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The winners of the latest Copper in Architecture Awards were announced at a presentation in London. Hamilton Associates’ Brewery Square project in London’s Clerkenwell won the Architectural Design Award, with Ian Ritchie’s Production Building for Plymouth Theatre Royal being Highly Commended and Feilden Clegg Bradley’s Hall of Residence for University College London receiving a Commendation. Two awards were also made for Innovation and three for Craftsmanship, as well as two awards for Architectural Student Design including a cash prize for student winner Oliver Flindall of Kingston University School of Architecture.
The three architectural winners were selected from seven short-listed projects by architect judges Pierre Long of last year’s winners de Blacam + Meagher Architects, Stas Louca of Glas Architects+Designers and Laurence Bain of Bain and Bevington. The judges chose Brewery Square as a winner for its dramatic massing, combined with a rigorous elevational treatment using 600mm wide, storey height copper rain-screen panels. The building is thoroughly modern but respects its context, particularly the adjacent ‘listed’ brick brewery building.
Craig Casci, Hamilton Associates Architects Ltd, designers of the winning project, said “What we wanted from the copper was the fact that it ages. Natural materials change and, if detailed properly, get better for it. We chose a material and detail to reflect the irregularity of the architecture. The building has been finished for 9 months now and has aged very well, but gets better and better. We are very happy with it and are looking forward to the next copper project in Wandsworth which we hope to enter in a future competition.”
Plymouth Theatre Royal, the Sterling prize short-listed building, impressed the judges as an inspired response to its riverside setting with bronze mesh-clad pods like boxes washed up on the beach. Ian Ritchie, of Ian Ritchie Architects, explains further “Choosing materials that allow the environment to change the surface is an aesthetic design decision which embraces not only the appearance, but becomes a metaphor for designing with rather than against nature.”
With the University College London building, copper was chosen for its light weight and environmental properties, and the judges enjoyed its tough, uncompromising aesthetic. Keith Bradley, Feilden Clegg Bradley, spoke about copper’s natural properties “We chose copper for its exemplary environmental credentials: a natural material, with low embodied energy in production, with a high percentage from recycled sources, and the potential for future recycling. Its longevity and ability to age gracefully, with a changing patina ‘through time’ make it a truly sustainable and beautiful material.”
Winner of the John Smith Craftsmanship Awards was the Queen’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace, designed by John Simpson and Partners and executed by Chris Topp & Co, Zinc Counters and Mundy Roofing. The judges considered the workmanship throughout this building to be exceptional with beautifully made pre-finished embellishments and decorative elements elegantly integrated with the on-site copper roofing work - all carefully interpreting the architect’s intentions. A sculptural garden shelter designed by BBC TV presenter Diarmuid Gavin and built by Richardson Roofing was Highly Commended and a Commendation was also made for the craftsmanship of a prominent copper dome facing London Bridge, installed by T & P Lead Roofing.
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