{"id":766980,"date":"2024-12-11T10:20:38","date_gmt":"2024-12-11T10:20:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/?p=766980"},"modified":"2024-12-11T12:18:54","modified_gmt":"2024-12-11T12:18:54","slug":"looking-back-at-30-years-of-aj-small-projects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/looking-back-at-30-years-of-aj-small-projects","title":{"rendered":"Looking back at 30 years of AJ Small Projects"},"content":{"rendered":"

From home extensions to workspaces, pavilions to shop fit-outs, restaurants and small houses, AJ Small Projects has always celebrated great architecture on a budget.<\/p>\n

Since the award was conceived, it has proved a fantastic showcase for the depth of design talent across the UK and has highlighted the work of often new and smaller practices, many of which have later gone onto greater \u2013 or larger \u2013 things. Previous winners include Chris Wilkinson, Haworth Tompkins, Mole Architects, Carmody Groarke and Hawkins\\Brown.<\/p>\n

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Enter AJ Small Projects 2025 now!<\/a><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n

Tthe AJ Small Projects<\/a> Award has charted a quarter of a century of Britain\u2019s architects seeking to harness big ideas to small budgets.\u00a0Past winners have ranged from luxury home renovations, extensions on tiny budgets, arts and cultural studios and spaces, follies and more civic and community-minded market stalls.<\/p>\n

The award was launched in 1995 with a garden pavilion<\/a> by Anthony Grimshaw\u00a0winning in 1996.\u00a0Since then, winners have followed trends in architectural form, ideas and materiality, starting with the glazed box of the original winner to later schemes featuring Cor-ten as cladding such as Haworth Tompkins\u2019 2010 winner The Dovecote Studio<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0a return to brick as seen in 2018\u2019s winning scheme,\u00a0Wrong House<\/a>\u00a0by Matheson Whiteley Architects.<\/p>\n

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Chris Dyson\u2019s sensitively camouflaged Wapping extension to a Grade II-listed terrace was 2014\u2019s winning scheme<\/p>\n\t

Source:Peter Landers<\/p><\/div>\n

There has also been an increasing recognition of the value of\u00a0retrofit<\/a>\u00a0projects, adapting and adding to \u2013 in more ways than one \u2013 existing structures: seen in Martin Edwards architects\u2019 subtle and sensitive winning scheme, House in North Wales<\/a>, which reworked a beloved home.<\/p>\n

Sustainability has been more and more embodied, as seen most recently in 2024\u2019s winner: the Farmer\u2019s Arms Cold Food Store by Hayatsu Architects and Grizedale Arts. This was built on the side of a former pub in the Lake District for a local arts organisation specialising in crafts. Constructed as part of an annual building school at which international participants learned and exchanged craft skills, the structure\u2019s design adapts traditional Japanese storage building typologies with locally sourced materials. It also used traditional Japanese shikkui<\/em>\u00a0plaster.<\/p>\n

Although the eligible cost for entered completed projects has risen with inflation \u2013 this year\u2019s award will celebrate projects with a maximum contract value of \u00a3399,000 \u2013 the cheapest winning scheme will most likely remain as 2004\u2019s Ola Mae Porch<\/a> by Lucy Begg and Robie Gay. Completed for just \u00a33,600, the project was a self-built porch for a trailer home in rural Alabama.<\/p>\n

The AJ Small Projects award-giving event and exhibition has also been held at many different venues over the years with 2000\u2019s selected schemes shown at the RIBA Architecture Gallery that spring. In 2012, it was held at New London Architecture, then located at the Building Centre, and more recently architecture practices including Apt, Studio Egret West and Morris + Co have kindly hosted it.<\/p>\n

AJ Small Projects 2025 is sponsored by Marley. The shortlisted projects will be published in the AJ\u2019s April issue and all projects entered into the awards are featured on the AJ Buildings Library. More information on criteria and how to enter can be found here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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To celebrate Small Projects turning 21 in 2016, three projects were named winners including The Welcoming Shelter, a kinetic structure by Bartlett student Charlie Redman<\/p>\n\t

Source:Charlie Redman<\/p><\/div>\n

AJ Small Projects: past winners<\/h2>\n