Hat-trick of gongs for GA Studio; BDP boost

GA Studio has carried off a hat-trick of wins at the Manchester Architects Awards.

The Northern quarter-based practice, headed by Martin James Gibson, received the Young Practice Award, Sustainability Project of the Year (Passivhuas, Cheadle), and Best One Off Built House (Passivhaus, Cheadle).

The event at the People’s History Museum was the 150th anniversary of the annual awards ceremony.

The judging panel consisted of both architects and non architects including Lisa McFarlane, president of the Manchester Society of Architects and Jacob Kurek of Henning Larson Architects.

GA Studio was praised for its high ambitions and strong architectural integrity.

The judges stated: “The project has clearly been developed by a passionate and innovative mindset, which seeks to challenge the usual housing typologies thereby creating a better quality of living.”

Gibson said: “The MAA are a celebration of Manchester architects and the exceptional quality of work that is being delivered by practices based here in the city.  We are incredibly proud to have won these three awards which are not only an acknowledgement by our peers but also recognise our innovative approach to design and sustainability.”

BDP’s Milan Expo pavilion was also judged to be Building of the Year at the event.
 
Designed by BDP’s Manchester studio in collaboration with international artist Wolfgang Buttress, the UK Pavilion is representing the nation on the world stage at the international showcase Milan Expo until October 31.
 
Judges said: “The Pavilion is an impressive, playful and intriguing three-dimensional statement….a truly international level piece of Architecture.”

The project also won the MSA’s Built Community award.
 
BDP provided landscape, architectural and environmental engineering to  Buttress, who won the competition to design the UK Pavilion for the next Universal Expo in 2015.