The Architects’ Journal Architecture News & Buildings
This project in the Cairngorms National Park stood out in a competitive field for making many excellent sustainability moves and for its ‘beautiful’ response to its context, the judges said.
The building is a bespoke studio complex for Moxon itself, the practice acting as architect, client and contractor on the job. Nestled in a former quarry that had latterly been being used as a tip, it comprises two monopitched single-storey volumes intersected by massive timber walls and linked externally by a single-storey covered colonnade.
The judges were particularly impressed by the project’s efforts to add to its setting and to engage the local community and the local economy. This included the sourcing of material such as the Douglas fir used for the interlocking timber walls, which was felled and partially seasoned in the vicinity.
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‘It’s a beautiful piece of architecture and a beautiful place to work but the really impressive thing is its impact on the workforce and the local community,’ said one judge.
Another remarked: ‘It does seem to be looking in multiple ways at what an office is, including how it relates to place and the local economy. You can apply these lessons to any site.’
Shortlist
- Verse by Buckley Gray Yeoman
- 22 Handyside Street by Coffey Architects
- One Victoria Street by Rolfe Judd Architecture
- CABI Headquarters by Scott Brownrigg
- Rolling Stock Yard by Squire and Partners
- Plus X Brighton by Studio Egret West
Judges
- Duncan Baker-Brown, founder, BakerBrown Studio, and climate literacy champion, University of Brighton
- Gabi Code, associate director, WilkinsonEyre
- Daisy Froud, teaching fellow, The Bartlett School of Architecture