This year’s Meanwhile category demonstrated that there is now a widespread acceptance of the value that such projects represent and with many developers now deploying temporary schemes to raise footfall and awareness of what is to come, as well as providing employment. The assessors were pleased to see a degree of innovation demonstrated in the management of schemes and a combination of uses, which again shows something of a maturity in the concept. Many of the projects were larger in scale and more ‘permanent feeling’ than last time around. 

The most successful projects, though, were those which had meaningful content as well as high quality design, with good levels of community engagement and in some cases admirable efforts to use limited budgets and resources effectively. Perhaps next year, however, there might be more ‘disruptors’

International House Brixton
Monica von Schmalensee: ‘International House in Brixton is interesting as a business model and I think that’s absolutely worth having as a prize, and very important’
Benjamin Prosky: ‘I think it’s a wonderful project – it’s maybe less about the design and more about the activity’

Unbuilt: The Fore Street Angel Edmonton
Andreas Ruby: ‘I found the Fore Street Angel Edmonton Good Growth Fund project pretty promising’
Monica von Schmalensee: ‘This is very important as a project to really interact with the citizens and have a good process, and an ongoing process’

Collective Auction Rooms, Camden by CoDB
The Brentford Project, Hounslow by AHMM, MaccreanorLavington, Glenn Howells Architects, HAL Architects

Projects that embrace the city as a work in progress, enlivening spaces, places and high streets over a short-term period, while supporting long-term ambitions.

Capital Studios, Wandsworth by Backyard Cinema

Collective Auction Rooms, Camden by CoDB

Croydon Urban Room, Croydon by Spatial Planning, LB Croydon

Former Maria Fidelis School Site Meanwhile Use, Camden by FBM Architects

International House Brixton, Lambeth by 3Space

Sculpture in the City, City of London by City of London Corporation

The Brentford Project, Hounslow by AHMM, MaccreanorLavington, Glenn Howells Architects, HAL Architects

The Fore Street Angel Edmonton Good Growth Fund Project, Enfield by Jan Kattein