We caught up with winners and guests at the AT Awards Party at Battersea Power Station. See their reactions and find out what they had to say in the film below.

Now in their third year, the Architecture Today Awards, sponsored by AccuRoof, Brick Development Association, The Concrete Centre, Leviat, Total Synergy, and VMZINC, represent a cultural shift away from celebrating newness towards a focus on longevity. In stark contrast to most awards programmes, the Architecture Today Awards only considers projects that have been in use for at least three years and which can demonstrate a strong track record for delivering on their environmental, functional, community and cultural ambitions.

Awards – fabricated by VMZINC – were presented in 11 categories: Workplace; Mixed Use & Retail; Healthcare; Residential; Individual House; Religion & Culture; Education; Hospitality & Leisure; Infrastructure & Public Realm; International, and the Student Prize, sponsored by VMZINC, as well as the Editor’s Award and the Outstanding Contribution Award.

Winning projects

Education – winner

Project: Royal Academy of Music – Susie Sainsbury Theatre and Angela Burgess Recital Hall, London
Architect: ritchie*studio
Completed: 2018
Photo: Adam Scott

The judges said:
“Ingeniously, two independent and acoustically separated concert venues have been inserted into the building envelope. This elegant, beautifully detailed solution has given the building a new lease of life that will keep this world-class music school at the top of its game for generations to come.”

Healthcare – winner

Project: Sulis Hospital Bath
Architect: Foster + Partners
Completed: 2010
Photo: Nigel Young

The judges said:
“The building, and its relationship to its landscape, have been well thought through to produce an environment that is flexible, efficient, welcoming and calm. Fifteen years on, this innovative building still sets high standards for the sector as a whole.”

Hospitality & Leisure – winner

Project: Eastbrookend Discovery Centre, Dagenham
Architect: Perkins&Will, formerly Penoyre & Prasad
Completed: 1997
Photo: Dennis Gilbert

The judges said:
“One of the earliest Millenium Funded projects, Eastbrookend Discovery Centre pre-empted current thinking around low emission heating and ventilation, embodied carbon and design for disassembly and end of life. Impeccable evidence-based, post-occupancy evaluation confirms its on-going popularity and success. Over a quarter of a century after it was built, Eastbrookend is standing the test of time in all the right ways.”

Infrastructure & Public Realm – winner

Project: Gloucester Services North & South
Architect: Howells
Completed: 2014
Photo: Jim Stephenson

The judges said:
“Designed over a decade ago, Gloucester Services set new benchmarks for sustainability and customer experience, and transformed local residents’ biggest bugbear – the proximity of the M5 – into a beacon of community regeneration and hope.

The judges’ consensus was “More like this please.”

Mixed Use & Retail – winner

Project: Oxo Tower Wharf, London
Architect: Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands
Completed: 1996
Photo: Timothy Soar

Judges comments:
“Ripping up the rule book, Oxo Tower Wharf challenged every preconception about what it was possible to deliver on the south side of the Thames back in the 1980s. The passion that drove this project was still very much in evidence in the presentation by co-protagonists Alex Lifschutz and Iain Tuckett at the Architecture Today Awards live finals. A true game-changer that epitomises enduring success.”

Religion & Culture – winner

Project: National Theatre – NT Future, London
Architect: Haworth Tompkins
Completed: 2015
Photo: Philip Vile

Judges comments:
“In the 50 years since it was built the National Theatre has had to evolve to reflect the changing expectations of theatre and audiences and the evolution of the South Bank. Haworth Tompkins’ intelligent and sensitive interventions have been pulled off with aplomb and will set the stage for the next 50 years.”

Residential – winner

Project: Timber Wharf, Manchester
Architect: Howells with Urban Splash
Completed: 2002
Photo: Matthew Ansell

Judges comments:
“Dubbed ‘The Barbican of the North’ by its residents, this well-crafted block could sit as easily on the Cote d’Azure as canal-side in Castlefield. In our modern world, where affordability, sustainability, MMC and city densification are so key, this building was 20 years ahead of its time.”

Workplace – winner 

Project: Knox Bhavan Studio, London
Architect: Knox Bhavan Architects
Completed: 2016
Photo: Dennis Gilbert

The judges said:
“Knox Bhavan’s studio reflects the practice’s focus on health, wellbeing and regenerative design. Simultaneously contemplative and inspiring, it shows how a carefully-designed workplace can stimulate creativity, excite the senses, and soothe the soul.”

Individual House – winner

Project: Hollick & Bucknall House, Buckinghamshire
Architect: Proctor & Matthews Architects
Completed: 1998
Photo: Tim Crocker

The judges said:
“Hollick & Bucknall House stands as a timeless – and apparently effortless – response to the exquisite landscape in which it sits. While the garden has evolved and developed as a three-decade work in progress, the houses have remained largely unaltered, save for the life – and the stories – that have seeped into nooks, crannies, alcoves and walls.”

International – winner

Project: Stormen Concert Hall and Library, Bodø, Norway
Architect: DRDH Architects
Completed: 2014
Photo: David Grandorge

The judges said:
“The Stormen Concert Hall was an enormous leap of faith, designed to stimulate the economy of a community so sparsely distributed that the odds were always stacked against success. It stands as a triumphant testament to the power of high-quality design to act as a catalyst not just for economic regeneration, but for creativity, confidence and civic pride.“

Editor’s Award – winner

Project: Bridge of Aspiration, London
Architect: WilkinsonEyre
Completed: 2003
Photo: Nick Wood

The judges said:
“Playful and poetic, the Bridge of Aspiration is a gift to the city that never ceases to be surprising, yet somehow looks as though it was always meant to be there.”

Student Prize – winner

Project: Docklands Heronry, London
Architect: Yuen Wah Williams from the Bartlett School of Architecture

The judges said:
“Yuen Wah Williams’ beautifully drawn proposals suggest elegant ways to incorporate mixed uses into existing buildings and transform the public realm. Grounded in a mature understanding of Canary Wharf’s development and the mechanics and constraints of office conversion, the project is both visionary and entirely believable.”

Outstanding Contribution – winner

Company: Urban Splash

From the editor:
“Over the last 30 years, Urban Splash has delivered some 60 regeneration projects, including two winners in the Architecture Today Awards: Park Hill, Sheffield, once scheduled for demolition but now reinvented as the hottest real estate in town; and Timber Wharf, a winner in this year’s Awards, which shows how the core values of flexibility, longevity and adaptability have been applied to the company’s first new-build scheme.

Way ahead of its time, Urban Splash has moved the dial by demonstrating – again and again – that responsible development can deliver critical acclaim and commercial success.”