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Architecture

RIBA picks 20 stunning builds for 2019 House of the Year award

By Adam Williams
July 01, 2019
RIBA picks 20 stunning builds for 2019 House of the Year award
The visually striking Ghost House, by BPN, is one of the 20 homes featured in the RIBA House of the Year 2019 longlist
The visually striking Ghost House, by BPN, is one of the 20 homes featured in the RIBA House of the Year 2019 longlist
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A Restorative Rural Retreat for Sartfell is located in the Isle of Man and was designed by Foster Lomas
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A Restorative Rural Retreat for Sartfell is located in the Isle of Man and was designed by Foster Lomas 
A Restorative Rural Retreat for Sartfell is a remarkably energy-efficient home that offers views of the Irish Sea
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A Restorative Rural Retreat for Sartfell is a remarkably energy-efficient home that offers views of the Irish Sea
Black House is located in the Isle of Skye, Scotland, and was designed by Dualchas
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Black House is located in the Isle of Skye, Scotland, and was designed by Dualchas
Black House is a black timbered house close to the edge of a lake with expansive glazing that offers views over the water
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Black House is a black timbered house close to the edge of a lake with expansive glazing that offers views over the water
Cork House is located in Berkshire and was designed by Matthew Barnett Howland with Dido Milne & Oliver Wilton
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Cork House is located in Berkshire and was designed by Matthew Barnett Howland with Dido Milne & Oliver Wilton
Cork House is an attractive home that's located in the grounds of a listed mill in Berkshire and is part-built using cork
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Cork House is an attractive home that's located in the grounds of a listed mill in Berkshire and is part-built using cork 
Earl’s Court house is located in London and was designed by Sophie Hicks Architects
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Earl’s Court house is located in London and was designed by Sophie Hicks Architects
Earl’s Court house is a new home that occupies the footprint of two former garages
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Earl’s Court house is a new home that occupies the footprint of two former garages
Hampshire House is located in Hampshire and was designed Niall McLaughlin Architects
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Hampshire House is located in Hampshire and was designed Niall McLaughlin Architects
Hampshire House is arranged in a series of staggered pavilions and offers views of the beautiful surrounding landscape
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Hampshire House is arranged in a series of staggered pavilions and offers views of the beautiful surrounding landscape
Hannington Farm is located in Northamptonshire and was designed by James Gorst Architects
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Hannington Farm is located in Northamptonshire and was designed by James Gorst Architects
Hannington Farm is a modern take on a traditional English manor house
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Hannington Farm is a modern take on a traditional English manor house
Hill House Passivhaus is located in East Sussex and was designed by Meloy Architects
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Hill House Passivhaus is located in East Sussex and was designed by Meloy Architects
Hill House Passivhaus is built to the exacting Passivhaus green building standard, which favors air-tightness and insulation to provide a very energy-efficient home
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Hill House Passivhaus is built to the exacting Passivhaus green building standard, which favors air-tightness and insulation to provide a very energy-efficient home
House in a Garden is located in London and was designed by Gianni Botsford Architects
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House in a Garden is located in London and was designed by Gianni Botsford Architects
House in a Garden is located in a cramped plot and its stunning copper roof ensures plenty of natural light inside
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House in a Garden is located in a cramped plot and its stunning copper roof ensures plenty of natural light inside 
House Lessans is located in Saintfield, Northern Ireland, and was designed by McGonigle McGrath
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House Lessans is located in Saintfield, Northern Ireland, and was designed by McGonigle McGrath
House Lessans is a beautiful new house that is situated next to an existing barn
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House Lessans is a beautiful new house that is situated next to an existing barn
Kenwood Lee House is located in London and was designed by Cousins & Cousins
