RIBA’s 2023 House of the Year Award: Meet the 20 Properties in Contention

The Royal Institute of British Architects has disclosed the list of contenders for the 2023 House of the Year award. Among these 20 projects, only six will make it to the final shortlist, which a panel of experts will evaluate to determine the ultimate victor. This award, presented annually, honors the finest newly designed standalone residential building by an architect within the United Kingdom. In the previous year, the title was claimed by The Red House, a creation of David Kohn Architects, a firm also included in the 2023 House of the Year Award longlist.

Green House. © Kilian O’Sullivan

Dido Milne, the head of the judging panel, commented on the 2023 House of the Year Award longlist, saying, “Given the current pivotal juncture marked by ‘climate breakdown,’ we were particularly interested in assessing the depth to which architects had delved into matters of environmental sustainability. It’s heartening to observe that the prototype for modular social housing and several of the larger residences on the 2023 House of the Year Award longlist exhibit a more comprehensive perspective on what constitutes a genuinely sustainable home. Considerations like the materials we employ, their origins, and their impact on biodiversity increasingly influence design approaches.”

The 2023 House of the Year Award’s Longlist Comprises The Following Projects

• Blackbird (South West) l Lyons Architects and Hamish Herford
• Blockmaker Arms (London) l Erbar Mattes
• Cove Ridge (South West) l Coffey Architects

Blackbird. © James Brittain

• Cowshed (South West) l David Kohn Architects
• Cuddymoss (Scotland) l Ann Nisbet Studio
• Forest Road SNUG home (South West) l Ecomotive

Cowshed. © Max Creasy

• Godwit House (North East) l MawsonKerr Architects
• Green House (London) l Hayhurst and Co
• Hidden House (West Midlands) l Hall + Bednarczyk Architects

Hidden House. © Simon Maxwell

• House in Hove (South East) l Farshid Moussavi Architecture
• Hundred Acre Wood, Argyll and Bute (Scotland) l Denizen Works
• Island House (South) l Miya Ushida Architects

Island House. © Rory Gardiner

• Made of Sand (South West) l Studio Weave
• Middle Avenue (South East) l Rural Office
• Rhossili House (Wales) l Maich Swift Architects

Rhossili House. © David Grandorge

• Riverview (East) l Mole Architects
• Saltmarsh House (South) l Niall McLaughlin Architects
• Southwark Brick House (London) l Satish Jassal Architects

Saltmarsh House. © Nik Eagland

• Spruce House and Studio (London) l ao-ft
• Threefold House (London) l Knox Bhavan Architects

Threefold House. © Edmund Sumner