Tonkin Liu wins RIBA Stephen Lawrence Prize – again

It was awarded the prize, which recognises buildings with a construction value of less than £1 million, for its transformation of an industrial steel water tower in Norfolk into a rural family home.

Tonkin Liu previously won the prize in 2018 for its Old Shed New House – a ‘breathtaking’ conversion of a disused farm shed in North Yorkshire into a sustainable home.

According to the judges, the £575,000 Water Tower is an ‘ingenious eco-build that accommodates its natural setting, utilising its roof terrace and room placements to overlook and appreciate the surrounding countryside’ and which ‘masterfully retains’ much of the original metal structure.

The scheme features adaptable interiors, including seating that can be moved around the main tank room.

The annual award, which comes with a £5,000 bursary for the winner, was set up in memory of Stephen Lawrence, a teenager who was intending to become an architect when he was tragically murdered in a racially motivated attack in 1993.

Supported and founded by the Marco Goldschmied Foundation, the prize was established to ‘encourage new architectural talent’.

Marco Goldschmied, who helped judge this year’s award, said: ‘The Water Tower demonstrates how buildings can be saved and enlivened through expert retrofitting, high-quality craftsmanship and faultless attention to detail.

‘The jury unanimously commend Tonkin Liu – the worthy recipient of the 22nd Stephen Lawrence Prize – and their ambitious client for their creativity and dedication. With the positive support and involvement of the local community they have breathed new life into this historic rural structure to create a truly unique family home.’

The jury also included Stephen’s mother Doreen Lawrence, Mary Duggan Architects founder Mary Duggan and Dido Milne of CSK Architects who designed the 2019 prize-winning Cork House.

As well as naming Tonkin Liu’s water tower as winner, they gave a special mention and a £1,000 award to Floating Church by Denizen Works.

The projects were chosen from a shortlist that featured a south London chapel-to-house conversion by Craftworks, Tsuruta Architects’ extension to a Grade II-listed house in Islington, Adam Richards Architects’ Walmer Castle and Gardens Learning Centre and Dow Jones Architects’ Maggie’s Centre in Cardiff, the 19th cancer care centre built by Maggie’s, which is clad with rusted corrugated sheeting.

The winner of the Stephen Lawrence Prize was announced as part of the Stirling Prize ceremony in Coventry Cathedral tonight (14 October).