Projects by Chris Dyson Architects, Donald Insall Associates, and Perkins&Will have been named as finalists in the Hospitality, Sport & Leisure category for the 2024 Architecture Today Awards.
Blencowe Hall. Photo by The Rowley Estates.
Supported by AccuRoof, the Brick Development Association, Leviat, The Concrete Centre, Total Synergy, and VMZINC, the over-arching aim of the awards is to engender a focus on building performance evaluation and shared learning that is essential if we are to bring about the step change in performance the industry so desperately needs.
AT’s Awards Committee has shortlisted 31 buildings across ten categories: Education; Healthcare; Hospitality, Sport & Leisure; Individual house; Infrastructure & Public Realm; Mixed use & Retail; Religion & Culture; Residential; Workplace and International.
This year also saw the second iteration of the AT Awards Student Prize, sponsored by VMZINC, for projects that tackle the retrofit or reuse of an existing building and/or explicitly address issues relating to long term performance, adaptability, demountability and reuse. Three projects from students across three different universities have been chosen as finalists, all of which you can see here.
Each project team will present to our expert jury at a day of live crits on 18 September 2024 at The Building Society in London.
The winners of the Architecture Today Awards will be announced at a party at Battersea Power Station on 21 November 2024.
Photos by The Rowley Estates and James O’Davies / English-Heritage
Conservation of Blencowe Hall by Donald Insall Associates, 2009
Cumbria
From a roofless ruin on the Buildings at Risk register to a thriving hospitality attraction, Blencowe Hall has been transformed over two decades. Damaged in 1648 during the English Civil War, the southern Pele Tower remained in ruins until 2007, when The Rowley Estates commissioned Donald Insall Associates to restore it into quality accommodation.
The hall, which is organised around courtyard, faced collapse. Insall’s solution preserved the Tower’s historic ‘sleight’ and stabilised it with new structures, linking the blocks into a viable business. Today, Blencowe Hall boosts Cumbria’s tourism, hosting 7,446 guest nights last year and contributing more than £223,000 to the local economy.
Photos by Dennis Gilbert and Perkins&Will
Eastbrookend Discovery Centre by Perkins&Will, formerly Penoyre & Prasad, 1997
Romford
Eastbrookend Country Park in Dagenham is a cherished community asset spanning 80 hectares. Its land once provided gravel for London’s pre- and interwar construction, later accommodating post-war debris. In 1995, Penoyre & Prasad (now Perkins&Will) won a competition to design a visitor centre embodying sustainable principles. The centre includes a café, exhibits on ecology and history, a classroom, and Park Rangers’ facilities, aiming to ‘touch the world lightly but make an impact.’ Emphasising energy efficiency and material longevity, the design has evolved to meet current sustainability standards. Today, it remains integral to leisure, health, and education, influencing subsequent projects.
Photos by Pete Landers
The Sekforde Arms, by Chris Dyson Architects, 2019
London, EC1R
In 2013, Chris Dyson Architects began restoring the Sekforde pub in Clerkenwell and constructing a new three-storey building. Despite poor facilities, the Grade II-listed pub featured impressive architecture, including a distinctive barrel-shaped frontage and a grand ballroom. The project involved revealing and restoring 200-year-old brickwork, adding a sympathetic timber shopfront, and blending the brick with the surroundings.
Completed in 2018, the restoration earned a RIBA London Sustainability Award for integrating reclaimed materials, a heat recovery system, and a ground source heat pump. The pub’s profits support the Sekforde House Trust educational charity, aligning with the client’s social goals.
