The expert jurors in the housing category were surprised to note a general slippage in the number and quality of entries this year, attributing this mainly to the COVID-19 situation. 

Nevertheless, there was enough on the shortlist to suggest some worthy winners, particularly in providing high quality affordable housing with good neighbourhood settings and access to green areas and services, one of the key issues faced by London at the moment. The panel was also keen to see tall buildings that fit within the London context and which could be ‘beacons’ of how to lead the way, at layouts and outdoor space, again influenced by lockdown, and in the use of innovative techniques and flexibility, being pushed more by the smaller schemes than the medium and large projects. 

The expert category assessors were also pleased to note more use of ‘London vernacular’ brick and see housing projects which responded to local context and character, using materials that will endure the test of time and give something back to the city

Hand Axe Yard, Camden by Material Architects
The Officers’ House, Greenwich by Allford Hall Monaghan Morris

Benjamin Prosky: ‘I felt that the massing, the texture, the rhythm, the long terraces, the courtyard, the way there were these slim units on the back backing up to existing plots - I thought this was a really interesting use of a site and a little more interesting and innovative’ 

Monica von Schmalensee: ‘It’s quite important, especially in big cities that you have balconies and that you can use the area around the house in a period like this, that we’re living in now’

Andreas Ruby: ‘I think this is an amazing project, because it’s both an urban design statement as well as an architectural design. How it makes the place I think is just quite fabulous. There’s a beautiful balance between outdoor and indoor spaces and obviously an awareness of not only what it means to build a house but also to inform the unbuilt space around it’ 

Multi-unit residential projects of any tenure – from social housing to PRS to prime resi, creating exemplary new places for people to live.

101 on Cleveland, Westminster by Assael Architecture

95 Peckham Road, Southwark by Peter Barber Architects

Belle Vue, Camden by Morris+Company

Blackfriars Circus, Southwark by Maccreanor Lavington

Kings Crescent Estate Phases 3&4, Hackney by Karakusevic Carson Architects

North Street, Barking by Peter Barber Architects

Queen’s Yard, Hackney Wick, Tower Hamlets by Jestico + Whiles / Stockwool

Rochester Way, Greenwich by Peter Barber Architects

The Officers’ House, Greenwich by Allford Hall Monaghan Morris

The Reach, Greenwich by Pitman Tozer Architects Ltd

The Rye Apartments, Southwark by Tikari Works

Wilmer Place, Hackney by Belsize Architects Ltd

Monier Road, Tower Hamlets by Pitman Tozer Architects Ltd

Hand Axe Yard, Camden by Material Architects