Photo: Hackney Council

Woodberry Wetlands. Photo: Hackney Council

A baptist church, London’s first communal housing scheme and a landscape project were among the winners of the Hackney Design Awards after an unprecedented amount of nominations. Fifty architectural projects were cut to a list of sixteen nominees by a panel of expert judges. The panel then visited each project over two days before picking the seven winners.

Fred Manson, the Chair of the judging panel, said: “This year the jury was impressed by the high quality of entries. There was a consistent high quality in design, usually avoiding the too showy – which is what is most needed to establish good quality places. Winning means a lot to the designers. They are very proud of the recognition.”

Councillor Guy Nicholson, Hackney Minister for Planning, Business and Investment said: “The schemes nominated for the 2016 Hackney Design Awards celebrate the high quality and variety of new development in the borough, from repurposing heritage buildings and spaces to new buildings.”

The public were also given the choice to vote on the shortlist through the People’s Choice Awards. Woodbury Wetlands was the clear winner of the public vote after receiving a record-breaking 1,300 votes.

Martin Hunter of Allen Scott Landscape Architecture, one of the firms behind the regeneration of Woodbury Wetlands, said: “We’re delighted with the result and proud to be involved in the transformation of the site and local area.”

“Previously an under-utilised, inaccessible reservoir, the project has provided a distinctive and diverse setting to build a cohesive and active community. It offers learning and education opportunities, public engagement, well-being benefits, and above all a unique place for wildlife to flourish.”

“Woodberry Wetlands has achieved something quite remarkable by bringing the rich and vibrant environment of a nature reserve into an urban and densely populated area of London.”

[masterslider alias=”hackneyarchitectureawards”] From left to right: Amin Taha Architects, Hawkins\Brown, Tectonics Architects, Matthew Lloyd, Architects, Jaccaud Zein Architects, Henley Halebrown Rorrison.
The panel’s winners are as follows:

Woodberry Wetlands N16 – People’s Choice

This is a major heritage and landscape conservation project at Woodbury Downs. Formally opened on May 1, it is the first time the site has been fully accessible to the public since the construction of the reservoirs in 1833.

32A Lansdowne Drive E8

The two-bedroom house is the first in the country to use cross laminated timber and wood fibre. It is built on a brownfield site in a conservation area near London Fields.

Copper Lane N16

London’s first co-housing scheme, comprising of six different homes with shared communal facilities. The architecture propagates a community-based system with a court placed as a centrepiece and communal facilities and homes located around it.

Frampton Park Baptist Church E9

This project is located in a council estate and acts as a centre for the church to expand its outreach. Funding was granted on the basis of the building of the three new residential blocks that now surround it, comprised of 47 flats. The church acts as a local landmark with a six-story tower and crucifix which is illuminated at night.

Shepherdess Walk N1

This terrace of houses has a sense of belonging: the project maintains a strong sense of the historical conditions and formal qualities of the land on which it is built. The complex grows in height from the houses on Shepherdess Walk to the apartment building.

Spruce Apartments (Nordic Lofts) N16

The apartments are comprised of two three-bedroom family maisonettes, three two-bedroom flats and a studio. It resembles the Edwardian, redbrick primary school that neighbours it. Its simple architecture is the result of consultation with the primary school pupils next door.

The Cube Building N1

This project contains the tallest hybrid Cross Laminated Timber structure in Europe at 10 stories high. It consists of 50 apartments; with 17 of these being offered as either socially rented or shared ownership. Mixed into the residential community is 12,421 square foot of commercial space offering amenities like an onsite café.

Leave a Reply