On Friday 23rd October, as part of Building Design’s 50th-anniversary celebration, the Architecture community joined online to celebrate the winners of the Architect of the Year Awards 2020.
Hundreds of entries were whittled down to a shortlist back in July. The quality of submissions was noted as “first-rate” and a good mix of well-established practices and some AYA newcomers were in the mix. Thomas Lane, chair of the judging panel said: “It’s been fantastic to see people who haven’t entered before putting through some exceptional work.”
In the free online event, the judging panel awarded 19 coveted awards to a range of practices and people. The Architect of the Year Award was won by Mica Architects and was honoured with the Gold Award for the overall winner at the ceremony. They also scooped the award for ‘Refurbishment Architect of the Year’.
The full list of winners are noted below:
Architect of the Year: Gold Award: Mica Architects
Sustainability Architect: HTA
Refurbishment Architect: Mica Architects
Public Building Architect: Dow Jones (Highly commended: Bell Phillips)
Housing Architect: Alison Brooks Architects
Office Architect: Bennetts Associates
Individual House Architect: McGonigle McGrath (Highly commended: Alison Brooks Architects)
Infrastructure Architect: Arup Architecture
Public Realm Architect: Nex
Education Architect (nursery to 6th form): Penoyre & Prasad (Highly commended: Architype)
Education Architect (higher): Grimshaw (Highly commended: Cottrell & Vermeulen)
Retail & Leisure Architect: Faulkner Browns
Interior Architect: Sheppard Robson
Small Project Architect: Pad Studio
Young Architect of the Year (YAYA): Office S&M
Best Architect Employer: Jestico & Whiles
Architect Leader: Julia Park, Levitt Bernstein
Social impact: RCKa (Highly commended: Turner Works)
Architectural Client: London Borough of Sutton (nominated by Bell Phillips)
The AYA 2020 judging panel was made up of:
Chaired by Thomas Lane, Assemble Media Group
Jamie Fobert, Director, Jamie Fobert Architects
Mary Duggan, Founder, Mary Duggan Architects
Phil Tait, Head of Development, British Land
Kay Hughes, Design Director, HS2 Ltd
Liz Smith, Head of Architecture, Purcell
Rab Bennetts, Co-Founder, Bennetts Associates
Julia Barfield, Director, Marks Barfield Architects
Patrick Bellew, Principal, Atelier Ten
Mary Bowman, Partner, Gustafson Porter & Bowman
Colm Lacey, Chief Executive, Brick by Brick
David Rudlin, Principal, Urbed
Elizabeth Hopkirk, Assistant Editor, Building Design
For more information about the AYA awards, please visit the Building Design website.