Old Shed New House wins 2018 Stephen Lawrence Prize; Argent named RIBA Client of the Year

As one of the seven shortlisted projects, Old Shed New House is a private residence located in a wild garden, on the edge of a small village in North Yorkshire. The clients spent many years looking for a quiet site to build their retirement home.

“Discovering the site with their son Greg (now an associate at Tonkin Liu) and Mike Tonkin, they sought to pull the landscape into the building’s form. A long double height gallery maintains the tree-lined approach and a tall library, bounded by mirror-backed shelving evokes the copse of silver birch found of the site.”

“Walking into the library through a sliding door from the living room brought gasps from the Awards Jury. It is the heart of the home and a showpiece for a lifetime’s collection of books. Clever use of light and mirrors gave the impression of an art piece itself. Otherwise it Is a modest 3-bedroom house, build cost effectively, but with exquisite detailing throughout inside and out. The house follows a passivhaus strategy of high insulation, high air tightness, complemented by mechanical ventilation with heat recovery. As the architects say ‘The house is a journey of interconnected spaces that alternate between the grand and the intimate….. it is part country cottage, part classical villa’.”

2018 RIBA Client of the Year: Argent LLP
Nominations by Allies Morrison, Wilkinson Eyre, and Stanton Williams

“Since 1981, Argent has delivered some of the country’s most impressive mixed-use developments including residential, educational and cultural projects. They have been key to the regeneration of many UK cities, in particular Brindley Place in Birmingham and St Peter’s Square and the Northern Quarter in Manchester.”

“Argent was selected as RIBA Client of the Year for their recent award-winning projects, most notably the regeneration work in London’s King’s Cross including R7 by Duggan Morris Architects, Gasholders by Wilkinson Eyre, Gasholder Park by Bell Philips Architects and Victoria Hall King’s Cross by Stanton Williams.”

“Argent are one of the most respected developers in the UK. Committed to delivering long-term change, they have transformed King’s Cross and regenerated cities across the country. As a client, they work closely and collaboratively with their architects, local stakeholders and communities. The results are an impressive portfolio of thriving, high-quality developments that illustrate their commitment to significant investment in building vibrant, inclusive pieces of city,” commented architect Julia Barfield, Chair of the RIBA Awards Group.