Every year the RIBA runs a competition to find the UK’s best new house. From hundreds of entries, they whittle it down to a long list, then a short list and finally name a winner.
This episode includes a magnificent monolithic dark-rendered block in London commissioned by a local café owner; a controversial cutting-edge glass and rusty modernist building in traditional Henley; a glorious north London townhouse filled with Nicaraguan mahogany; a beautiful bright red end-of-terrace in London - which aims to respect its Victorian neighbours, while standing out and a smart semi-detached home in Newcastle built by two neighbours working together.
This episode focuses on properties with a past that have become spectacular modern homes: including an old Victorian Gin Distillery in East London transformed into a remarkable home; a turn-of-the-century farmhouse in Devon given new life that mixes the traditional with the contemporary, a beautiful Grade 2 listed home in Bath built in 1790 and given a striking 21st century extension; a derelict farmhouse over 400 years old, brought back from the verge of collapse, authentically restored with a new wing added, and a magnificent home inspired by a shed with a mirrored library at its centre.
This time, houses that are extreme in different ways have been grouped together, including an awe-inspiring set of cantilevered black boxes that push the limits of engineering; a far-flung 21st century crofter’s cottage by a Loch in Scotland; a curvaceous minimal concrete home in London; and in Northern Ireland a sculptural home designed around a single shape - the wedge. Which of them will make it onto the shortlist for the coveted big prize?
In this final episode, Kevin exclusively reveals the winner of the most prestigious prize for residential architecture, the RIBA House of the Year 2018. But first, alongside architect Damion Burrows and design expert Michelle Ogundehin, he explores the last group of houses on the long list, each of which use materials in interesting ways.
