Architects’ Journal Retrofit Awards 2017

We’re delighted that two of the stunning higher education projects we worked on won awards at this year’s Architects’ Journal Retrofit Awards announced this week.

Inside the new David Attenborough Building, Cambridge
Exterior image of the new Bartlett School of Architecture at UCL

The Bartlett School of Architecture at UCL won the Higher and Further Education category. Working closely with the architect, client, students and teaching staff to breathe new life into a building that had become tired and outdated, this project aimed to increase the teaching space by retrofitting and extending the existing 1970s building without having a negative impact on the listed buildings of the surrounding Bloomsbury Conservation Area. The result was a new, enhanced environment with highly efficient systems and 120% more usable floor space within the existing site footprint, making it a worthy winner of this award.

The David Attenborough Building at the University of Cambridge won the Offices 2,000-10,000m2 award. Here one of the key challenges was to improve the sustainable credentials of this energy intensive building. The design needed to increase the thermal performance of the building fabric and introduce new and more efficient building services systems and strategies. The resulting building is an outstanding environmental benchmark for refurbished developments, and an exemplar of sustainable design, and has become a vibrant hub for the conservation community within Cambridge and beyond.

Congratulations to everyone involved in both of these projects, including Hawkins\Brown and Nicholas Hare Architects. Both buildings were worthy winners and we are very proud of our involvement with them.

Find out more about the award here.