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Kenwood Lee House is located in London and was designed by Cousins & Cousins
Kenwood Lee House is described by RIBA as looking like it's suitable either for a Bond Villain or Bond Hero
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Kenwood Lee House is described by RIBA as looking like it's suitable either for a Bond Villain or Bond Hero 
Lark Rise is located in Buckinghamshire and was designed by bere:architects
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Lark Rise is located in Buckinghamshire and was designed by bere:architects
Lark Rise produces twice the amount of energy in a year than it consumes and is rated to the stringent Passive House green building standard
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Lark Rise produces twice the amount of energy in a year than it consumes and is rated to the stringent Passive House green building standard 
Max Fordham House is located in London and was designed by bere:architects
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Max Fordham House is located in London and was designed by bere:architects
Max Fordham House has automated insulated shutters that were developed to reduce radiant heat losses and achieve an energy balance between gains and losses on a cold winters night
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Max Fordham House has automated insulated shutters that were developed to reduce radiant heat losses and achieve an energy balance between gains and losses on a cold winters night
Nithurst Farm is located in West Sussex and was designed by Adam Richards Architects
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Nithurst Farm is located in West Sussex and was designed by Adam Richards Architects
Nithurst Farm is located in a secluded valley and occupies the site of a former modest farm house
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Nithurst Farm is located in a secluded valley and occupies the site of a former modest farm house
Pocket House is located in London and was designed by Tikari Works
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Pocket House is located in London and was designed by Tikari Works
Pocket House transforms an underutilized site containing garages into a family home
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Pocket House transforms an underutilized site containing garages into a family home
Secular Retreat is located in Devon and was designed by Peter Zumthor & Mole
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Secular Retreat is located in Devon and was designed by Peter Zumthor & Mole
Secular Retreat is set on a remote Devon hilltop and was built from materials, including concrete, intended to give it a very long life
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Secular Retreat is set on a remote Devon hilltop and was built from materials, including concrete, intended to give it a very long life 
Silver How is located in Llanhennock, Wales, and was designed by Hall + Bednarczyk
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Silver How is located in Llanhennock, Wales, and was designed by Hall + Bednarczyk
Silver How repurposes a historic Arts and Crafts period stable
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Silver How repurposes a historic Arts and Crafts period stable
South London House is located in London and was designed by Jonathan Pile
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South London House is located in London and was designed by Jonathan Pile
South London House makes the most of the limited site and responds sensitively to the St Paul’s Church nearby
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South London House makes the most of the limited site and responds sensitively to the St Paul’s Church nearby
Stackyard is located in Derbyshire and was designed by James Boon Architects
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Stackyard is located in Derbyshire and was designed by James Boon Architects
Stackyard is new build house located in an attractive village setting and fits in well with the surrounding homes
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Stackyard is new build house located in an attractive village setting and fits in well with the surrounding homes 
The Ghost House is located in Stratford-upon-Avon and was designed by BPN
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The Ghost House is located in Stratford-upon-Avon and was designed by BPN
The visually striking Ghost House, by BPN, is one of the 20 homes featured in the RIBA House of the Year 2019 longlist
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The visually striking Ghost House, by BPN, is one of the 20 homes featured in the RIBA House of the Year 2019 longlist
The Green House is located in Tiverton and was designed by David Sheppard Architects
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The Green House is located in Tiverton and was designed by David Sheppard Architects
The Green House is situated on a sleep slope and fits in well with the landscape
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The Green House is situated on a sleep slope and fits in well with the landscape 
View gallery - 40 images

