Launched four years ago, the Davidson Prize (named in memory of the late pioneering architect Alan Davidson) is an architecture competition where multi-disciplinary creative teams battle to win £10,000.
Each year, entrants are tasked with submitting project proposals that respond to a topical theme; this year it was ‘Rethinking Home – Adapt and Reuse’. Proposals had to consider how existing buildings might be reimagined for residential use to solve the housing shortage, with the use of bio-based or sustainable materials to help combat climate change.
Narrowing down the near 40 submissions was no mean feat. Alongside the chair Singh Kalra, Mikhail Riches co-founder Annalie Riches, Atelier Ten director Duncan Campbell, Total Synergy's commercial lead Miles Mitchell and Studio Mutt co-founder Alexander Turner, I spent hours researching and debating the longlist of entries, which ranged from a redundant quarry turned bio-regional housing development to an IKEA superstore transformed into affordable homes.
We selected three finalist projects in April and each team was given £5,000 to develop their proposals and create a two-minute film. They each received their medals on Wednesday 19 June at an awards ceremony at Impact Hub Euston as part of the London Festival of Architecture.
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For the first time in the prize’s history, one proposal titled ‘Apartment Store’ (lead image) by Studio Saar, Landstory, Stories, BAS and Megaphone Creative, scooped both the judge's choice and the people’s choice award, for its innovative solution turning a disused Debenhams store in Taunton into homes with repurposed demolition materials and locally grown biomaterials.
‘This year’s Prize provided the opportunity for creatives to join forces to find tangible housing solutions while tackling the climate crisis’ says Amandeep Singh Kalra. ‘Although choosing the winner was tough, we felt that Apartment Store would not only provide new, sustainable homes but would also address the challenge that high streets throughout the UK are facing, turning them back intro thriving hubs for the community.’
The other finalists were the ‘Robin Hood Co-Living Community’ proposal – a new version of a former airport in Sheffield, by Alma-nac with Constant SD, Eric Guibert and Mark Blackwell; and Harlow ‘Re-New Town’, which envisioned the transformation of brownfield sites in Essex, by OEB Architects with Yaa Projects, Nick Bano, Dominic Humphrey and Stuti Bansal. In a surprise twist, which will now be repeated in the future, a Chair’s Highly Commended prize was awarded to ‘The Pylon Network’ by Ground Practice.
‘Apartment Store’ is the fourth proposal to win the Prize, which has been awarded annually since 2021. Last year’s winner was Studio Mutt and researcher Neighbourhood for ‘Helping Hands’, a concept for independent living in Liverpool. thedavidsonprize.com.
