Eight finalists named for Manser Medal 2024 – AJ House of the Year

The contenders include Moxon’s conversion of a Highland farmstead into a guesthouse and studio, one of the five finalists for Scotland’s 2024 building of the year as revealed last week, a colonnaded villa in the South Downs by Sandy Rendel Architects and 31/44’s south London house, which combines myriad references with modest materials.

Surman Weston’s first self-build project, an energy efficient home that reinvents the terraced house, has also made the shortlist. Among the other one-off homes in South London is Gundry + Ducker’s design for a country-house in miniature in Wimbledon and Lacey & Saltykov Architects quirky Station Lodge, featuring a vibrant red staircase.

Finally, there is also Reciprocal House, a scheme Gianni Botsford has designed to work with a 1968 Norman Foster-designed extension to a Victorian coach house hidden behind a pub in Hampstead, and the refurbishment of a mid-terraced Victorian townhouse in Hackney by Merrett Houmøller Architects.

The longstanding prize recognises the best house in the UK completed over a preceding 12-month period, and was named after renowned British architect Michael Manser (1929-2016), a former RIBA President and Royal Academician.

The Manser Medal was launched in 2001 to inspire innovation in house design and began life in partnership with the AJ. The inaugural winning project was Cezary Bednarski’s 1A Merthyr Terrace in Barnes. Other winners have included Mole Architects’ Black House in 2004 and Skene Catling de la Peña’s Flint House in Buckinghamshire in 2015. The Manser Medal became part of the AJ Architecture Awards again in 2019.

Last year, David Kohn Architects’ converted shed on a Devon dairy farm won the AJ House of the Year award.

‘This house ticked so many boxes,’ said one judge of the standout winner of The Manser Medal – AJ House of the Year. ‘It makes a great home and prioritises sustainability – all on a constrained budget. A tour de force.’

The architect-client relationship was praised too. ‘It sang through the building,’ said one judge.

In total, over 120 projects have been shortlisted across 20 categories for this year’s AJ Architecture Awards, the annual showcase of the very best built projects in the UK. More than 20 projects were submitted for the Manser Medal this year. The rest of the category shortlists were revealed last week.

The 60 expert judges, who are in the process of visiting every shortlisted scheme across all the shortlists, include Eleanor Fawcett of Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation, Biba Dow of Dow Jones Architects, Simon Sturgis and Daisy Froud.

In addition to stand-out design, the judges will consider how each project has met or exceeded its brief, how it has promoted client or community engagement and how it has excelled in the use of space or sense of place. They will also analyse what sustainability measures have been put in place. Each project must have been completed between 1 January 2023 and 31 July 2024.

The winner of the Manser Medal, and of the other category awards, will be announced at a celebratory dinner event at a new venue this year – Park Plaza Westminster Bridge, London – on 3 December 2024. More information can be found here.

The AJ Architecture Awards 2024 are sponsored by