The Architects’ Journal Architecture News & Buildings
Now in its 29th year, the annual AJ Small Projects Award, run in association with Marley, celebrates completed projects with a contract value of £350,000 and under.
Since it was first launched in 1996, the intention of the award has remained the same: to give much-deserved recognition to schemes realised at a more modest cost. From home extensions to workspaces, restaurants to shop fit-outs, pavilions to small houses, architects all over the country are busy working on projects that may not make headlines but nevertheless provide a real indication of the depth of design talent across the UK today.
All the projects entered for the award will be featured in the AJ Buildings Library with the 20 shortlisted projects published in the AJ in April 2024. The deadline for entries is 26 January 2024.
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Last Thursday, the awards launched with a free-to-attend live sustainability panel discussion followed by networking drinks at Ing Media’s offices in Shoreditch.
On the panel, which was chaired by the AJ’s Fran Williams, was last year’s overall winner, Chris Upson of Belfast-based OGU Architects, and joint sustainability award winners Jeremy Ashworth of Ashworth Parkes Architects and Charlie Luxton of Charlie Luxton Design.
The conversation considered the importance of environmental and social sustainability in the success of projects on smaller budgets.
Upson discussed Adelaide Street in Belfast, a scheme designed in collaboration with MMAS, which saw a lane of traffic in the city replaced with a half-kilometre of urban garden and new public space. The scheme, designed for incidental play, offers a resource for local residents with little previous access to outdoor play space or gardens – and has unexpectedly created new biodiversity for central Belfast.
Ashworth spoke about the Boathouse, a project in Cambridge which has required not a single screw or metal bracket for the primary structure, constructed using Japanese timber joints.
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And finally, Luxton's Black Barn Studios in Oxfordshire addresses three of the key challenges facing architecture today: affordability, biodiversity and in-use and embodied energy.
One of our most popular events, the AJ Small Projects awards recognises the very best of smaller, low-budget architecture. Previous winners have included prestigious practices including Carmody Groarke, Haworth Tompkins, Hawkins\Brown and Mole Architects.
Does your project have what it takes to win in 2024? Enter now!
Entry criteria
- Projects entered must have been completed between 1 July 2022 and 1 January 2024 (Please note those projects entered for AJ Small Projects 2023 cannot be re-entered).
- All entered projects must have a total contract value of £350,000, or under.
- Projects must not have had major significant coverage in the architectural press (if your project has been covered elsewhere, please declare where).
- Projects must be based in the UK or built by a UK-based practice if abroad.
- All entries will be uploaded to and displayed in the AJ Buildings Library so please ensure you have client permission before entering.
- Citation must be a maximum length of 300 words (and not written in the first-person/plural)
- There must be no more than 20 file uploads per entry and files must be less than 2 MB.
- The field for carbon emissions data only accepts data formatted kg/m2/year. If no carbon emissions data is provided, the line 'Annual CO2 emissions data was not provided' will be added to the bottom of the citation. If you cannot provide carbon emissions data, please provide a reason as to why not.
If you have any questions about entering, please contact us at ajsmallprojects@emap.com.
How much does it cost to enter?
Entry cost £80 (+ VAT)
Entry deadline 26 January 2024
Enter here