The RIBA has recently been through the annual process of celebrating design quality through its regional awards programme.
This often highlights large, shiny new projects but there were a couple of projects that stood out this year from the smaller, more sensitive end of the spectrum. Both re-purposing existing buildings to create something of great value.
Orchard Barn
Chiles Evans + Care Architects
A humble project for the adaptive reuse of historic buildings. The barn sits in a prominent location and has been sensitively restored to retain its integrity.
Perhaps more significantly, however, the client was keen that the physical restoration was a catalyst to re-ignite the special relationship the building has historically enjoyed with the village and community. The flexible and multi-facetted space establishes a new venue for community gatherings, such as the apple harvest, inviting new generations to enjoy both building and garden.
Studio in a Ruin
Carmody Groake
This project is the transformation of a structure from an unremarkable ruin, in an unremarkable field, into a beautifully poetic building. It is part of a collection created within the grounds of a family home, commissioned by a patron of art and architecture. The scale and configuration of the spaces inside are unexpected, the studio being much bigger than the photos convey.
