This year's Davidson Prize shortlist includes three conceptual projects that propose adapting existing buildings with sustainable materials to tackle climate change and housing shortage.
The annual prize, which explores the concept of home, was launched in 2021 in memory of architectural visualiser Alan Davidson.
Among the shortlisted projects was Apartment Store (above and top)
Entrants this year were asked to respond to the theme Rethinking Home ? Adapt and Reuse, reimagining existing structures as homes with the use of bio-based or sustainable materials.
Three teams were shortlisted to progress their designs for a final presentation.
The project proposes transforming vacant shops into housing
One of the teams was comprised of studios Studio Saar, Landstory, Stories, BAS and Megaphone Creative, whose project titled Apartment Store aimed to reuse vacant retail spaces as homes to reinvent UK towns. Taking an abandoned department store in Taunton as an example, it aimed to bring about a sense of civic pride and limit development sprawl by creating homes with repurposed demolition materials and locally grown biomaterials.
The Harlow Re-New Town design adopts self-build methods
Studios OEB Architects, Yaa Projects, Nick Bano, Dominic Humphrey and Stuti Bansal sought to revitalise towns built in the 1950s and 60s in their project, Harlow Re-New Town.
The team focused on local circular economies in Harlow New Town, self-build methods and biomaterials to design a way for similar...