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has announced its selection of the best new homes in the UK. Featuring a total of 20 projects, the 2019 House of the Year longlist includes luxury pads, compact inner-city houses, and impressively sustainable homes.

Though most of the homes that feature in the RIBA House of the Year 2019 longlist are located in the south of England as usual, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales are also represented this year.

The 20 homes will be whittled down to a shortlist later in the year before an overall winner is ultimately declared. Previous winners have included Lochside House, Caring Wood, and Murphy House.

The Ghost House is located in Stratford-upon-Avon and was designed by BPN
The Ghost House is located in Stratford-upon-Avon and was designed by BPN

The visually striking Ghost House, by BPN, is a clear standout. Its design was heavily inspired by the work of Japanese architect Tadao Ando and it was constructed in the grounds of a demolished country house in Stratford-upon-Avon.

The home is actually situated within the country house's original sunken garden, meaning that the majority of it lies below ground level. This makes for a very private interior that receives daylight via multiple courtyards and generous glazing.

House in a Garden is located in a cramped plot and its stunning copper roof ensures plenty of natural light inside
House in a Garden is located in a cramped plot and its stunning copper roof ensures plenty of natural light inside 

House in a Garden, which was also a RIBA London Award winner earlier this year, is another outstanding project. The home fits into a cramped and awkward plot that's boxed-in by larger properties on three sides and previously hosted a dilapidated 1960s bungalow.

Gianni Botsford Architects removed the bungalow and replaced it with a contemporary home that's defined by an eye-catching funnel-shaped roof that's lined in copper. It's topped by glazing that ensures the interior receives daylight.

Lark Rise produces twice the amount of energy in a year than it consumes and is rated to the stringent Passive House green building standard
Lark Rise produces twice the amount of energy in a year than it consumes and is rated to the stringent Passive House green building standard 

Buckinghamshire's Lark Rise, by bere:architects, produces twice the amount of energy in a year than it consumes, according to RIBA.

Some of the more notable sustainable technology for this Passive House includes superb insulation, high-performance triple glazing, an energy-efficient heat recovery ventilation system, and a 12.4 kWp solar panel array that's hooked up to a 13.8 kWh Tesla battery system.

Head to the gallery to see more on the 20 homes that make up the 2019 House of the Year longlist.

Source: RIBA

View gallery - 40 images

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ArchitectureLuxuryAwardsHouseCompetitionSustainableHomeRIBA
3 comments
Adam Williams
Adam Williams
Adam scours the globe from his home in Spain in order to bring the best of innovative architecture and sustainable design to the pages of New Atlas. Most of his spare time is spent dabbling in music, tinkering with old Macintosh computers and trying to keep his even older VW bus on the road.

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Marco McClean
What do you suppose the deal is with including the ominously riot-accoutered little person with the baseball bat in /Ghost House/? Is that to represent the ghost of some sort of political dystopian street action that a youth who could afford to live in a place like that might engage in to redress grievances against society? And/or is the house named for the giant out-of-focus photograph of a ghost dominating the wall to the little revolutionary's right, our left?
That's the second thing I wonder about. The first regards all the glass in many of these show pieces. In the city, wouldn't you feel exposed to the neighbors everywhere you go and doing everything you do in a place like that, whether you're practicing for Olympic parkour or rollerskating to where you left the telephone or teevee remote? In the country, I don't think I'd like the idea of somebody out there in the dark watching with binoculars from over a mile away as I change into pyjamas or whip eggs or even just read or sit at the computer typing, whether the voyeur has a sniper rifle or is just gathering material for a novel. I wouldn't be able to relax and just be at home. You might say, /Just pull the curtains, then,/ but that would feel silly: We spent a fortune making the house entirely transparent to friends and enemies alike, only to devote an hour a day to making the rounds, opaquing and de-opaquing them, not to mention polishing them. It seems like a chore. Or maybe the curtains are robotic and pull themselves, or the glass can be electrically blanked, and it can electrostatically repel water and dust and slugs and spiders. Hmm.
aksdad
Ghost House comes with a complimentary ninja warrior to guard it. Nice touch.
Nik
Like Marco, all that glass, to clean, and expose oneself to... everything! Several people on ''Grand Designs'' had houses built with lots of glass, and then subsequently decided to install curtains, to thwart the many gawpers. In the past some people have found videos of their most private moments on the internet, recorded by super zoom 'security' cameras, from maybe a mile away. Most of these designs are, in effect, boxes of various proportions, with windows added at random, not particularly innovative. The ''house in a garden,'' will be a nightmare to keep clean, as every spider will find the ceiling a dream for building webs in every nook and cranny, and bugs will be making their homes there. Externally, the roof will collect crap and debris, in all its nooks and crannies. The location is overlooked from all sides, so I think curtains or blinds will be their next major expenditure. Good luck with that! Earl’s Court house looks like nothing more than the offspring of a relationship between a garden shed and a greenhouse. I hope they didnt pay the Architect a very large sum. In general, Architects love to make, ''Their Statement,'' but they should be required to live in their designs for at least a year to get the full benefit. I doubt whether many or any live in building like those they design, and seem to forget, in their enthusiasm to 'make their statement,' that they are not showrooms, and people actually have to live in them.